While President Ronald Reagan was telling Mr. Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, Johnny was making sure that nobody put Baby in the corner, and Spuds MacKenzie was everybody’s favorite party dog, some area establishments were opening their doors for the first time. Café Frederica, Main Street Frame Shop, and Cloister Collection all came to life in 1987. They’ve made it through three decades and continue to thrive. We’re celebrating this accomplishment and share their stories here. First, Kelly Galland checks in with the folks who make our mornings delicious at Café Frederica.
Café Frederica - 30 Years of Charm
The Delaneys-Cafe Frederica Family
Even before I can reach Café Frederica’s front door, my mouth begins to water with the smell of frying bacon and the anticipation of a gooey cinnamon roll. The ever-present line to the door is close to six deep, but today I can strut by with a smirk as I have an appointment with the Queen herself.
I find Queen Kathy Childers holding court with the one and only founder, Mark Packard. The restaurant is full to the brim with eager diners feasting on blueberry pancakes and roast beef hash, and the black and white tile glistens with the dew of breakfast grease and floor wax. We spread out at the back table and Mark asks, “Well, what do you want to know?”
“The whole thing, from the beginning,” I eagerly quip. A look of exhaustion sweeps across his face and he turns to Kathy and asks where to start. “Well,” he says, “I came to the Island in ‘81 to manage Blanche’s Courtyard. Moved over to Emmeline and Hessie’s for a few years and then this space became available.” He glances around and adds, “At first we only had half of it, but after a few years we were able to expand to this whole space with the help of the brothers Galland (John and Bob), our contractors. We kept the windows taped and no one knew what we were doing. One day John comes in to breakfast and takes a knife and cuts the space between the two rooms open and we’ve been like that ever since.”
After years of working the dinner shift, Mark knew from inception that he wanted Café Frederica to serve breakfast and lunch only. The menu was created from things that he liked and grew up with. He remembers, “I drove all over Georgia and stopped at this little place in Fitzgerald where they had the best linked sausage I’d ever had. I brought it to the restaurant and it’s stayed.” Other favorite items have been added as customer requests. Kathy recalls, “We had this family from Indiana that would come every year and eat lunch here every day of their trip. One day they asked if we could make a Reuben. We said sure, and it stayed.”
Flexibility with the menu has allowed the Café to grow and change with customers’ preferences. Mark says, “Some like to tweak things—now we do all sorts of additions to scrambles, cheese grits, etc.—and we have a great staff of cooks who can accommodate. We have to be able to adjust with customers’ needs and desires.” Undoubtedly, the continuity of excellent food and some of the best servers on the Island are what keep customers lined up as Café Frederica begins its 30th year.
“On a typical weekend we serve around 1300 customers,” says Kathy. Most likely, Kathy knows not only all their names but also their kids’ names, hobbies, and hopes and dreams. A figure almost as iconic to St. Simons as the lighthouse or fort, Kathy has been a lifelong Islander and serving at the Café for 22 years. “I remember everything about everybody,” she tells me—and this I know to be true from personal experience. “I had a customer one day ask me if I’d ever write a tell-all. He told me he’d pay me twenty thousand to leave him out.” Mark agrees, saying, “I’ve been here 30 years. I don’t know everyone but Kathy does. She’s the number one asset to Café Frederica.”
Cathy and Hannah
In 2004, Mark’s passion for sailing prompted him to sell the restaurant and embark upon an eight-year hiatus. When it came time to turn the reins over, Mark said there was no doubt who it would be to: his long-time and dear friends Tom and Leslie Delaney. Mark and Tom had spent years getting to know each other as restaurant neighbors, a relationship Mark cherishes as “[Tom] is like the son I never had.” And while Mark passed the café to those he considers family, Tom and Leslie plan to keep it in their family as their daughter, Hannah Delaney Showalter, currently the manager of the café, will one day run it completely. Hannah has been there her entire life. She and her husband, Robert, a Delaney’s Bistro fixture, have 2 daughters: Delaney (4) and Stella Ann (1 mos.). Hannah says, “Hopefully, my daughters will be as fortunate as I was to see my parents hard work. Surround yourself with family and appreciate the rewards of doing what it takes to be successful.” Hannah feels that the café is her 3rd child and is so excited to return from maternity leave full time in August and get back to work and her customers, who are her other family! One day, Tom hopes to “come in a few days a week, hang with Hannah and flip eggs” during his retirement.
