Dear Reader:

Yesterday morning started out so wonderfully…it had rained the night before so I didn’t have to scurry out to water the garden and plants…a lazy morning to stay in after a crazy week of wonderfulness-combination of  America’s birthday, the reveal of baby Dingle’s gender…(a little girl) and a fun ‘girl’ day with Eva Cate.

Then I heard a ping on the IPhone and there was a “message” from  Mollie with one word on it…“Nooooooo!” Half-awake now….my mind started scrambling in a panic….”No, What, What?” My imagination was conjuring up a host of terrible possibilities…then I backed up one message and Mollie had written in disbelief “Continental Corner is closing?” (with an attached crying icon)

My heart started pounding….”NO…….this can’t be true!” But then I noticed a picture with a message under it that must have come out on FACEBOOK….suddenly my ‘surely this is fake news hope’ dissolved in shock and distress.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) – A popular and longtime Greek restaurant downtown Summerville has announced it is closing.

The announcement was posted on The Continental Corner Facebook page on Saturday.

“Farewell, we announce this with joyful sorrow. Since November 3, 1973, we are grateful for and indebted to our faithful patrons of several generations. Additionally we are appreciative of the dedication, service and assistance of the town, our staff, purveyors, suppliers, technicians, service & delivery personnel who contributed to and made our four-plus Decades possible. We thank all of you and ask your pardon when we fell short of your expectations. May god bless you, yours, & all of us! In memory of Tom- Padre & Plato”

The restaurant is located downtown on W Richardson Avenue.

According to comments on the Facebook posting, it will be missed by many who grew up going to the eatery.

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It will take me a day or two to ingest and absorb this unwelcome change…it is like when I get a ‘not-so-good’ medical report…it takes me a couple of days to swallow it and push it out of the way and move on. I am one of those people who need some reflection time to ponder potential life-altering changes. I don’t like to be surprised by bad news. I’m more of a ‘small doser’ kind of personality…I need to process changes in small steps.

*Continental Corner has been, in  many ways, more like a ‘cornerstone’ in my Welcome to Summerville personal history. Brooke, my former college roommate, and I both ended up getting teaching jobs in Summerville (while living in Charleston) upon graduation from Erskine College.

It was only a year after my first year of teaching that Continental Corner appeared on Richardson Avenue. Everyone was so excited that month of November, 1973!…a Greek Restaurant in the tiny little hamlet of Summerville? With only ‘Ma and Pa’ diners and hot dog/hamburger joints to select from (at that time) this concept was really big. Skeptics didn’t think there would be enough interest in Greek cuisine to keep the restaurant open…Boy…were they proven wrong!

I remember around the same time the restaurant opened my Aunt Eva (mother’s sister) came to visit bringing mom with her. While talking one day she asked me if I knew or had heard about a Greek restaurant opening with two men named Ernie and Tom. I, excitedly, told her “yes” and suggested we go eat there for lunch right then. It was the first of many such memorable occasions with my aunt and mother.

Eva knew Tom and Ernie from working with them at DSS in Greenville…where (prior to moving to Summerville) they lived and worked. I think it was Tom who sat down with us when he recognized Eva at the table (first time in 1973) and started reminiscing about Greenville and their jobs. Tom said he and Ernie felt like they would be accepted in Summerville (right outside Charleston) because it was more open and cosmopolitan when it came to accepting a diversity of cultures.

*I remember Tom saying that where they lived outside  Greenville….neighbors and clients thought they were “foreigners” and they were not readily accepted. However, in Summerville, there was already a strong Greek community that would help support their efforts in opening a Greek restaurant.

From that day on…every time Aunt Eva, mother, and I went there to eat…either Ernie or Tom would come over to chat and somehow, magically, desserts were always sent to the table…compliments from them. They stayed loyal to their long-standing customers the same way.

When all my children had ‘flown the coop’ and it was just me again at home…I found myself frequenting Continental Corner at least every other week. In the winter I would order one of their delicious omelets…eating breakfast at night has always been one of my favorite things to do.

Then, for years, my Christmas Eve spread (following my story at the church Christmas Eve service) was their fabulous assorted meat tray with rolls/bread of every kind imaginable, cheeses, pickles, condiments….it was a feast we all looked forward to each holiday.

When I introduced my daughters-in-‘love’ to Continental Corner they both fell in love with it too. In fact Mollie and I have gotten the routine down to a fine art when she and the boys visit….we  let Rutledge and Lachlan play at Boo Boo’s for awhile, then take them to Laurel Street Park, call Continental Corner and get our Greek salads with chicken, turkey and fruit for the boys…pick it up, go home and end the activities with a delicious lunch. (We did this just last Saturday a week ago!)

Kaitlyn fell in love with their shrimp sandwich and pasta salad (as well as their delicious tea)…so every time she and Tommy have come…she knows exactly what she is going to order. She told me one time…that as much as she likes trying out new restaurants she can’t make herself go anywhere else but Continental Corner when they come to Summerville because she is drooling over the thought of her shrimp sandwich.

It has even become Eva Cate’s and my restaurant to go to…when she spends the night here in Summerville…she loves the turkey and tea also.

So…as you can tell, my family is ‘hooked’ on Continental Corner… and has been for over several generations. For me, it embodies what Summerville has meant to me since living here from 1973 to present too…warmth, kindness, friendliness, loyalty…amid personal memoirs and history.

There is another part of Continental Corner that I will miss too…the beautiful hibiscus that bloom there in late spring, summer, and early fall. The blooms are huge, gorgeous, and colors of every shade and combination. It is hard to enter or leave Continental Corner without marveling at their beauty.

Writing the blog today, while remembering so many happy times associated with this restaurant, is the first step in helping me assimilate this sad news concerning this unexpected closing.

*Doodle just called with more sad news…Lassie walked over to Continental Corner and the note left on the door said that Saturday was their last day. So it is over. I wanted to say “Good-bye” and ‘Thanks for the memories.” I wanted ‘Just one more time‘ to experience the atmosphere again.

My last hope is that someone else will buy it and keep it going with the same cuisine or at least Greek food. Time will tell.

*For whatever reason, many times I found myself in this corner of the restaurant with friends and family…especially the little table in the left corner by the windows that allows one to look down Short Central, E. Richardson and see the heart of Summerville while eating. I will miss this experience.

My thoughts and prayers go with Tom Mavrikes’ family since his passing this past March in Florida where he had gone to live to help his mother a few years ago. I will always remember him for his wit and kindness. I don’t know if this sad occurrence correlated to the restaurant’s closing or not…but the closing feels like another ‘death’ to all us patrons and friends of Continental Corner.

So until tomorrow…We will miss you dancing ‘Plato” and Padre Ernest Yatrelis…your spirits will live on long after your departure. Thank you for being a part of all of our families for over four decades. “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

“Today is my favorite day” (though a sad one) Winnie the Pooh