Friends & Neighbors: Edna Parker

Sitting at a restaurant with her uncle at age 4, Edna Parker realized what she wanted to be when she grew up when the waitress brought coffee.

“It was the first one (restaurant) I’d ever been in, and he ordered coffee. It came with those little glass creamers,” she said. “I saw those creamers and knew right then that I wanted to own a restaurant.”

Parker, 78, never gave up on her dream and recently celebrated 55 years as owner of Parker’s Restaurant in Dalton.

Parker first went to work in a grocery store at 11. Her parents moved to Detroit two years later. It was there she got her first taste of the restaurant business when she landed a job at H&N; Restaurant.

“I worked behind the counter, then later did the cash register and ordered supplies for all 14 restaurants. There may still be some open up there,” said Parker.

Her parents came back to Georgia when Parker was 17 and she began pursuing her dream in earnest. But first she needed a good-paying job so she could build up some savings. Parker found one at the American Threadmill Co. in Dalton running the berber cone winder. Soon after, she purchased the property on East Walnut Avenue where Parker’s sits today.

At American Threadmill, she met J.C. Parker, whom she married in 1949. Six years later, with $400 and a loan from First National Bank of Dalton, she opened The Cozy Corner with little fanfare, no advertising and three booths. J.C. continued working at American Threadmill and attended G.I. school.

“I brought a Frigidaire from home to use. We had a deep fryer and an ice box. I hammered planks on the outside of the building myself,” said Parker. “I didn’t know how to measure them, so I put them on first and then cut them to fit.”

She was confident in her abilities to make the restaurant a success. Others, however, weren’t so sure.

“A friend of mine told me it wouldn’t make enough to pay the power bill. He built my new house later. He’s a carpenter,” Parker said, grinning.

The menu initially centered around hot dogs, hamburgers and french fries.

“That was what everyone wanted then. People got country food at home,” she said. “Hamburgers and hot dogs were a treat. Families cooked. Now everybody eats out all the time, and nobody cooks.”

Initially, Parker’s customer base consisted of a like number of teenagers and adults. As times changed, so did the clientele. Today Parker says the ratio is 3-to-1 adults.

“It went from teenagers eating out to adults eating out. Teenagers eat more fast food now,” she said.

Her menu gradually changed to include salads and plate lunches to reflect the shift; however, burgers and fries are still available.

Eventually, word spread about the little eatery and business grew until Parker’s space became quite cramped — even with curb service. It was time to expand. In the early 1960s, Parker sold the tiny building and built a new, roomier one next to it. That building burned in the early ‘70s, and she rebuilt two years later and renamed the business Parker’s Restaurant.

Back in the day, Parker faced competition from just a few restaurants in town. Now, in an era where new restaurants seem to open every day, she remains unfazed.

Her secret? She says it’s maintaining good food and reliable help, including daughter Debbie Brewster, who manages the restaurant, and granddaughter Stephanie Belcher, who works as a server.

Parker says she has been fortunate in not suffering much turnover. Some of her staff have been with her for 15 years.

“My dishwasher has been here for 10, the girl who buses tables for eight, and none of the kitchen help has been here less than 10,” she said.

The restaurant’s hours are from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. It closes three weeks a year, around Christmas, spring break and July 4.

Parker still works every day from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. She says she could comfortably retire, but then she’d miss everyone.

“I enjoy meeting people, meeting new ones and keeping up with old ones,” she said. “I think everyone in their young life should find out what they want to do and go for it.”

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