A family-owned restaurant is celebrating a big anniversary by saying thank you, with a side of fries.
Hale's Restaurant has been a staple on Route 11 in Shawsville.
If you believed what the specials at this restaurant are, you'd have probably eaten too.
If you want a sampling of life in Shawsville, take a seat inside Hale's Restaurant.
That is, of course, if there's a seat left.
The restaurant is celebrating its 45th birthday this week by offering some of the foods that kept it open all these years for just 45 cents.
It's got the marks of a good restaurant, or at least one that's been open for this long.
But talk to anybody who's sat at the food counter or any of these tables for the past 45 years, and they'll tell you that it's about way more than the food.
"We're always running into somebody we haven't seen in a long time," manager Cindy Hale said.
Ed and Lois Henson, both retired teachers, have been married for 67 years and counting.
"The first time I came to see her I had to carry my suitcase 8 miles. He's from Oklahoma and I'm from Virginia. And someone said that was quite an undertaking to walk 8 miles. And I told them I guess I'd walk all the way from Oklahoma if I had to,” the Hensons said.
They've been coming to Hale's as long as it's been open, together.
“I don't think it's changed a lot, it's always been a favorite place,” the Hensons said.
A favorite place because it symbolizes the importance of remembering the importance of friendship.
Who is sitting at the table nearby is important, but not for Ed and Lois Henson, not as important as who's sitting across from you.
