POWERGRAMS

28 ago. Georgiana once had motels, cafes, drink bolers, car dealers and a casket factory. "It's just the facts of life for a small town," Shirley says, noting that her father-in-law had a successful shoe shop that long ago went out of business. "Georgiana was a blooming lile place at one time." This florist, like most others, looks to Mothers' Day, Valentine's Day and Easter for big sales, as well as funerals and weddings. "So far, Walmart hasn't made and delivered funeral arrangements," Shirley says with a laugh. Shirley and Faye design the arrangements they sell; Cecil delivers them. Shirley says Faye can "do them in her sleep" but had a slight setback when she suffered a broken leg last year. A decade ago, Cecil had to learn to walk and talk again aer a brain aneurism and six surgeries at UAB. "Mama's is probably the last business in town that has its original owner. There's certainly no one her age still running their own business," Shirley says. "I tell her she should cut her hours but that she can't retire." iendly G's If not for a few folks focused on their iPhones, it would be easy for a diner to think they'd been transported to the 1950s. As opposed to fast food chains where the employees yell "welcome" to each person walking through the doors, at Friendly G's restaurant it's oen the customers who say "howdy" when they step inside. "Y'all still spoiling that grandbaby?" a man says, talking to another across the dining room. "Oh, yeah!" the person responds. Another man enters, looks around the room nodding in each direction, then says "How y'all?" to no one in particular. There are five booths and five other separate tables, yet he seats himself at one of two long tables in the center of the restaurant, where many single patrons pull up a seat. He listens to others' conversations but never bus in. Two signs hanging from the ceiling at either end of Friendly G's list in felt-tip script the day's specials: veggie soup, grill cheese and a drink for $6 or fried pork chop, mashed potatoes and gravy, peas and cornbread for $6.50. Most customers go for choice B. The waitresses bring a personal pitcher of tea to each table. Diners frequently return their plates cleaned to the front counter. Many people buy a box of Girl Scout cookies as they pay their bill. One exiting customer says to everyone: "Y'all be good!" Barbara Gunter was a waitress for four years before her brother bought the restaurant and she began working for him. In 2005, he sold it to Barbara and her husband, Foy, and they still work every day at Friendly G's: "One of us is here all the time," she says, noting that Foy had never been in the restaurant business until they bought one. The Gunters have nine full-time employees, including their daughter, Sierra Davis, and her husband, Patrick, and Barbara's sister, Rebecca Chamberlain. "The majority of our customers are local," Barbara says. "The girls know when they come in the door what they want to drink, what they want to eat. We do push for our employees to be friendly and fast." Open seven days a week, starting at 6 a.m. every day except Sunday, when it opens at 7 a.m., Friendly G's is a small-town exception, cooking breakfast all day and offering an "extremely large" menu with fresh – never frozen – meats, local produce and other ingredients. Barbara says she enjoys seeing the kids of her first customers now coming in to buy their own meals. And despite the old Kozy Korner II sign that stands above her restaurant, everyone in Georgiana knows it's really Friendly G's. Friendly G's dining room fills up for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cars line up at drive-through window.

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