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PAGE 6 THE SOI THERN ISRAELITE \pril 9. I9H2
CERTIFIED MOHEL
Cantor Akiva Ostrovsky
approved by leading
rabbis and doctors
>Ji 'SHli
CALL 636-7303
24-hour answering service
ifl
family and adult living
• Spacious 2 & 3 bedroom
• Smallest Apt.—a big 1400 sq. ft.
• Fully Equipped Kitchens • On MARTA Line
• 15 Mins to Downtown • Swimming Pool
• Washer-Dryer Connections
• Convenient to Synagogues
• Walking distance to Hebrew Academy
2998 Buford Highway [lust off North Druid Hills Rd.)
636-5941
Polo |
for Bo/s
Suits
Sportcoats
Blazers
Lauren
Dress Shirts
Knit Shirts
Madras Shirts
Ties
Belts
Socks
For Boys
BUCKHEAO
3047 Peachtree Rd.
(Opposite Sears)
233-6759
ROSWELL VILLAGE
Roswell, Ga.
at Hoirombe Bridge Rd.
993-7003
SANDY SPRINGS
PLAZA
6261 Roswell Rd.
255-6224
PRESENTING THE GRAND
OPENING OF
SPIROS’
RESTAURANT
M
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Featuring Authentic Gourmet Greek Cuisine
And Live Greek Music With Belly Dancers
Six Nights A Week. Monday - Saturday.
Hours: Lunch 11:00-2:30 p.m. Mon.-Fri.
Featuring Special Luncheon
Dinner 6:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.
Monday thru Saturday
Tell us If You Have Ever Tasted Better!
2891 E. Ponce De Leon. Decatur
(Near MARTA Avondale Station) .
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ta
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[IfcMfiMIMo
371-8320
A sight for sore eyes
by I red Kirsch
Norfolk I*dger-Star
Rfpnincd with permission
This stor\ is excerpted front a
June II. 1981. article published in
the Norfolk Da) Ledger-Star On
a local note. Mrs Spandorfer is the
mother of Mrs Chick ie ftp!on
and the grandmother of John
I ipton. both of Atlanta. — Editor
NORFOLK. Va. Ihegold lettering
on the front door is almost
completely faded now It takes a
minute or two of squinting even
with 20/20 vision—before the
name begins lo come into focus.
B A. Spandorfer, Optician
But Bessie Albert Spandorfer is
in.
Just like she’s been since the
Franklin Optical Company
opened its freshly lettered door
and started fitting folks for
spectacles back in 1928 when
Bessie was “probably the only
woman optician in this whole part
of the state.”
"Now where else,” said 82-year-
old Bessie Spandorfer, looking up
from adjusting a pair of frames for
a customer one morning last week,
“would I be?”
Egg
PATCH
Parkaire Mall
971-9542
serving Marietta, Sandy
Springs & Roswell
Dogs & Cats Groomed
Pet Supplies
No Tranquilizers
Pets Like Us
AND NOW
ffil SlOftfi
90 Peachtree PI.. N.E.
876-5635
serving Buckhead, Ansley
Park & Midtown
Bessie Spandorfer
She was wearing a crisp, print
dress, a pair of gold earrings and
her silver hair was done up in a
braided bun. A hint of perfume
hung in the air.
Where else would Bessie be?
Well, there were some who
thought that maybe, afty 46years,
she might have put the lock on the
old gray building and moved away
to Atlanta or Roanoke to be with
her children when Sam, her former
partner and ex-husband, died
seven years ago.
After all, she was almost 75. But
when it came time for reading the
retirement on the wall, it turned
out Bessie had a bad case of
myopia
"Retire 7 " said Bessie, taking a
break in her schedule of
appointments. “It was something 1
never considered. You retire from
work, not from pleasure. And not
from what's been your whole life.
“People sometimes ask me
where I would have gone if 1 didn't
stay here and keep the place open 1
suppose 1 would have gone
bananas."
And so, Bessie Albert
Spandorfer is running the place
practically bv hersell these days
With just the help of a receptionist,
she keeps the books, does all the
fittings and minor repairs and
takes care of her fourth generation
of customers.
And, as always, she still stays
open till I p.m. on Saturdays so
“the people who work all week can
get down here to see me ”
Not everyone who comes down
to see Bessie comes in for a pair of
frames. Some of her regulars stop
by to drop off clothes for the needy
or whatever charitv Bessie's
working for and others stop bv to
drop into one of the gray sofas
in the waiting room to tell her their
troubles. But whatever the reason,
everyone leaves with a better
outlook on life.
A poster of a woman in a bikini
modeling the latest eyewear
fashion from Paris reclines tn the
window.
“Fakes awhile," said Bessie,
pointing to a number of people
gathered in front of the display,
“to notice the frames It's part of
the new stuff companies send you
now Used to be that glasses were
to see with."
Used to be that glasses were
made of glass and frames came in
“black or plain." Now there are
hundreds of different shaped and
colored frames that sit in row after
row in Bessie’s display racks.
Bessie’s all for making you look
good. But at Franklin Optical,
glasses are still for seeing with. You
don’t get back out on the street
until B A. Spandorfer, optician, is
satisfied
“I’m a perfectionist,” she said,
whipping out a ruler and
informing her visitor he had “quite
a narrow distance between your
pupils. Almost beady.”
“My glasses have to fit right,
look right and be right If I get
lenses from the lab that aren’t just
right. I’m on the phone to them.
They’ll say, ‘They check out to our
tolerance level ’ I tell them, ‘You
might be able to tolerate them but I
can’t,’ and back they go."
Most of her regulars like Mae
Melbourne, who first dropped in
to Franklin Optical in November
of '40, or Clark Pollard, who
stopped by for a check-up in June
'44 know enough to let Bessie
decide if large, wrap-around
frames or rose-colored ones are
best or “that nose bridge isn’t quite
right.”
But sometimes some of these
first-generation customers have
other ideas.
"Probably nine of 10 people go
out of here with what 1 think they
should,” said Bessie “ rhose who
don’t get my opinion on the subject
but it’s their choice.
“But 1 write that down on their
card and when they come in three
or four weeks later saying their
glasses aren't quite right, I just pull
my records and show them the
evidence And that usually takes
care of the matter I write down
everything."
Almost everything. There are no
records in those neat file drawers in
the back room of how many times
in the last 50 years Bessie has paid
for frames out of her own pocket,
given customers "special
discounts" that didn't exist and
made house calls to people too sick
to come in
“Don’t make it out io he anv big
thing.” said Bessie, gently removing
the glasses off the nose in front of
her so "we can take a look at those
loose bows (sidcpieces)."
“I didn't have to starve or go
without to do those things. They
were just little things I could do to
make things a bit easier for people.
That's what this business is all
about I've been fortunate to have
been in a profession where 1 could
help people."
Bessie Albert probably would
have been a nurse if Sam
Spandorfer hadn't taken to
hanging around Albert’s Market,
straightening out the shelves and
keeping an eye on the owner's
daughter.
When Sam got his optician's
license and opened shop a few years
after they were married, Bessie
decided to study for her license,
too.
“1 always knew I wanted a
Continued next page.