coverstory

September 2008

Talking Bread & Butter Over Bacon & Eggs
Breakfast at Harrisonburg’s L&S Diner

by Michele Christopher/michelechristopher2008@gmail.com
photography by Woods Pierce/woodspierce@gmail.com

Ninety-five percent of the L&S Diner’s customers are men,” says waitress Kim Riddle, as she prepares for the 5 a.m. breakfast rush. She stuffs creamers and butter pats into white plastic bowls and spaces them evenly along the 50- foot white Corian counter, red and chrome stools waiting. “But this early in the morning, it’s almost 100 percent men,” says the diner’s owner Marion Crawford. “Some come in every morning and have been for years.”

“They know everybody and everything about everybody. It’s like Peyton Place. They don’t miss much. They sit around and see who’s coming in,” says Harold Dickey, the diner’s general manager and chef.

At the L&S and everywhere, the economy is a hot topic. Thanks to the downturn, the diner recently stopped serving dinner and now closes at 2:30 p.m. Rather than pay delivery fees, Crawford washes aprons and towels at home and Dickey drives to Costco and Cisco. “Distributors are charging five- to six-dollar fuel charges even though they only go four blocks,” Dickey says. “Everybody’s been doing it, so I’m changing my buying habits. I go get my chicken from one of the local plants now. I’m doing more running. I patronize local produce stands.” Dickey saves on spuds, thanks to Carl Murphy, potato-shaver extraordinaire. “He’s so fast that if I bought pre-peeled potatoes, it would cost me double,” Dickey explains.

After Crawford bought the diner in January, she continued to use the former owner’s menu and prices. This summer the rise in food costs forced her to change prices on the higher-end lunch dishes, for instance the Cajun recipes, which have attracted some new customers, including women. For the menus, Crawford has invested in clear plastic folders that allow her to change prices as often as necessary. Prices on the blue-plate specials have not changed much. “Some people eat here two to three times a day,” Dickey says. “The older ones haven’t been to the grocery store on a regular basis in years. They eat out.”

“We have lots of [company] owners and presidents that come in here,” Riddle gently boasts. On this summer morning, the first customer is late and doesn’t come in until 5:27. Riddle has a cup of coffee ready for him. Walt Zimmerman enters, nods politely, takes a counter stool midway to center, and spreads his newspaper onto the counter. Soon Joe Wandless joins him at the next stool and then another customer and another. By 5:45 a.m., almost every stool is occupied.

The customers are men just seeking breakfast, but when asked about the economy, most of them speak freely.

The Roofer

The owner of WeatherGuard Roofing Services, Walt Zimmerman is 50 and lives in Harrisonburg. He orders potatoes and eggs.

“The price of gas is one thing, but the big thing I think right now is the economy, to get the jobs going. We haven’t had a whole lot of work coming in right now. I mean I can pay the extra for the gas as long as the jobs are consistently coming in, that continuous cash flow. We’re just a small company, but you have to keep your men busy. If you don’t keep your men busy, you have to lay them off.

“We’re a commercial roofing contractor, but as sluggish as the economy is, if somebody calls me about residential, I’ll go look at it. Work is work, although it’s still not what we’re geared to do with our high overhead and our equipment.

“One thing President Bush is pushing that’s good is drilling for oil in America. I think that’s going to help. We have to find new [energy] technologies, new research. The more we know, the better we can do. We can’t continue the way we been going.”

The Bowling Alley Mechanic

Joe Wandless works at Valley Lanes. He is 58 and lives in Harrisonburg.

“Being as I’m a mechanic, I don’t control what happens at the front end of it, but [Valley Lanes] are still having quite a few people coming in, even during the daytime. Our bread and butter in the bowling industry is made off of the leagues, the people that come out in the daytime. Even though they are trying to cut back on the use of gasoline, they still like to get out and enjoy themselves. We have recreational centers bringing the kids out, we still have the seniors coming out. We’re going through a major special right now, I think it’s one for one, they give you a free game for every game. The bowling alley is trying to do their part to make it affordable.

“It seems like even though the economy gets bad, there are areas that always do well: movies, restaurants and entertainment.”

The Lumber Man

President of R.S. Monger & Sons Inc., John Monger is 59 and lives in Mount Crawford. He orders an omelet and also eats blueberries he brought from home.

“Business is good [for us]. We provide everything for a house from the foundation up except for electrical and plumbing. Windows, roofing, board, siding. Harrisonburg is different from most of the economy. There’s a lot of construction going on in this town because the city council is changing the R-3 zoning. There’s a lot of apartments and commercial building, so that’s helped this area right now. The city changed the zoning ordinances and they took R-3 zoning and downgraded it. And by doing that they gave a moratorium of three years for existing landowners to develop their land. After three years, you have to get a special use permit to build an apartment in Harrisonburg. So there’s an influx of houses and apartments being built right now. They’ve got to get it done [within those three years] or get a special use permit. So that end of the economy is booming right now.”

The Landscaper

Owner of Fine Earth LLC, Chad Layman is 35 and lives in Harrisonburg. He eats a scoop of oatmeal with raisins.

“Our primary business is the installation of landscapes and hardscapes and so we use less gas than you might think because we leave the shop, drive straight to the job, the truck stays parked all day, and we drive back. But we do have one crew that does maintenance, driving around to different commercial properties, mowing their grass, pulling their weeds, and so fuel costs have risen there, but then we’ve also seen our material prices rise pretty significantly because of the fuel surcharges. “We’re working on the Preston Lake Development; it’s one of the largest projects we’ve worked on this year. It’s got one of the most extensive landscapes I’ve seen.