Since the Delaneys took over, not much has changed. The same yellow, black, and white color scheme, which was inspired by Mark’s father’s airplane, runs throughout the interior and they’ve maintained the restaurant favorites of countless kids: the fishing tank and the train. “It’s a funny story about that train,” Mark begins. “I had some trains at my home in Brunswick and I brought them in and put them on a shelf in the restaurant. Kent Taylor, who was a retired Navy captain, would constantly get on to me, asking when I was going to put them up and run them. One day he brings in a briefcase, opens it, and hands me a check for $800. He had taken up a collection of $20 each from customers, thus forming the ‘Grumpy Old Men Railroad.’ We even had authentic stocks made. Boz (the late Robert Bostock) came over and helped me hang the track as it sits now.” Members of the Grumpy Old Men Railroad Company would meet at the round table in the front of the restaurant daily for breakfast, a tradition that Mark kept alive even on Christmas morning. “I’d do an invitation-only Christmas breakfast for them. It was always before their families would be over to visit and open presents. They’d come in the back, pour their own coffee and we’d eat and talk until around 9:00 a.m. or so.”
This kind of dedication to his customers is part of Mark’s absolute passion for the restaurant industry. He says, “You have to have a passion for it. You have to love the business. I’ll be 80 years old this year and I still love it.” Since coming back to the island a few years ago, Mark said Tom graciously gave him a job back at the café, where he opens, closes, and does the food ordering and inventory. Tom said, “[Mark] loves the café. He’s part of it whether he owns it or not. He always goes above and beyond and he has a work ethic that doesn’t exist in this day and age.” Mark adds, “[Working at the Café] gives me a purpose and keeps me going. Tom told me I could have a job as long as I’m vertical. As long as I can live on my boat and get up in the morning I’ll do it.” Whether Mark stays another 30 years is anyone’s guess, but as I lift the last bite of cinnamon sugary goodness to my mouth and look out the window at the ever-increasing line to the door, I know one thing is certain—as long as there’s someone to unlock the door and cook the food, there will be a crowd to enjoy it.
In the heart of historic downtown Brunswick, Lynn and Beverly of Main Street Frame Shop are also proud to say they too are withstanding the test of time.
Main Street Frames - A 30 Year Adventure
Lynn and Beverly at Main Street Frames
The little shop at 1403 Newcastle in downtown Brunswick was known as Schreiber’s men store in the 1960s and Ben Affleck transformed it into a Ybor City shoe store for Live By Night, but Main Street Frame Shop has established itself as a constant in the community for three decades. It’s exactly the kind of place that one calls to mind when thinking of small towns and Main Street USA, but a rare treasure to find today: a shop where personal service and handcraftsmanship are paramount to technology and bulk processing. A brick and mortar store run by people who know your name when you walk through the door and who direct you to a street location instead of a www when asked for an address. Even more amazing is that the shop has continued as a two woman operation since it opened in June of 1987.
While Lynn Winchester Stewart is the owner and proprietor of this quaint little gem, it’s actually Beverly Drawdy who has been there the longest and who was trained in the business. She laughs when she asks, “You know how she got me, right?! When Lynn bought the store, she bought the inventory and equipment. I was part of that!” The frame shop began life as Town Frames, owned by Steve Townsend. Beverly first visited the store when she was a high school art student. “I remember telling my mother that it would be a really neat place to work.” A mere two weeks later, a help wanted ad appeared offering just that opportunity. Beverly put in her application, and later learned that her art teacher, Laura Edenfield, had called her friend Mr. Townsend. “She told him ‘She’s a squirt. But don’t laugh her out the door just because of that. She may be just a kid, but she’s a hard worker.’” Beverly got the job in 1984 and has been there ever since. “It’s the only job I’ve ever had.”
