Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on November 29, 2018.

“We’ve always been closed on Thanksgiving so employees can have the day off,” said Cheri Baker, the owner of the 1930s classic Tuggles Gap Restaurant and Motel at the Blue Ridge Parkway/Route 8 juncture.  But this year was different.  It was Baker’s 25th year anniversary at the establishment, and she decided to host a customer appreciation Community Thanksgiving celebration.  The restaurant provided the turkey and fixings and friends and neighbors brought pot luck dishes.  The turnout was larger than expected, Baker said.

Baker (right) poses with Lin Williams, who helped with food preparation.   Williams is the daughter of Liz Stucki, who Baker cites as the inspiration behind the restaurant’s Thanksgiving potluck.  Stucki headed up a community Thanksgiving potluck at the VFW Hall for many years during the 1990s.

Danny Davis, a Tuggles Gap regular, said the people at the restaurant “feel like family.” As patrons dined, Davis sang his signature song that he wrote for the restaurant, Tuggles Gap, which espouses the restaurant’s hospitality and their breakfast burritos (his favorite). Listen HERE.

A diner from Riner served up some dessert after dinner.  He heard about the restaurant’s community Thanksgiving through a friend. “It sounded like fun and we’re having fun,” he said.

Conversation was part of the meal, and some diners made new friends.