Page 4A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Opinion
Revisiting the soul of the old Athens Varsity
WATKINSVILLE - Since the Varsity on Broad
Street in Athens closed its doors, I have not had a
chilidog and a frosted orange in many moons until
last week when I stopped by the location on Hog
Mountain Road near Watkinsville.
Believe it or not there are eight Varsity locations,
including the original establishment on North Ave
nue in Atlanta—but not one in Athens. That means
for local Varsity aficionados there is no chance of
heartburn, but we would gladly settle for that over
the frustrations that come with
Loran
Smith
having to drive twelve miles in
stead of right around the corner.
There are six additional lo
cations—Gwinnett, Kennesaw,
Dawsonville, Bethlehem, Car
tersville, and Rome—which is a
reminder that Varsity food is still
in demand.
Old timers will remember the
halcyon days when you could
drop by the downtown Varsity in
Athens for a warm welcome from
the late Epp Suddath, the impre
sario of the restaurant for many years, which means
that in many respects he was the de facto mayor of
Athens.
Nothing went on in our town in the fifties and
sixties that Epp did not know about since The
Varsity was the coffee drinking hub of the down-
town business regulars, and the UGA administrative
gang, anchored at the old Academic Building. They
gathered at the Varsity for coffee, snacks, lunch,
gossip, and small talk.
Two of the mainstays who managed the counter
and were as highly regarded in the downtown com
munity as Uga, the Bulldog mascot, were “Brown
and Doyal,” whose driver’s license identified them
as Otha Brown and Doyal Jarrett.
“Dog-talk” was on everybody’s agenda year-
round. If a player was in academic distress or was
having trouble with his girlfriend, Brown and Doyle
knew about it. They were more than behind-the-
scenes purveyors of whispers and hushed conver
sation—they were worried men “singing a worried
song.” They wanted the ‘Dogs to reign supreme.
During my recent Varsity excursion, I felt the
atmosphere was reminiscent of the past except we
were out in the country and not at arms-length of
the Arch and Barnett’s News Stand. There was one
thing missing however, and that was the time-hon
ored Varsity lingo sounding forth by the cast of the
past, led by Doyal.
If you are long in the tooth, you likely remember
many of them: A “Skeet” was a Coke; an orange
was a “squirt”; a PC was a chocolate milk with ice;
A whirlwind of events
(NOTE: This column originally appeared in the
June 18 edition of The Jackson Herald.)
The whirlwind of turmoil since January 20 has been
a lot for most people to absorb. That’s undoubtedly
by design as the Trump Administration uses a “shock
and awe” strategy to overwhelm those who object to
his Constitutional overreach and moves to consolidate
power.
Still, recent news has been extraordinary. Seldom in
the nation’s history — during peacetime — have there
Mike
Buffington
been so many events happening in
such a short period of time. It feels
like an inflection point, a moment
in history that will echo far into the
future.
Let’s consider some of those
happenings:
TRUMP’S BIRTHDAY PA
RADE: Let’s get real, last Satur
day’s military parade in the streets
of Washington had less to do with
the 250th anniversary of the Army
than it did Trump’s massive ego.
As one wag put it, the event was
like a bunch of middle school boys playing with their
toys on a playground. Trump’s idea was to projects an
image of power, but like all autocrats, such massive
displays are rooted in fear and insecurity. Despots have
large military parades because they want to intimidate
detractors. As a television celebrity, Trump was playing
to the cameras with the event, but the image that came
through was one of weakness; an insecure man hiding
behind a veneer of power. The image was one that you
see in Russia or North Korea, not America. Trump used
the Army to stoke his ego; the American military is
better than that.
THE NO KINGS PROTESTS: While Trump was
preening in Washington, thousands, if not several mil
lion, regular citizens took to the streets in towns across
the nation to protest Trump’s power grab and lawless
ness. The protests got under Trump’s skin so now he’s
dispatched ICE to do raids in large cities controlled
by Democrats as payback. But that just proves that
Trump’s critics are right, he is politicizing police power
on the streets of America. The move comes on top of
Trump’s overreaction to the Los Angles protests where
he federalized the National Guard and sent in Marines
to the city. Those actions weren’t necessary; California
has a huge amount of law enforcement trained to deal
with protests and riots. (Funny how Trump was so
quick to send in the National Guard to LA, but didn’t
do that on Jan. 6, 2021, when his followers attacked
the U.S. Capitol. I guess it’s ok to riot on behalf of
Trump?) Trump is attempting to push the limits of the
Constitution by using soldiers on American soil. He
undoubtedly wants to use the military to put down pro ¬
NIPC was a no ice PC; a “hobo soda” was a glass
of water; “Joe” was black coffee and “white Joe,”
was coffee with cream; Mayo was, “grease,” if you
wanted apple and peach pie with a scoop of vanilla,
you asked for an “Alamo”.
