WHIZ BOOM POOF! WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

 

THINGS THAT DISAPPEARED FROM BIRMINGHAM OVERNIGHT:

 

GONE: Power Rangers for Christ Child Center on the Bessemer Superhighway

 

              Honest! It was there for years, each time I drove from Arkadelphia to the

              Fairgrounds for the monthly flea market. Where is it now?

              I loved it for its name.

 

GONE: Hawthorn Gallery on Third Avenue North

 

               Then you saw it, then you didn’t. Keith disappeared in a cloud of remorse.

                Did he ever look back?

 

GONE: Five-dollar overtime parking citations.

 

              Poof! Suddenly, it’s a $30 fine if you spend money Downtown for more than

              two hours. Doesn’t the City need that extra shopping dough?

              Do the folks who passed the ordinance even know what it’s like to park and shop

              Downtown?

 

GONE: Safari Cup on Richard Arrington Boulevard/21^st Street North

 

              What th–?  Overnight, Dave pulls up stakes, says no good-byes, and heads Up

              Yonder to Neverland. Whazzup?

               Did we Downtown loyalists mean anything to him?

 

     GONE: Tony’s Terrific Hot Dogs on Second Avenue North. Tony’s was real,

                   simple,direct, efficient and plain-dealing. What more could you ask of a

                   diner? No pretentions, just good quickie lunch fixes.

                   Does Tony still mix the sauce in his dreams?

 

GONE: Birmingham Magazine. Joe O’Donnell was Birmingham Magazine.

             Do the Chamber folks realize this or even care?

 

      GONE:  Saturday afternoon live music from the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

 

             WBHM lost a lot of supporters, who subsequently started donating their money 

             to the live theatre broadcasts. No-one was polled or asked–WBHM just dropped

             the broadcasts, ignoring their base and dismissing their first-years promises to

             those who campaigned to establish the station in the first place.

             Years of support and goodwill gone for good.

 

GONE: The guys at Catch-Out Corner 

             Where are they now?

              Is their disappearance good for us but bad for them?

STILL BOOKING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS: Reed Books Antiques/The Museum of Fond Memories is still going strong 29 years later. Come cherish us now, just in case we are suddenly teleported away one day. www.jimreedbooks.com