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PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. JUNE 30. 2022
Lawson Self Storage
Al Lawson 1188 Talking Rock Rd
Office 706-253-1188 Jasper, GA 30143
Cell 770-893-7221 allawson3@gmail.com
Mechanic
charging for
unauthorized
repairs
From Georgia Department
of Law's Consumer
Protection Division
Dear Consumer Ed:
Can a mechanic make re
pairs to your vehicle that
were not discussed and
agreed to ahead of time and
charge you for them?
Consumer Ed says:
No, a mechanic should not
charge you for different re
pairs to your vehicle that are
unrelated to the repairs that
were discussed and agreed to
by you ahead of time. If you
bring your car in for one
issue and the mechanic finds
an unrelated problem, the
mechanic needs to get your
permission before doing ad
ditional work.
You should always ask for
a written estimate from the
mechanic that specifies the
repairs to be made and the es
timated cost. The estimate is
proof that you and the me
chanic understood the prob
lem that needed to be fixed.
Of course, mechanics will
sometimes find that the issue
you brought the car in for is
more involved than expected
and the actual cost to repair
that issue will be more than
the original estimated cost. In
that situation you are still re
sponsible for paying the me
chanic, even though the cost
is more than estimated.
If you paid for the unau
thorized work already and
want to be refunded, or you
refused to pay and the me
chanic is trying to collect
payment, you should con
sider contacting an attorney.
And before you take your car
to the shop again, consider
taking a look at Consumer
Ed’s guide to car repairs and
maintenance. You can also
submit a complaint to the
Georgia Department of
Law’s Consumer Protection
Division by visiting con-
sumer.ga.gov or by calling
404-651-8600.
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The Lodge at Old Mill part of larger trend
of venues giving new life to old buildings
photo from The Lodge at Old Mill website
An opening preview event showed off the mountain contemporary style at the events
venue of Old Mill White Road in Jasper.
By Dan Pool
Editor
dpool@pickensprogress.com
David Jones, a commer
cial realtor from Roswell,
was closing in on retirement
a few years back. His former
neighbor Michael O’Bryan
had already retired and was
living in Big Canoe when
they went to lunch.
Jones said O’Bryan asked
him if he had anything inter
esting in the works, and
Jones mentioned that he had
seen a 10,000-square-foot
timber frame building nearby
that would be perfect for an
events venue.
Thus in 2020 a partner
ship formed which led to The
Lodge at Old Mill located at
230 Old Mill White Road in
Jasper. The building formerly
housed Lakota Cove, a furni
ture store.
Giving a weekday walk
ing tour/interview of the
mountain contemporary-
style event and wedding
venue, Jones said neither he
nor O’Bryan had direct event
experience, which may have
been a good thing, as they
started with a blank slate and
a flexibility to work with
anyone using their own
caterers or outside compa
nies that customers may re
quest.
“It’s really exciting work
ing with people and having a
role in big events whether it’s
a wedding, anniversary, cor
porate events or some other
event,” said Jones. “It’s fun
to be part of it.”
Obviously any partner
ship revolving around public
events forming in 2020 met a
quick roadblock with the
pandemic. Since opening to
the public in October of
2021, The Lodge at Old Mill
has been making up for lost
time with most weekends in
spring and fall already
booked and more people
looking at winter and sum
mer bookings. “There was so
much pent up demand,”
Jones said. There is a lot of
business for all event venues
but also a lot of competition,
forcing them to put out a
good product and at a good
price, he said.
On a recent weekday tour,
Jones showed off numerous
rooms and configurations all
in a very neat cabin style
known as mountain contem
porary featuring hand-carved
doors, high ceilings, lots of
stained wood beams and
plenty of windows opening
onto garden areas suitable for
outdoor events.
The spacious facility with
a separate “Man Cave” for
groom events and pre-wed-
ding area could legally ac
commodate 425, but Jones
said they made a decision to
limit it to 350 which their
parking, security and bath
rooms can comfortably han
dle.
Most weddings thus far
have been between 100 and
250 people but they have
spaces and partitions to suit
any sized wedding party.
“We can compartmentalize
and handle 50 people and
make it seem like a comfort
able crowd and go on up to
350,” Jones said.
On July 2, the community
will get a chance to see their
prime outdoor area in action
with a concert featuring Jeff
Taylor, Mark Miller, Drew
Lawson. The event is limited
to 250, see ad on picken-
sprogress.com for link to
tickets and more informa
tion. The concert will feature
concessions provided by the
venue.
Jones said they hosted one
concert last year and hope to
hold about one a month this
summer. “There is so much
local talent and so much de
seeking to tie the knot had to
delay ceremonies and par
ties.
This demand has led to a
number of unusual facilities
being converted into wed
ding venues all across Geor
gia. “These non-typical
wedding/event venues have
given rise to small towns re
vitalizations of buildings that
were not suitable for tradi
tional retail,” he said.
At the Lodge, they use
their blank slate approach,
accommodating any special
request and budget.
Asking the price of a
wedding, Jones says would
be asking the price of a car -
it varies so much, it’s impos
sible to answer. People can
go big with a full bar, bar
tender, special lighting and
band or they can come in
with a DJ and their own bar
tender and keep the price
much lower.
“We have had some wed
ding parties spend more on
flowers than others did on
the entire wedding,” he said.
Jones said their task is
walking a fine line between
giving the bride her once-in-
a-lifetime special day and
staying within Mom and
Dad’s budget.
The Lodge uses experi
enced wedding professional
Debbie Ley to coordinate
weddings and has a full
range of caterers, florists
available.
Jones said they are work
ing to build up the corporate
events side of the business
and have hosted several busi
ness gatherings and team
building workshops from At
lanta companies. He notes
the Lodge may be a good dis
tance from the city, but being
just off Cove Road on Old
Mill White Road it’s easy to
find.
For more information
see their website at
https://lodgeatoldmill.com.
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“These non-typical wedding/event venues have given
rise to small town revitalizations of buildings that were not
suitable for traditional retail, ” says David Jones an owner
and partner at the The Lodge at Old Mill.
Pent-up demand from the pandemic explains part of the
surge in wedding venues at this time, according to owners
of the 10,000 square foot Lodge at Old Mill.
CorLSU-irLer
The Lodge owners hope to have concerts once a month
this summer at their outdoor stage.
sire to get and about and see
performances in outdoor set
tings. We have a great natural
setting here we want to share
with the community.”
The Lodge will also host
Kurt Lee Wheeler and his
trio on August 14th at 6 p.m.
Tickets will be available for
purchase at EventBrite.com.
Weddings thus far have
been the bread and butter of
the operations and Jones of
fered some insight into the
booming wedding industry.
Right now much of the boom
comes from the backlog
COVID created when people
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