The Stable
It was 51 years ago, in March of 1973, when Mom and Dad opened the Stable. They had managed the Hotel Mary-Etta, located just a half block north of the Stable, for nine years. The Mary-Etta was a thriving business, but Mom and Dad did not own the building, and the landlord did not want to put any money into it for any remodeling or other upgrades. Additionally, Mom and Dad were just spread too thin, managing dozens of employees, and running the hotel business (with both overnight guests and permanent renters who lived in apartments or single rooms), the cafe and tavern, the on-site major events and weekly service club meetings, and catered off-site events. So, sometime around 1970, Dad bought the building that eventually became the Stable. It was a sound brick building, divided into two separate business sites by a solid brick wall, and littered with the remains of an old bar on one side, and various trash on the other side. My brother, Dan, who was a young teen at the time, was electe...