We’re also working on the Charleston Townes project behind Gold’s Gym. We’re 60 percent commercial and 40 percent residential. Commercial the last three years has been really strong. In fact we had our best year ever last year in 2007.

“Even in these tough times I still see people willing looking for an opportunity to give back to the community in various ways. I donate to First Tee. First Tee is a national program that teaches local kids how to play golf. It’s a partnership between the schools and the First Tee program. They play at Heritage Oaks; 400 kids learn how to play golf and learn core values—honesty and hard work.”

The Mail Carrier

Galen Stearn, 54, works at the South Main Street Post Office. He orders a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

“There’s a lot of moaning at the Post Office about the cost of living, but there’s not much you can do. But the full-time people that live further away, they bought hybrid cars and they use them to drive back and forth from home, and then they use a different car to deliver the mail. I’ve thought about getting a hybrid, but I live close enough it’s not affecting me yet, but let it get a little higher… I live 5 miles north of Harrisonburg, so it doesn’t affect me much.

“We should explore alternative sources of energy. Oil, regardless of where it comes from, is going to run out sometime. You need to explore solar, electric cars. I’m not a big fan of drilling on the American shoreline. I remember the Exxon Valdez. Accidents do happen. It would make a big mess.”

The Retired Administrator

Dan Foth, 74, retired in 2006 as controller at Eastern Mennonite University. He orders an omelet.

“I think simply we need to encourage small businesses to grow. The answer is tax incentives, but I don’t think that would solve it. We need low interest [loans] to get small businesses started. “Big business has been given too many breaks in many ways. It’s the whole income tax system that is giving big business unfair advantage over small business.

“To start a small business, someone should find a good accountant, a lawyer knowledgeable in the legal aspects of business, and a good bank. And maybe also a board or at least a reference advisory group of some kind. I think a lot of small businesses, mom and pops, decide to go into business without talking to anybody about it. They could talk to a circle of friends.

“I think Harrisonburg is lacking, not only for seniors, but for everybody, in public transportation. It’s pretty sad, the bus service. That would be another service industry you could get into, transportation. I’m thinking more of a flexible transportation where peoples’ transportation needs could be centralized and then that place would organize vans to take that group to that particular area of town. Most seniors might be able to manage to walk a block or two from their homes to the hub. We’re really talking about the side streets, service off the main routes in town.

“From Park View where I live near Eastern Mennonite, there’s bus service only once every hour at the EMU campus. And then they have to go downtown and transfer to get out to the mall. It may take up to an hour just to get out to the mall and that’s just way too long.”

The Builder

Terry Pence, 54, owns T&P Builders Inc in Stanley. He orders bacon, eggs and home fries.

“Five years ago, I did do a lot of new construction in the Fredericksburg area ’til the economy got such as it is. I had eight people. [We] lived in Stanley; I just commuted. It was pretty tough. The guy I was working for in Fredericksburg was going further and further down the road, toward Richmond, and he was getting so far for me to commute, I couldn’t handle it. It was getting to the point where I had to get a rental for myself and the men so they could stay, and these guys all had families. Most of those employees coming from Stanley found local jobs and took a huge, huge cut in their pay.

“I was kind of forced into the remodeling business and out of new construction because people didn’t have money to put into new homes. It’s easier to come up with $60,000 than $600,000. People in this area, their yearly income is way lower than northern Virginia and Fredericksburg. They’ll renovate and remodel before they spend out the big bucks.”

The Carpenter

Donald Raynes is 64 and lives in Grottoes. He meets his boss Terry Pence every morning at L&S and orders bacon and eggs.

“I been doing renovations off and on all my life. The difference between remodeling and renovation? It’s the same thing. Renovation is just a fancy name downtown people like to use.

“The price of gas is affecting everybody in Grottoes. When people fill up their oil tanks this year … oh yeah, people are scared. They’re really scared.”

The Retired Coach

Bo Bowers, 62, taught drivers’ education and coached for 37 years and was inducted into the Virginia High School Hall of Fame in 2006. His Wilson Memorial High School baseball teams won three state titles. He lives in Harrisonburg. He orders two eggs and toast.

“I think [the economy] all runs in cycles; we’re in a bad time now; in six months it will be a good time. It was nice to get that $600 [stimulus] check.”

The First-Year Businessman

Owner of Blue Ridge Machine & Motor Sports, J.J. Hall is 46 and lives in Harrisonburg. He orders two eggs and chicken tenderloin.

“This is my first year in business. Boy, did I pick a hell of a year to start a business. We build racing engines, automotive restorations, real nice cars, we fix up real old Packards, Studebakers, Cadillacs, really early stuff. Everything I do is pretty much people’s toys or recreation vehicles. They’ve tightened up now and they’re not spending their money with their toys. I do a lot of work for shops, dealerships, small garages around. We do some welding to fill it. Pretty much now you take in anything you can.

“One thing I didn’t count on was how much the city taxes were going to be compared to the county taxes. The county doesn’t have your gross sales and labor, and the city has it. And for me it’s about $700 a month that goes out and I can’t even get them to pick my trash up, so it’s like what is this going for? Just because I’m in the city to do business? I was at Dale Engineering out on 33 West for 30 years. It’s my dad’s place. As soon as I can I’m moving back into the county because that’s $700 I can put toward my own place.

“It’s hard to believe one commodity is putting the crunch on the whole country. Oil, I mean. We should throw half of the Congressmen and Senators out, because the President is just the fall guy anyway. It’s the Congress and the Senate that make all these decisions and run the country. I just noticed this morning something he vetoed was overridden by the Congress so no matter what he wanted to accomplish right or wrong, it was sidestepped. He’s the poor fall guy again.”

Michele Christopher blogs about the economy at shenandoahvalleyhardtimes.blogspot.com.