Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 10, 1995 TAG: 9510100114
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE LENGTH: Long
He was tall and blond, handsome and more than just a little familiar. Heck, he even wore his trademark white Stetson.
It had to be him.
He's the kind of guy who'd stop at a place like Briz's, with its thick milkshakes and beer-joint atmosphere.
It was Aug. 6, a quiet Sunday afternoon, the perfect time to duck into one of the local establishments without causing a fuss. Nobody was eating. The only people there were the waitress (Shires), the cook on duty - Garnett Benevides - and a couple of guys playing pool in the back room who didn't pay any attention.
He had pulled up in a red Jeep. The canvas was down, and it was loaded with camping gear. He wasn't alone. He was traveling with a woman. Probably his wife, Shires said, although she declined to describe the woman just in case it wasn't his wife.
``Hi,'' he said as they walked in.
It had to be him.
They chose a table next to the jukebox and he took a seat with his back to the door. He ordered a Coke and a steak hoagie with mushrooms, cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise. The woman also got a Coke, plus a double cheeseburger with everything. They shared a side of tater tots.
After Shires took their order, she said, they played pinball until the food arrived, choosing "Space Station" over the "Taxi" machine.
Back in the kitchen, Benevides thought Shires was putting her on. But the waitress was adamant. After all, she had worked concessions at the Salem Civic Center, so she would know. And stranger things have happened. Once, the Southern Gospel Quartet ate at Briz's.
They agreed that Benevides would take the order out to their table for verification. She said it looked like him, all right.
Shires speculated that they must have come to Craig County to camp.
``I mean it's pretty country, and a pretty town and everything, who wouldn't want to camp in the woods around here?''
The bill for the hoagie, double cheeseburger and all came to $9.65 before tax. When he walked up to the cash register to pay the check, Shires could no longer contain herself.
``Can I get your autograph?'' she asked.
``Sure,'' he said.
He signed a spare guest check: ``Enjoyed the food at Briz's. Alan Jackson.''
He left a $2 tip. Maybe it was $2.50. Shires can't remember for sure.
But she sticks by her story.
It was him.
A photocopy of the autograph is posted behind the cash register at Briz's, along with a copy of the check showing what the man and his companion ordered that day.
For a few weeks afterward, Briz's advertised the brush with celebrity on the sign in the parking lot: Alan Jackson Ate Here.
The only trouble is, Alan Jackson probably did not eat there.
Anita Mandell, a spokesman for Jackson's management company in Nashville, said the singer was in California on Aug. 6, playing the Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles.
That hasn't stopped the rumors. People around New Castle will say they heard that Jackson ate at Briz's, and most are willing to believe it.
Some say it wasn't Briz's where he ate; it was C&M Grocery, where he fixed himself a hot dog to go. Or maybe it was that he ate at Briz's and was still hungry, so he chased his hoagie with a hot dog.
And word on the street is that it wasn't a Jeep he rode into town in; it was an $80,000 Harley-Davidson.
There's even a rumor that he stopped at someone's house to borrow candles for his camping trip.
Yet the most persistent rumor by far has been this: The real reason Jackson was in town was to buy Craig County's largest farm, the Black Diamond Ranch on Johns Creek.
More than one person will say they heard that Hershel Stone announced from his pulpit one Sunday that Jackson did indeed buy the ranch. Stone is the pastor at Johns Creek Christian Church, which is next to the Black Diamond.
Only Pastor Stone said he never announced anything about Jackson from his pulpit. ``I wouldn't do that,'' he said. ``It certainly wouldn't be the place.'' As far as he's concerned, the rumors are just that - rumors.
New Castle Realtor Don Charlton, who had the Black Diamond Ranch listed for sale, said Jackson is not buying the ranch.
At the courthouse, Circuit Court Clerk Peggy Elmore said there has been no activity on the deed to the property. She also said this isn't the first time a country music star had supposedly bought the Black Diamond. According to rumor, Vince Gill bought it a few years back.
``You don't know how these things get started, or why,'' Elmore said.
The autograph posted on the wall at Briz's turns out to be suspect, as well. Jackson's signature on the guest check doesn't match the one on his most recent album, ``Who I Am.'' In fact, it's not even close.
Somewhere, there is someone who looks an awful lot like Alan Jackson, and who played along.
But bless Carol Shires' heart. She saw what she saw. It was him.
``I'm not lying,'' she said.
by CNB