The premiere of “Where Did You Eat?” an Old Town Productions’ documentary will be shown at the Cleveland Public Library in the community room on Sunday at 3 p.m. The showing is free to the public.
Dustin Coleman, who wrote and narrated the 51 minute project, said, “This project was done to preserve another segment of local history and to bring back some wonderful memories of the places that many Cleveland and Bradley County residents enjoyed for years.”
The film focuses on the restaurants and cafes’ that served local citizens in Cleveland and Bradley before the chain restaurants made their way to the community. Mr. Coleman said, “Every community had a restaurant that was part of the character of that community such as Bea’s in Chattanooga, Couch’s in Ooltewah, the 411 Steak House near Benton, and the Cherokee Huddle in Athens.”
“Where Did You Eat?’ includes photos and even some videos of those by gone days. Featured restaurants and eateries are Snack House #2, the Ever Ready Café, the Grand Lunch, Dooley’s Ice Cream Shop, the Country Kitchen, The Spot and The Rebel. “We have a lot of photos and ads of many other restaurants from our community and made an attempt to identify locally owned non chain restaurants currently serving this community,” said Mr. Coleman.
John Cook wrote and performed two new songs for the project, Debbie Moore served as the historical advisor and Ron Moore directed the project.
This is the fourth documentary released by Old Town Productions. Caney Creek: Coming Home and It’s a Dirt Track Life both won Awards of Distinction from the East Tennessee Historical Society for saving and promoting history. Earlier in 2016, Old Town Productions released “It’s Home”: Memories of the Ducktown Basin a documentary about living in an area devastated by activities associated with the mining of copper.
Ron and Debbie Moore of Old Town Productions host a weekly radio show on WOOP FM about local and regional history.
The showing of the documentary is sponsored by the Bradley County Historical and Genealogical Society.