Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509250066
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULAKSI LENGTH: Medium
She now prepares meals all day for dozens of diners at Main Street Station, a restaurant at 20 W. Main St. which has had previous incarnations as Daynelle's Delite and Sonny's Place.
Hall, figuring the third time was the charm, bought the building in February and gave it its distinctive decor of dolls, doll dresses and other collectibles that she has acquired over the years. She hopes that kind of atmosphere, as well as generally lower prices, will draw a home-like crowd which will keep it going this time.
"I have about three tractor-trailer loads of this stuff. I have about 800 dolls," she said. Actually, she first considered opening another antiques shop in downtown Pulaski, but decided few of these items actually qualified.
She bought many of them at auctions while living in Newport News, where military personnel would sell possessions to lighten their loads when moving on. "But I do have things that belonged to my grandparents," she said.
One grandfather founded Kidd Chevrolet in 1939 in Bland County where the dealership is still going strong.
Hall was in the medical field for 28 years, working as a medical technician at Pulaski Community Hospital from 1976 to 1987, in Ohio, and at other places throughout Southwest Virginia and at Newport News where she and her husband lived most recently.
"We have a home there and I hate it," she said, laughing. Burned out administering unending blood alcohol tests and doing other medical work, she wanted to return to Southwest Virginia and kick back for a while in something unrelated to that profession.
"I like people, and I love Pulaski," she said.
Hall is an easy person with whom to talk. She finds a lot of her customers confiding in her about what is going on in their lives, "and then I forget more than I hear. Lots of times, that's best."
Some customers come from apartments right above her present location.
"I have my regulars," she said. "People upstairs eat here. I stay open extra hours for them when they're on extra shifts."
Main Street Station is currently open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. During those hours, Hall can be found bouncing to recorded music as she prepares homemade orders behind the counter and chats with customers. "They're good people and I really enjoy them," she said.
Those orders include eggs, biscuits, bacon, sausage and gravy for breakfast, and mainly salads, subs and sandwiches the rest of the day. Once she can hire some help, she hopes to offer specialties such as spaghetti, vegetable plates and meatball subs.
The restaurant business certainly hasn't meant shorter hours for Hall. Her work day may start as early as 5:30 a.m. when she is preparing a meal for a group. She usually gets out by 7 p.m. but has been known to stay as late as 10:30 p.m., especially when catering to late customers.
Her husband, Danny Lee Hall, is in construction and helps her in the restaurant between jobs. "Both of us have homes here, and have had for years," she said. They are living at his, she said, and using hers to store her collectibles. Their Newport News home is on the market "because I'm never living there again, ever," she said. "I've finished. My feet are planted .... We love to be back. We're so thrilled."
by CNB