If you were interested in a “naked steak,” that
meant you were ordering a hamburger with nothing
on it. When Epp Suddath attended the World’s Fair
in Chicago in 1933 and learned about burlesque
dancer Sally Rand, a naked steak became a Sally
Rand.
A “C-dog,” was a regular hotdog with catsup. A
“Chilli dog walking,” was a Chilli dog to go, a “na
ked dog” was simply a hot dog and a bun.
George Suddath, Epp’s youngest son, grew up at
the Varsity and has this memory: “I can hear Doyal
right now, ‘Gimme two dogs all the way, Chilli
steak, ring, a fry, two skeets, peach, apple pie, walk
ing. Before the customer had his wallet out of his
pocket, he would have calculated the cost including
sales tax in his head. If the customer had the correct
change, he would throw the money in a washed out
two-gallon mayo jar to be counted and put into the
main cash register later.”
You may have noticed there is no signature ref
erence to a very popular Varsity staple, a hamburg
er. I have a reason for addressing this item last. A
hamburger in Varsity vernacular was a “steak.” If it
was “glorified” or “through the garden,” that mean
lettuce and tomato were added.
When in high school, our coach brought a couple
of carloads of his players to Athens. We could get
student tickets for a dollar as I recall. Lunch at the
Varsity was truly a treat, not just a filling meal, but a
cultural experience.
My memory is that a hamburger cost 15 cents
and a Coke was a dime. So, I counted out 40 cents
and meekly worked my way up to the counter from
the street and whispered to Doyal, whom I did not
know at the time, “I’d like to order two hamburgers
and a Coke.”
With that Doyal yelled out, “Pair of steaks and a
skeet.”
I immediately panicked since I did not understand
the lingo, crying out, “No, no I said hamburgers
not steaks.” Doyal could not stop laughing as I was
dumbfounded by all of the hullabaloo.
When I ordered my lunch at the Watkinsville
Varsity last week, I enjoyed my meal like always,
but when I finished, I stood aside near the counter
afterwards and bowed in memory of Brown, Doyal,
Epp and the unforgettable characters who hung out
at the Downtown Varsity as I was learning the facts
of life.
Loran Smith is a UGA announcer and a columnist
for Mainstreet Newspapers.
tests to his power grab. The day is coming, perhaps this
summer, when American soldiers kill American citizens
on the street during a protest. Trump is spoiling for a
fight on the streets, but the reaction may not be what he
thinks it will be. American soldiers shooting Americans
on American soil would doom Trump. Remember Kent
State?
MINNESOTA SLAYINGS: The political killings
of a Democratic Minnesota state representative and her
husband and the shooting of another state office and his
wife has shocked the nation. The gunman reportedly
had a hit list of people he wanted to kill. His motives
aren’t yet clear, but officials said the shootings were
political.
IMMIGRATION FLIP-FLOP: In a move that was
surprising, Trump said he would instruct ICE to stop
raiding agriculture and hospitality places. That will
snarl the Administration’s push to arrest 3,000 illegal
migrants per day which is reportedly the quota. The
major reason Trump moved beyond detaining criminals
and began snatching law-abiding migrants was to fulfill
that quota and because they are easy to arrest in em
ployment raids. By telling ICE to back off certain eco
nomic sectors, Trump is admitting that illegal migrants
are indeed important to the nation’s economy. Most
Americans want a more secure border, and they want
criminal migrants sent to their home countries, but only
the extremists want regular migrants deported. Trump’s
move to back off detaining some migrants could set up
a clash between immigration moderates and the racist
wing of MAGA led by Trump advisor Stephen Miller. I
expect Trump to flip-flop again on this issue and return
to the easy-picking ICE raids at places of employment,
especially in Blue states. We’ll know in a few months if
ICE will begin massive raids in Georgia in places like
Gainesville and Dalton which employ huge numbers of
immigrants, both legal and illegal. The poultry industry
in Georgia could be devastated if Trump decides to raid
the various processing plants in Northeast Georgia.
