Downtown: Doug's celebrates 10 years; Honeycream now 4. Banks: Later, Greater.
River Remedy hosts soft opening on Broad Street. More on Greater Community Bank's rebranding on Aug. 4. Rants (MTG vs. weather) & Raves (healthcare)
Another “BOGO newsletter week” update including:
Broad Street today: Doug’s Deli Downtown celebrates 10 years while Honeycream clocks in at four … River Remedy stages soft opening in 200 block.
Banking interest: Almost two years after the purchase was official, Greater Community Bank is transitioning into local offices of LGE Community Credit Union.
Rants & Raves: MTG trades space lasers for a war on “altering weather.” Rome’s top quality of life asset? Healthcare.
Thank you x 400: We’ve gone from zero to 400 subscribers in a quick six months. We thank you for your trust and support as we prepare for the next steps.
Dining
The best cure for a “slow news day” is a walk or cruise along downtown Rome’s Broad Street. There’s always something: Openings, closings, anniversaries or a well-intentioned idea that just adds clutter.
Broad Street doesn’t need the gloss; it has plenty going for it and here are the latest examples:
Doug’s Deli Downtown marks a ‘decadent’ decade: By decadent, we mean a slew of incredible baked goods to go with the famous turkey sandwich, a newly added tomato sandwich, chicken salad, a booming supper club and the most recent addition, Doug’s at Berry Crossing, home to some of the best burgers in the region.
It all began 10 years ago today, July 10, at 606 Broad St. They’re celebrating the milestone today. How so?
“We will be doing $10 combos, free cake slices and free cookies! All the Bowlings will be in house. Just a big festive day!”
That’s Bowling as in namesake Doug, wife Julie, son Ben and his bride Whitney —and more. They took a gamble on the onetime home of Great Harvest and before that, Bella Luna. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday through much of Saturday are augmented by catering and tasty heat-and-eat dinners for two or four.
And then there’s the decorative cookies, celebrating about any occasion (including their own). And slices of cake as well as several sizes of “full” cakes for birthdays.
All that came about even with a pandemic in the middle as well as growing competition around town.
That was countered in part by the arrival of Doug’s at Berry Crossing, especially a hit with employees and patients of Rome’s “Medical Mile” and Berry College. You’ll struggle to find a better burger in town.
Fantastic four: Another milestone for Rome’s downtown. Honeycream celebrates the fourth anniversary of its July 9, 2021, opening today (Thursday) with “a piccolo gelato for the original $4 price from 12-7 p.m.” Mike and Christie Meyer have made it a destination.
Draught picks: River Remedy has closed its Glenn Milner site and staged a Wednesday night soft opening at 241 Broad St. In December 2021, River Remedy opened across from Georgia Highlands’ James D. Maddox Heritage Hall just off the banks of the Etowah River. It quickly became a hangout, a home for local hands and a de facto base for the ever-growing fleet of food trucks.
Expansion plans and options have been in the works for several years but that changed with the exit of Game of Throwns, opening up a spot on Broad Street’s red-hot 200 block. Check the Facebook page for expanded details.
Business, Ink
Later, Greater, as LGE era begins: The signs were everywhere. The closing of the popular Second Avenue office set for July 18. A blinking billboard announcing more changes on the way. A building permit issued June 30. Openings and closings of the Cartersville offices.
And now an oversize, 36-page magazine in the mail of many customers of Greater Community Bank makes what you’ve earlier read here official: “On Aug. 4, 2025, GCB officially becomes LGE! Here’s your guide to what’s changing (and what’s staying the same.”
The switch comes just shy of the 30th anniversary of Greater Rome Bank’s founding by Tom Caldwell and crew in 1996 — and almost two years to the date of when LGE Community Credit Union’s bid to buy the bank became official.
The mailer, in human terms, walks customers through what changes to expect and what happens next. One change is guaranteed: In 2026, a new Riverbend office will replace the Second Avenue location closing July 18.
In context: As for Rome’s financial community, the changes almost mirror all the transition we’ve seen in the healthcare industry in recent years.
Rants & Raves
Rave to our ready access to excellent healthcare: Call it a confluence of care. We’ll skip the TMI details on six or so weeks of mostly scheduled healthcare visits. We’ll summarize by saying it was head to toe (teeth, back/legs and, yes, tail). Everything is good — most of the “healthcare bingo” was a scheduling fluke — but the key was knowing every stop was with medical professionals who are caregivers — and friends. Healthcare access is the top item on our list of local quality of life items (and we have some great pet care, too).
Rant to those believing MTG’s weather panic: Her desperation to deflect concerns about weather service cuts amid the horrific flooding in Texas would ban attempts to alter “weather, temperature, climate or sunlight intensity.” So what’s Alabama weather guru James Spann’s analysis? “Cloud seeding did not cause last week’s Texas floods. Cloud seeding can only enhance rain from existing clouds . . . it cannot create massive deluges. The flooding stemmed from a stalled weather system . . .this was fueled by moisture from Tropical Storm Barry, Gulf air and hill‐country geography notorious for flash floods.” Yeah but what about those space lasers . . .
Newsletter updates: 400 ‘thank yous’ and counting
We tucked this Substack idea in our back pocket a few years ago after enjoying what veteran Washington newsman Jamie Dupree had been doing with Regular Order.
We didn’t really plan to jump into this until we found “retirement” a little tiring while the tips and leads continued to flow. So we started posting in January, not knowing what to expect.
This week, we surpassed 400 free and paid subscribers — and we remain both stunned and grateful.
We’ve anxious to see where it grows next (a developing podcast) but have no plans for becoming Hometown 2.0.
For now, our thanks for your trust in what we do.
Just trying to match that Gene Richardson level of excellence! Thanks for the kind words. Podcast tests continuing; the new mic just arrived and we might try one later today.
You are amazing👍. Our appreciation for keeping us informed on what is going on in our community. Loved the podcast and please keep on doing them.