BANKS Summer-Fall 2010
JUST THREE WEEKS AWAY! Saturday & Sunday
October 9th and 10th The 75th Reunion of the
Thomas Marion Banks Family
Remembering Lee and Alice Banks by Bobby Banks, Augusta, Georgia Born February 4, 1898, in Stephens County, Georgia, Henry “Lee” Banks was the eighth child of Thomas Marion “Bud” Banks and Georgia DeLura Acree. Lee’s industrious nature was evident as a young teenager when he landed his very first job with the railroad. Other jobs would follow, eventually leading him to build several of his own successful businesses. Lee and Alice Mozell Lamb were married in 1932. By 1935, they had two natural-born children, Robert Lee “Bobby” Banks and Annette Banks (Norman). In 1940, Lee and Alice welcomed two year old Joan (Lovingood) and Jimmy (an infant) into the family and raised them as their own. Daddy was a man of many talents. He worked on the railroad as a teen. He was a barber, and owned a restaurant, a dry cleaning plant, and several other businesses. He also designed and manufactured the first boat tie-down strap in the factory above the cleaners. I remember the time when I had just graduated from UGA with a business degree, and was heading back home with the idea that I might apply some of my recent knowledge to Dad’s business, Banks Café. I was excited about seeing business in-the-works, and asked Dad if I could take a look at his restaurant books. “I don’t use books,” he reminded me. Curiously, I asked how he could possibly run a business without keeping records, and how he determined how much to charge his customers. He sat me down to explain. He said, “I only deal in cash. I put all the cash in my pocket. When bills come due, I pay them with cash. I pay all the help with cash. I buy supplies with cash. At the end of the month, if I come up short, well, that’s when I have to raise my menu prices! Banks Café was opened 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You could get a good meal, and even spend the night on one of the bunks Dad rented out. At $1 per night, a man could stay in the barracks-type sleep area upstairs – but no women were allowed. If someone couldn’t pay, he let them stay for free. Being open for business 24/7 meant he had to double-up on staff, so I worked as one of Dad’s three cooks for a while. Floyd was one of the other cooks, and despite his love of whiskey, he did a pretty good job most of the time. Dad paid Floyd $65 a week for his work. The other cook and I each made $75 a week. That seemed unfair to me, so I asked Dad about it. He agreed to raise Floyd’s weekly pay, but had a plan. He said he would have to fire Floyd, but would give me the authority to hire him back at $75 a week. Floyd was very happy about the pay-raise. But, within a short time, Floyd started slacking, and I ended up carrying a big portion of his work. As it turns out, the extra $10 a week was going straight to his favorite beverage! Well, this pay-raise didn’t turn out quite the way I had Continued page 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Lee & Alice Banks by Joan Lovingood
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Welcome Noah Christopher Durrant
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Tim Dixon says Farewell to Army
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Lee & Alice Banks by Thomas Dixon
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Contact me with your news!! Donna Banks Dodd 3425 Spinnaker Way Acworth, GA 30102 678-574-7071
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