TOM AND PAT...
Not long after we started the fish fry out of the back of the Mackin building an older couple named Tom and Pat started coming to buy fish every Friday. That was back when I worked the window taking orders and Shawn worked the fryers in the back making the fish and fries. Tom was always friendly, making small talk, asking about what we were doing with the Mackin, saying how great it was to have it back open for the neighborhood. They used to buy two fish plates and one fish sandwich. The two fish plates they wanted in one bag and the fish sandwich by itself in the another. The one in the single bag they bought for their son, who was working at his job. At that time Tom had just turned 80 and Pat was three years younger.
They came every Friday, always with a smile and always ordered the same thing. There was something about Tom that always seemed so familiar to me, his humor, his quick compliments, his shorter stature, they reminded me of similar men I had grown up around down in North Carolina living near my grandparents. He was just like any number of my grandparents’ friends, gathering for coffee every Monday morning at the Hardee’s in town, or like their friends from Savannah they went to the Master’s golf tournament with every year. Tom was a welcome and comforting face every Friday when I saw him and Pat enter through the old beat up back door of the Mackin building, shaking the dust from the gravel parking lot off their shoes as they came in. He immediately brought a feeling of home to me, encouragement in the face of a lot of adversity. It was not surprising to learn that Tom was a veteran, or that he spent 36 years at the same job at the Louisville Water company, or that he loved his community, having lived in Portland his entire life with a large boisterous family full of laughter, love and Portland Pride.
Tom and Pat in the Smoky Mountains December 2021
Over the years Tom and Pat never missed a Friday. Even when we moved the fish fry over to the newly purchased St Cecilia church. When Porkland opened, we still only saw them on Fridays. As Catholics, it felt weird to come get fish any other day of the week, Friday was their day, it became a weekly family tradition. Once Porkland opened I saw Tom and Pat less, as I wasn’t working the register anymore. Love City grew and others took my place taking orders and getting to know neighbors that became regulars. A few weeks ago, I asked Ethan, who oversees the Fish Fry now, if he had seen Tom and Pat recently. He replied that it had been quite a while since he had seen them, maybe a couple of months. I had noticed Pat had continued to post infrequently on Facebook, she used to comment on every fish fry post about how yummy the food was. I don’t remember how we found out, I think another neighbor mentioned it to Ethan, but news spread that Tom had passed away at the age of 87 the second week of October. I immediately reached out to Pat once I had found out a few days after he had passed away. She responded and said Tom had been battling cancer, and that was why they hadn’t been to the fish fry in a while. I wrote her back and said if there was anything she needed to let me know, I’d be happy to bring her some fish.
The next morning, I received a message from Pat’s Facebook account. It was her son, the one who they always bought fish for that worked on Fridays. He said that his wife had gone over to the house to check on Pat and had found her, she had passed away the night before, only nine days after Tom passed away. I was stunned, but not so very sad, what would be better than to not have to be in this world very long after the one you love the most leaves it. In reading their obituaries I learned even more about Tom and Pat. They had been married for 66 years. Pat was just 18 and Tom 21 when they got married. They built a family, had two sons and a grandson, and lived in Portland their entire lives. They had a quiet life, loving their family and their neighbors and community. They built a home and a family, and they encouraged. They encouraged me every Friday when I saw that back door open and them walk in, they were known as the neighborhood grandparents, loving on all the kids (and their parents) that lived near them. I never did get a chance to tell Tom and Pat what an encouragement they were to me, especially in those early days of Love City, when it felt like we were walking through concrete just trying to love our neighbors. Just their presence made me feel like I could continue, like it was ok to be here, I was loved by the people here and this was now home too. I like to think that Tom knew that by the way I would smile when they came into the room, he knew that I was happy to see them and even in that short interaction every Friday of ordering fish we were family too.
MIGHTY MAKERS
Mighty Makers from left to right: Aiden Korb, Peyton Shoemaker, Madison Crowe, Hayden Hibbard and Baylinn Korb. Love City Staff assistants Dalton Kickey and Sebastian Hudspeth in the back row.
In keeping with the mission of Love City, we like to say that we are building a community and Mighty Oak Academy just happens to be a part of that community. We want students that are problem solvers and lifelong learners, and use their talents, abilities, and skills to improve their own community. To that end, we created an after-school group for our middle schoolers called Mighty Makers. The group is led by Martin, who does double duty as our Love City facilities manager and STEM class teacher at Might Oak. The goal of Mighty Makers is to give students hands on experience with not only learning skills such as carpentry, but also how to use those skills to better the community. We have just over 20 middle schoolers and could only take about 5 for the group. Students had to submit a written application and go through an interview to be selected to be in Mighty Makers. Almost all the middle schoolers applied, and one day a few weeks ago, Martin, Shawn, and Ethan, interviewed them all, wanting to know why they wanted to be a part of the group, and what community meant to them. They narrowed it down to 6 students, and the inaugural group of the Mighty Makers began.
They meet for two hours on Mondays and Wednesdays, tackling whatever projects are needed around the campuses of Love City. With over 100,000 square feet of space and at least 2 acres of urban property to maintain, there is never a shortage of projects to be completed. Last week they focused on clearing leaves from all the properties, this week, they went into the garage that has been turned into a wood shop and learned some carpentry skills, making sawhorses from scraps that will be used in a lot of projects going forward. Martin taught the group how to measure twice and cut once. Sawhorses must be very accurate in terms of size or any project you use them for will be off. The team focused in, hunkered down, and made their sawhorses to exact specifications. One they made their sawhorses, they used them to measure and cut some boards to board up a door on a house owned by Love City across the street from the school. Earlier this week some squatters had broken into the house and were living there, causing a fire hazard and danger to all the surrounding houses. Skills and community coming together to build up a neighborhood!
This year’s Mighty Maker crew is: Aiden and Baylinn Korb, Peyton Shoemaker, Kingston Brinson, Madison Crowe, and Hayden Hibbard.
From top clockwise: Sebastian helps Madison with a measurement, Baylinn Korb uses a triangle to mark a 2x4, Baylinn screws together pieces of the sawhorse with Hayden looking on, Kingston, Hayden, and the Korb twins work with Sebastian and Dalton to install a board on a door, Madison measures a 2x4.
FISH FRYDAY!
Today is FRYDAY! We are open from 11am - 7pm. Come stop by to grab a fresh fish sandwich for lunch or dinner!
2519 St Cecilia St
502-890-5988
11am - 7pm
Dine In, Take Out, Curbside
If you are interested in volunteering or to find out more information about supplies needed please email: info@lovecityinc.org or call (502) 272-078.
Please consider partnering financially with Love City. We are looking for sponsors for students at Mighty Oak Academy as well as partners to help fund construction of our new preschool. Click the button below to donate today.