ISRAEL AND IRAN: Trump was supposed to fix
all the world’s wars, or so he bragged on the campaign
trail. But Russia and Ukraine are still at war and Israel
is still pounding Gaza. Now, Israel has attacked Iran in
a risky move that could spin out of control. Trump was
attempting to negotiate with Iran when Israel attacked.
By attacking when they did, Israel gave a middle-finger
to Trump. The bottom line of all that is that Trump has
been a failure at international diplomacy and has isolat
ed the U.S. from both its foes and its friends. Trump’s
only international friend is Putin, a murdering dictator.
It’s true what your mama said, you are known by your
friends.
Mike Buffington is co-publisher of Mainstreet News
papers. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.
com.
Ronda
Rich
How amazing it was
Even at the young age of 18, I watched it all in
real time. And, though I was short on years and
wisdom, I knew it was nothing short of amazing.
There is a preface to this story. It isn’t fluff. It’s
important to tell. Countless have been the times
that I have been at a speaking engagement or book
signing and had someone come through my line. It
happens almost the same way every time. The per
son will be in the middle of the line, which keeps
others waiting until, finally, five minutes in, I will
say, “Would you mind waiting
and coming back when I’ve
finished signing? I hate to hold
up all these people.”
If Tink is with me, he helps
with books but then he gets
pulled into a conversation by
that same person who asks,
“Once this book [they’re pro
posing to write] is a bestseller,
how do I turn it into a movie?
Or do I write the movie first?”
Tink, despite his 30 years in
Hollywood, is always kind and
patient. Meanwhile, I’m left
with no help at the book table. When I finish, I say,
“I’m sorry you had to wait. How may I help you?”
“I’d like your guidance on writing a book.”
I nod. “What do you want to write?” Usually,
the answer is similar to one of two: “I’m one of
many children. Daddy died and Mama raised us by
herself. I put myself through law school.”
I love those kinds of ideas. The one I hate is “I
don’t know. I just want to write a book.” Most
people write books like the ones they read. I have
a friend who devours Westerns. He’s written over
23 cowboy books.
“What do you read?” I’ll ask.
“I don’t.” Wrong answer. My reply? “Then, you
can’t write a book if you don’t read them.”
This to tell you about a woman named LaVe-
nier Hicks who wanted to write so badly that she
put everything she had into it. Her full-time job
was at a zipper plant where, after many years,
she worked her way up to plant manager before it
finally closed. She wrote freelance for our local,
daily newspaper where I worked as an intern. She
got off from work at four and, within an hour,
came running into the news room, waving pages of
stories she had written. There were days that she
wrote the entire front page even though we were
well-staffed. I remember one day, that there were
four front page stories and she had written every
one while working a full-time job.
Her ability to turn out massive quantities of
quality stories was stunning. All while working a
full-time job.
LaVenier may have had a high school degree but
I doubt she had a college diploma. Yet, she figured
out the art to crafting a captivating story then did
it over and over and over.
For $25 per assignment. Imagine working hard
on chasing down sources for days while working
full-time. She won awards. She won trust. And she
won everyone’s admiration. She was a star. She
could sniff out a story from a country mile away.
Her sources were always strong and never wrong.
She found an old man at the foot of Blood
Mountain in Lumpkin County. He had a farmer’s
stoop from all the years a mule had pulled his
plow. He handcrafted spinning wheels and fiddles
and was considered one of the best fiddle players
the Appalachians had ever produced. He took a
likin’ to LaVenier and took special care with the
table and chairs he built for her. His history, she
told with admiration and precision.
That man, our Uncle Oscar Cannon, raised dad
dy. Before she died, she wrote the book of his life
and accomplishments because she knew what she
wanted to write and what drew her.
Oh, how amazing that woman was.
Ronda Rich is the best-selling of the Stella Bank-
well Mystery series. Visit www.rondarich.com to
sign up for her free weekly newsletter.
The Braselton News
Mike Buffington Go-Publisher
Scott Buffington Go-Publisher & Advertising Manager
Ben Munro Editor
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