Saturday evening, looking for a place to eat in our little town. Do we join the crowds at the new steak house in town, have fast food chicken or a burger? No, let's go see the Colonel. Poole's BBQ, home of the pigs on the hill.
It doesn’t get much better than this, hometown folks cooking up barbecue. As we make our way to a table, we see the owner, Oscar Poole, shaking hands and pointing out the many pictures and newspaper clippings that adorn the walls. As he comes our way, he greets us like neighbors and says "How y'all doing?" I ask him if he is going to play for us tonight, and he seems to jump at the chance to perform.
As we eat, we are serenaded by his music on the keyboard and singing, everything from old time hymns to nursery rhymes. The locals love it and the tourists are pleasantly surprised.
He didn't have his yellow suit on - he saves that for special occasions like political rallies and trips to Washington - but his presence is still bigger than life.
He says he likes to be like the old song, "Brighten the Corner where you are" and he does just that wherever he travels, and especially here on our little spot on the map.
As we left the restaurant feeling a little brighter, I was reminded of the Alabama song, Down Home:
A little dot on a state road map
That's where I was born & where I'll die
Things move at a slower pace
Nobody's in a rat race
And these days that's a special way to fly
Down home where they know you by name
and treat you like family
Down home a man's good word
and a handshake are all you need
Folks know if they're fallin on hard times
they can fall back on
Those of us raised up down home
See and Hear Colonel Poole!
Poole's BBQ website
Poole's BBQ is even immortalized in an oil painting in the Morris Museum of Art, Augusta Georgia
