AL.COM ARTICLE IS LIVE... and heres the fully story of what I said :) I was contacted this morning by AL wanting a statement about our efforts and to know who was behind this page. At first I was hesitant to share my name. I wanted this to be anonymous, but there have been some not-so-positive comments received from people thinking this was orchestrated by the Thomas family, so I decided I may need to share who is behind it. Also, with the coming fundraising for the employees, I felt it was important to make sure you all knew I was not an employee either. Here is my full response to the reporter, and the link to the article that was posted: This may be more than what you are looking for, but I have a lot to say: My name is Pam Hailey. I am a 6th generation Gillespie and my family has been in Madison since the mid-1800s. With those kinds of roots, Madison and all that makes Madison what it is has always been important to me. Thomass BBQ is a major part of that. Thomass Pit BBQ is very close to my heart, as it is with most of the Madison community. Thomass is iconic and a landmark in Madison. It is one of our oldest and most loved businesses. The Save Thomas Pitt BBQ is about more than just the BBQ, potato salad and white sauce - though we do love it! Its also about saving the history and tradition that comes with a place like Thomass. Its about showing Rick that we have an attachment to Thomass that Ricks chain restaurant just wont satisfy. Its about saving a place where almost every person in the Madison area has memories that are near and dear to their hearts. Its about that hot summer day when you can smell the smoke coming from the old pit when youre driving down Wall Triana. Its about those employees who have been there for 30 or 40+ years who are now unemployed with very little, if any notice, and were then told they are welcome to APPLY for a job at Ricks - next year. We want to help them and have plans in the works to do so, even if we cant save Thomass itself. They have seen most of us grow up and have always made all of Thomass customers feel like family. It was more than just a job for them, it was their livelihood. For some of them, it has been the only place they have ever worked and all they have ever known. They made Thomass what it was and what we all loved. The way this has all happened doesnt sit well with a community like Madison. I think the rapid growth of this page is beginning to show that. The page hasnt even been active for 24 hours yet and already has over 1600 likes. Thats a pretty big statement. There are some people who sit back and think theres nothing we can do but sometimes there can be power in numbers. You never know what may happen until you try. We have received a lot of feedback from people who may be interested in buying it back from Rick if hes open to those discussions. Maybe theres still something that can be done. Maybe he just didnt realize the connection and love for Thomass we all have. Maybe he will now. We will keep trying until Thomass becomes a pile of rubble. If you visit the page, you will see we have no problem with Ricks wanting to come to Madison. Wed just like for him to reconsider taking such an important and iconic piece of our history away in order to do it. Now, lets watch those likes keep going up!
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 22:13:45 +0000
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