POWERGRAMS

24 lcox Countyeat capitalizes on old times, outdoors Early Saturday morning, a group of Vietnam War veterans sits around two tables pulled together at Hardee's. Despite the serious nature of the conversation, the aging men laugh, smile and josh each other about their service to their country half a century ago. "Nobody knew what PTSD was when we got back," says one. "They just thought we were crazy." In a modern world that has gone haywire, post-traumatic stress disorder seems as foreign to Camden as the rice paddies where American soldiers like these men fought, sometimes died and, more often, came back home in the 1960s and '70s to try to pick up the pieces. Life in this town of 2,000 is slow-paced, comparable to 150 years ago when Civil War-era residents lived in many of the same wood-frame houses people live in today. Drivers observe the speed limits. Cars turn around in the middle of the street and no one honks in anger. Pedestrians smile and say hello on sidewalks. There seems no rush for anyone to get anywhere. The centerpiece of the seat of Wilcox County is the 1858 courthouse that still houses government offices and the library. Nearby stands the 1849 Wilcox Female Institute (both are on the National Register of Historic Places). Around the corner are historic churches and the county's oldest documented structure, the 1825 Dunn-Fairley-Bonner-Field home. It's nothing unusual for a home or business to be a century old, yet be so well-maintained it looks to have been built yesterday. The federal-style two-story house just outside town that Betty Gaines Kennedy cares for is nearly two centuries old and has been in her family since 1888. The octogenarian's earliest memories are of days on the grounds of GainesRidge. Thirty years ago, Kennedy partnered with her younger sister, Haden Marsh – and the mansion's fabled ghosts – to open a restaurant that serves a dish later named one of the 100 that Alabamians must eat before they die: blackbottom pie, taken from a family recipe. It is no stretch to say Kennedy does everything at GainesRidge Dinner Club, despite having a staff of 10 that helps take care of her guests Wednesday through Saturday nights. She hand-cuts the restaurant's famous rib-eyes, works the grill, takes phone reservations, greets patrons, mows the lawn … and that's just for starters. People in Camden argue about which entrée is better at GainesRidge. Some say the rib-eyes are the best they've ever eaten. Others say the same about the fried crab claws or shrimp, the étouffée or catfish. "I think everything we fix is good … we try," Kennedy says. A young man walks through the front door just beyond the four 20-foot-tall square columns leading into the white-walled rooms trimmed in blue and decorated with antique furniture and artwork Kennedy has bought since opening in 1985. "Wow! This is awesome," he remarks to his date, who is one of a party of about 40 here for an after-wedding-rehearsal dinner. Kennedy roams room to room, table to table, making sure everything is perfect for her friends old and new. She welcomes 75- 80 people on a good night, but double that number on evenings around Christmas. "Y'all doing OK?" she asks a customer. "Everything all right?" she says to another. Kennedy stands near each table to answer questions. Without exception, diners express their pleasure about the dinner and decor. "It's an interesting place to work," says Kennedy. "My clientele is second to none. It still shocks me that we've been open for more than 30 years. It's become a tradition for a lot of people." On the crossroads of Highways 28 and 41, on the other side of Camden, another business is becoming a tradition: just don't look for the golden arches at McDonald's Grocery and Sports Store. Camden Business Office Manager Floyd Harris rode his bike to this McDonald's as by Chuck Chandler Betty Gaines Kennedy Wilcox Female Institute, opened in 1849, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

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