This has been a sad and frustrating day on many fronts…but the event that caps it all off is today at Applebee’s…the one on Central and 694 in Fridley… A few years ago, the manger at that time was Denise and she was interested in my efforts to honor June who had died in 2008 from Alzheimer’s…I had requested permission to place a card dispenser at the front reception desk that contained what I call “June’s Alzheimer’s Awareness Cards.” This was agreed upon and I would visit Applebee’s at least once a week for a meal as a thank you and as a means of checking the card dispenser and replenishing the cards…All was fine and everything was going as expected and hoped for… Denise took a special liking to my portrayal of June and my efforts to promote her memory as well as promote Alzheimer’s awareness, funding and research… One day Denise surprised me by designating a special booth in June’s honor and requested a picture of June to place at the back of the booth…she even placed small brass plates on the wood frames of the booths seats at the back with both June’s and my names on them. I was more than touched and as a result tried to be better than an average customer on having meals more than once a week at this location…the word got around and even some of our friends would come there for a meal and request to sit in “June’s “ special booth… Well all went well until new management took over at several levels…Last week they closed for three days for remodeling and a new face lift inside and out… As a part of this remodeling, they did away with June’s booth and her picture and eliminated all “neighborhood” type touches to the establishment…this included the removal of a wall display in the waiting area of a “Medal of Honor” winner from Columbia Heights, his story and picture…so June was not the only casualty in the obvious “Out with the Old and in with the New”… Unfortunately it is an event that leaves me feeling very down and discouraged…a step backwards…I understand the corporate need for change to meeting the present economic and social trends but is trashing the local and personal accent the way to go…unfortunately, perhaps it is...
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 22:06:52 +0000
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