March the 18th was our last day of operation. At 2:30 p.m. I locked the doors and parked my restaurant boots at the door. We put out the signs that say closed one last time, wiped away a few tears as we celebrated the final moments with close friends, family and employees. Then, I gave my faithful employees all a hug and a farewell gift.
We announced our closing on Tuesday, March the 7th. Since that time we have had a lot of folks come by and say farewell. So many nice things were said to myself and our staff.
We even got a visit from County Mayor Weston Wamp and several of our East Ridge elected leaders, including Mayor Brian Williams and many of our council members. I received lots of phone calls, texts, and emails wishing us well. There were also many very kind comments and posts on various social media platforms.
At the city council meeting on Thursday, March the 23rd, East Ridge Mayor Brian Williams and the city council were so gracious as to honor us with a very meaningful plaque.
The State of Tennessee legislature voted on House joint resolution 431 on Monday, March 20th. This is a resolution honoring our 34 years of service to our community. Thank you to State Rep. Esther Helton-Haynes for sponsoring that legislation.
Thank you to this publication and other media outlets as well for paying tribute to our time in East Ridge. There was also a nice story from the famous Earl Freudenberg. All the conversations and looking at comments and posts really brought back many memories of our 34 years.
I literally have watched some of our customers’ children grow up at Wally’s and witnessed many birthday parties and family celebrations. There were many political rallies, bereavement meals, baby showers, anniversary celebrations, sports banquets, clubs, Bible study groups, company seminars, and many other meetings here. We’ve even had customers wait out storm outages with us during the blizzard of 1993.
I had one lady that came by to give me a hug; she retired many years ago from EPB and remembered me from when I worked at Wally’s on McCallie. We shared memories of my times at both the McCallie Avenue and East Ridge locations.
I had another lady come in to tell me that she had been married to her husband for 33 years and they had their first date at Wally’s East Ridge in 1989 in our old building. I’m glad that she and her husband got to stop in before we closed to reminisce on their first date.
I also received an email from a young man serving our country overseas. He wanted to reach out to tell me of his fond memories eating at Wally’s with his baseball team for pre game meals and post game celebrations.
I could tell countless other stories of some very nice people that came in to share their favorite Wally’s memories with me. We are so thankful that we got to be a part of so many great moments in people’s lives.
For all the memories and all the wonderful things said, thank you all so much and go eat at Wally’s on McCallie.
Glen Meadows
Formerly known as the manager and owner of Wally’s in East Ridge