Avalon

I've been a Longaberger sales woman for over 20 years and have a memory or two. I remember Kathy Geidzinski. She booked a show but when I got there I found out it was also a baby shower for me .... and I barely knew her (I was pregnant with Jonathan). Her kids were long grown I had babies but we kind of hit it off so the next time I went to Columbus for convention I invited Kathy. She was so excited. She was so excited she wanted to buy, sell, weave and move to Dresden, OH. She even inquired about property values. Yup a 3 BR cost $64,000 back then and the locals thought it was outrageous. Needless to say Kathy was back with me the following year as a friend and co-worker.

I remember it rained that year. We sloshed around Dresden till closing time then got into the car deciding we would spend the night about half way home. But it was not so easy. Nascar was racing in that area and every hotel front desk was referring us down the road until we came to the Avalon .... pulling off the highway the road immediately turned to gravel. Coming round the corner we came face to face with a large piece of whitewashed plywood and the black painted letters of Avalon trailing crookedly to the right. We pulled up to the motel where the doors face the parking lot. A naked light bulb hung above the door with a flickering neon sign that said "office". I turned to Kathy and said, "It's your turn to go in." .... she replied, "Keep the motor running." Less then a minute went by and she was hustling out the door. Sliding into the back seat she yelled "Hit it!" Much alarmed I peeled the car out of the driveway, wheels spitting gravel. Apparently the office was full of guys in hunting jackets watching a fight on TV and when Kathy asked for the price of the room they had to look it up.

At this point we were weary and started singing Kumbyah. Jesus must have heard us because the next hotel had a vacancy. The bride and groom had cancelled the honeymoon suite and we had the best room in the house!