When Steve Townsend decided to sell the frame shop in 1987, Lynn had recently left her job and knew she had to work. Despite having no experience with framing, Lynn says, “I thought, ‘I could do that!’ and so she did! Since opening Main Street Frames, Lynn describes the ride as being “interesting, exciting, scary, and wonderful!” Beverly stepped up and taught her the ropes of the framing business. Now these two ladies work together seamlessly and they wouldn’t have it any other way! Lynn says the shop was a saving grace for her when her husband died, and she loves having a business in the Brunswick community where she was born and raised.
Main Street Frames is the go-to place for custom framing in the Golden Isles. Their matting and framework is all done by hand, no electric tools involved, with the exception of an underpinner they use from time to time. If they get in a rare bulk order, Beverly says, the molding companies or supplies may provide additional services and cut and join the frames for them. People appreciate their artistry and their personal attention. You’re definitely a name and not a number here! Lynn is proud that they made it through the recession when new construction essentially halted and interior designers—a major part of their clientele—weren’t doing much business. Now that the economy is healthy again, people are back to framing just about everything, from military medals to wedding keepsakes, and christening gowns to turkey tails, and she’s happy to see it and be part of preserving those special moments. She also says it’s a great time to be in Brunswick with new businesses like the distillery coming in and other planned business development. Stop in to see the ladies of Main Street Frame Shop on First Friday. They usually participate, and will be raising a special toast in celebration of these past 30 years in June.
We also checked in on the anniversary festivities that took place in May at Cloister Collection in Shops at Sea Island.
Cloister Collection - 30 Years of Shaping Style
May was a month of celebration for the Cloister Collection family. And family is truly a key element in the success of the popular women’s designer fashion boutique located in the Shops at Sea Island. Currently run by Steve Moore, who is President of both Cloister Collection and Evelyne Talman, the business was started by Steve’s father, who had 20 years of experience at Macy’s, and his stepmother. They opened the original flagship store on Sea Island and since then, the St. Simons Island store has moved to its present location and a second store location has opened in Athens. But not only is the store a family business, it’s also a family to its employees. Steve says, “I like to think we supply careers here, not just a job.”
For instance, look at Fashion Consultant Marcia Newcombe. She has been with Cloister Collection for 13 years. Like Kathy at Café Frederica, Marcia knows everybody and everybody knows her, but she thinks that’s true of the whole staff, who are all so friendly and welcoming. She says she considers the store her family, and the people who shop there are her friends. “I have seen children in preschool get licenses, drive their cars, go to college. I have seen people get married, come in with their grandchildren, and with their grandparents.”
Cloister Collection and Evelyn Talman buyer Ally Urquhart didn’t come along until 2009, but she started out as Steve’s assistant and has done a little bit of everything, including modeling looks for social media and beyond. “Steve has taught me everything from finances, how to work with different partners, doing the buying, and fostering relationships.” She was involved in opening the store in Athens and says that has been an amazing experience.
THE place to go for Lilly Pulitzer on St. Simons Island, the store’s clothing and accessory lines have also expanded and changed with fashion trends over the years. No matter how styles change, however, you can count on these reliable constants from The Cloister Collection, you will always be able to find timeless fashion there, as well as staff that loves nothing more than to help you find the perfect look for your special events or everyday occasions tailored to your own sense of style. Whether dressing for the beach or for a bridal breakfast, a night on the town or a neighborhood cookout, Cloister Collection has what you need to create the look you desire. Shoes, jewelry, hats, totes, scarves, even skin care products, are available in store to make sure you’re stylish from the bottom to the top. And thanks to today’s internet and social media, you can also shop the Cloister Collection online now. Here’s to progress!
Congratulations to all of our friends at these fantastic establishments. We wish you 30 more years of success!
