35 years ago
Bartlett author’s first book published
After 17 years of the author’s waiting through countless refusals by publishers, five different titles, and two months of rewriting love scenes, the novel “Belle Glen” rolled off New York presses during the first week of 1979. It was the first published work for Karen Kimpel-Johns, the Bartlett resident who wrote the 320-page book released this month by the paperback subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich publications. Seeing her novel on bookshelves was like a little girl’s fantasy dream coming true, and she cried when her first copies of her book arrived.
20 years ago
City Action Center has new director
With the departure of the City of Bartlett’s former director of the mayor’s Action Center — Mrs. Liz Brassell Robinson — during the first week of 1994, the job of dealing with complaints about city departments and services has been taken over by Steve Sims.
Sims is used to being in such a position, however, because of his previous job with the city. “I was handling a lot of complaints over in the water department, and that’s what this job is kind of all about,” Sims said.
Mrs. Robinson is leaving her job as action center director to begin work as the Grenada County, Miss., Chamber of Commerce’s director of community development. “I’m sorry to be leaving all of my friends, but I think Steve is going to do a good job,” Mrs. Robinson said. “He’s got a good sense of humor, which the person in this job has got to have to hear complaints all day.”
10 years ago
Former NFL star calls Bartlett home
Bartlett residents might think they know every celebrity in town. But there is one man who walks up and down Old Brownsville Road every day that you might not notice.
He was one of the top defensive football players in the NFL 30 years ago. Claude Humphrey, 58, chosen third overall in the 1968 draft, resides in the Highland of Bartlett Condos and has gone almost unnoticed as he takes his daily walks. The retired player spends his days walking and playing checkers. But Claude Humphrey has done a few special things in the past.
1 year ago
Now that’s a sandwich …
In a community all too familiar with fast food fare, where creativity is a choice between white or wheat, a restaurant with a misleading name provides a fresh selection of palate-pleasing grilled sandwiches at a price that won’t bust your budget.
The Gelato Cafe, tucked off the intersection of Stage Road and Bartlett Boulevard in the Towne Center strip mall, is as unique as its owners.
Egyptian immigrants JuJu and Victor Garada have built a business with a menu as pleasing as the owner’s personalities. Spotless and spot-on, The Gelato Cave’s menus selection is a mixture of Italian and Middle Eastern tastes married to American expectations.
