Sweet Tea: For love of food

Need to get something off your chest; a grief, a sin, a secret, a rage? I heartily suggest screaming it into the wind. In Atlanta’s Woodruff Park, a new art installation called “The Atlanta Wind Phone” lets people speak their grief into the air. While you’re there, I’m sure the wind wouldn’t mind hearing a secret or two. It will never judge.

AUTOMATIC FOR THE PEOPLE

Dexter Weaver in front of his iconic place, Weaver D’s Delicious Fine Foods in Athens.

A few things you may not know: REM, the iconic alt rock band, was formed in Athens. The name of their 1992 studio album, “Automatic for the People,” is a tribute to an Athens-area institution and the remarkable man who runs it.

• Weaver D’s has been a classic meat-and-three place in the north Georgia college town since 1986. We’re talking a “food that tastes like love,” “pieces of cake lined up on the register that you know will take you to heaven” kind of vibe.
• Dexter Weaver, the man behind the restaurant, is a local celebrity. Yes, REM ate at Weaver D’s, as did Gov. Brian Kemp during his University of Georgia days.
• After nearly 40 years, Weaver is selling his restaurant to start a new chapter in his life.

The phrase is his philosophy: Before Weaver D’s, Weaver was a fast food manager who had a reputation for always getting stuff done. Automatic, you may say. And what’s it for, this drive to provide? His people.

“I combined that, meaning ready, quick and efficient,” Weaver told the AJC.

🍖 READ MORE: Georgians reminisce on decades of Weaver D’s

SOUTHERN POLITENESS CHARMS CANADA

Whomst among us hasn't accidentally ordered a burger from Canada?

In the South, we know politeness can be a weapon when sharpened and expertly applied. It can also be charmingly, chaotically discharged, even from a country away. (And if a Canadian thinks you’re nice, you’re definitely nice.)

• In October, an anonymous Alabamian placed a phone order for two burgers and two fries from Bentley’s Burgers and Fries.
• One problem: Bentley’s Burgers and Fries is in not in Alabama. It’s in Nova Scotia. Needless to say, the meal went unclaimed.
• Soon after, the owners of Bentley’s were shocked to receive a handwritten note all the way from Alabama apologizing for the mistake. The sender also included $40 cash.
• “I hope that the amount enclosed is enough to cover the cost of my embarrassing mistake,” the person wrote.

Restaurant owners Darcy and Laura Clarke loved it, and loved all of the positivity the epistolary adventure got on social media.

“Hope for humanity yet,” Darcy Clarke told a local broadcast. More from the CBC 🍟

SIPS FROM THE SOUTH

⚡ New Orleans: Students at New Orleans Charter Math and Science High School, or “Sci High” (there’s a TV show waiting to be made), learn how to build and install generators at local community centers. Equal parts brag-worthy science experience and good deed-ery. More from Verite News

🎨 Nashville, Tennessee: Actor Gary Sinise donated $1 million to CreatiVets, a nonprofit that helps combat veterans heal through art and music. With the donation, CreatiVets purchased an abandoned church in the city with the goal of turning it into a 24-hour center for their work. More from WCTI

🌷 Jacksonville, Florida: The Five Star Veterans Center provides counseling, mental health services and other aid to veterans. This past week, volunteers spent the day beautifying the center: landscaping, repaving walkways, painting and even building an outdoor entertainment center. “They’ve sacrificed for us,” one volunteer said. “Now it’s our time to sacrifice and serve them.” More from WJAX

🐈 Chapel Hill, North Carolina: North Carolina’s Orange County has some of the lowest animal shelter euthanasia rates in the country. How do they do it? Orange County Animal Shelter leaders say it’s thanks to their neighbors and community, who volunteer, donate and raise awareness to help animals find homes. “A shelter and (its) outcomes are a direct reflection of the community in which they’re in,” said Dr. Patricia Norris, North Carolina’s animal welfare director. More from WRAL

🏅Atlanta: Sometimes you protect and serve, and sometimes you have to be protected and served. A group of civilians came to the rescue of an Atlanta police officer who crashed his patrol car, causing a fire and serious injuries to himself. While emergency teams were en route, the group pulled the officer from the car and stifled the flames. Atlanta police are calling them “citizen heroes.” More from WSBTV

TELL US SOMETHING GOOD

SOUTHERN WISDOM

When you live to 102, you know a few things. James Anderson was born in rural Sallis, Mississippi, in 1923. He’s an Army vet, a former farmer, a deacon and was married to his wife for 73 years before her death, according to Mississippi Today.

With all of that experience, all of that wisdom, this is what he says is the secret to life. I believe him.

P.S. — The Mississippians out there will love this. After living in Memphis, Chicago and other places, Anderson was asked why he eventually returned to his home state.

“I guess I like Mississippi better than I did anywhere else,” he said. Solid reasoning.