By Staff
Giles thanks city for hospitality
I am making the most of passing this way, for who knows when I will again. I first stumbled into this little town called Atmore in March of 2002.
As an English woman abroad I knew no one except my husband to be. After a pleasant, but lonely stay in a local motel I returned home. Later that same year I once again arrived in Atmore to arrange my marriage to my husband Arthur and stayed three weeks.
Driving along Hwy. 21 on a daily basis I would often smile when I passed the roadside sign "Welcome to Atmore, Old Friends and New Beginnings." Little did I know how deeply significant this would become to me. I also noted along this same highway another roadside sign, "Royal Oaks Bed and Breakfast," and would gaze wistfully at this charming little hotel and endeavored to contact the proprietor for future visits. During the autumn of 2003 I duly booked into The Royal Oaks and met the owner Mr. Foster Kizer. I was instantly made to feel welcome, and soon became a part of his large family, experiencing the renowned 'Southern' hospitality on a far grander scale than I could have ever envisioned. Atmore, faithful to its roadside sign, welcomed me like long lost family via a true southern gentleman. After spending numerous happy times here with the family and the many wonderful new friends I have made here, I am deeply humbled each time I visit. I hope my next words will touch each heart of the reader as indeed mine has so often been touched. 'Surely God in his Heaven must look down and smile upon the folks of this small town.'
Dear Atmore with its lovely inhabitants, may God bless you all indeed and thank you.
Susan Giles
Essex, England