Fort Oglethorpe Picker’s Produce: A total makeover
On stage at Mars Theatre in LaFayette: “A Few Good Men” offers timely examination of American ideals of truth and honor
Last year, the produce shop on Forrest Road in Fort Oglethorpe changed owners and its name. This year, Picker’s Produce has added a whole new fresh look.
Danny and Lynn Bishop bought the produce shop in 2016 and spent the winter remodeling it.
“Danny has taken so much pride in getting the store up to date and looking good,” says Lynn Bishop of her husband. “We fixed the floor and painted it, tore out the checkout counter and built a new one in the middle of the store and painted the walls. We added builtin bins for potatoes and onions and brightened the place up with extra lighting. We wanted a crisp, clean feel for our customers.”
But that was just the beginning of the changes. Danny Bishop, who grew up with a father who sold produce from his own garden, built a covered drop-off area behind the story for rainy days. “The front and back entrances are both handicap accessible,” he says. “And the parking lot is level and has two ways to get in and out.”
Along with their new look, Picker’s has a new manager – Echota. She’s only 17 years old, but the Bishops were so impressed with her when they met her at her former place of employment that they offered her a job.
“She’s great,” says Danny Bishop. “She’s young to be a manager,
Back Alley Productions is set to perform the Aaron Sorkin classic “A Few Good Men” at the Mars Theatre. The theater is located at 117 N Chattanooga St., LaFayette..
Performances are set for Fridays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., from through April 22. Tickets can be purchase online at BAPshows.com or inperson at the box office.
Visit BAPshows.com/ season-passes.html for information on season passes.
“A Few Good Men” revolves around the tense legal battle and court-martial of two U.S. Marines charged with the murder of a fellow Marine, and the tribulations of their lawyers as they prepare a case to defend their clients.
The trail focuses on two Marines accused of accidently killing a fellow Marine in a Code Red, violent military hazing performed on low performing personnel. Daniel Kaffee, a Navy lawyer charged with defending the officers, wants to softball the case and get a quick and but we’re pleased with her work. She does a good job.”
Echota, named for the Echota Cherokee, plans to eventually get into radiology and possibly become a midwife, but for now she’s happy learning business management skills at Picker’s. “This place has a very relaxed atmosphere,” she says, “and the people who come in are nice and friendly.”
Bishop says his produce is coming mainly from Florida right now. “I get most of it in the day after it’s been picked, so it’s very fresh.” As the season progresses, Bishop says he’ll be getting produce from closer and closer to home, including Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama.
“Some of our big sellers right now are tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and okra,” says Bishop. “We just got in jumbo and hanging ferns – they move fast. We bring in fresh produce and more products at least twice a week.”
Besides a full selection of fruits and vegetables ranging from apples, oranges, grapes and berries to greens, peppers, onions and four kinds of potatoes, Picker’s carries Amish Wedding products. Pickled beets, Southern chow-chow, relishes, sauerkraut, and jams made from rhubarb, cherries, peaches and blackberries are among the many Amish items available in the shop. Customers will also find Amish pork skins, Onyums, kettle corn, peanuts and muscadine juice.
In the refrigerated
painless plea bargain. But he begins to suspect there’s more to the case than the obvious.
“The trail really pits two outlooks on America into the crosshairs of examination,” James Reed, director of the show, said. “It’s a story that is timely and relevant to our current political climate, especially regarding the balance of safety versus openness, without being politically grandstanding or alienating.”
Pushed by a female Lynn and Danny Bishop own Picker’s Produce on Forrest Road in Fort Oglethorpe. (Contributed photo)
cases, Picker’s carries eggs, Amish butter, bacon and flavored cheeses. And elsewhere in the store: walnuts, pecans, herbs, Amish and old-fashioned candies, pinto beans, and Cajun and original boiled peanuts.
Customers can buy goat’s milk soaps and lotions for sprucing up after a feast, and if their shopping list includes “gift for Aunt Marge or cousin Susie,” there’s a variety of antiques and collectibles from which to choose.
“God has blessed and guided us through this rewarding opportunity to bring something to this great community,” says Lynn Bishop. “Danny and I have always had a garden and liked being able to can and freeze so we wouldn’t be eating so much processed food, and we wanted to make that more possible for other people.”
Picker’s Produce will be celebrating their new look with a special event that will include free snacks James Reed as Col. Nathan R. Jessup, a high ranking officer who will go to great lengths to protect his idea of America. Reed as serves as director for the production.
member of his defense team, JoAnne Galloway, Kaffee eventually decides to give the case an honest inspection. But, in doing so, crosses a high ranking military officer named Nathan Jessup, who secretly ordered the Code Red as a means to toughen up the now dead Marine.
“There’s an open, honest, but vulnerable idea of America seen in Kaffee that could be seen as naïve or easily exploited,” Reed explains. “Then there’s a harsher America as
and entertainment by a gospel bluegrass group between the hours of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 29.
Picker’s Produce is located at 4 Forrest Road near the Fort Oglethorpe post office. They accept EBT and credit and debit card payments, as well as old-fashioned cash. The Dick Chandler portrays Judge Julius Alexander Randolph in “A Few Good Men.”
seen in Jessup that is suspicious of others, closed and secretive, but perhaps safer. These two worldviews come crashing into each other, forcing us, the audience, to examine our own assumptions about safety, the need for transparency, and to what extent the ends justify the means.”
The cast of local community actors comes from LaFayette, Chattanooga, Dalton and other towns in the northwest Georgia area. Visit BAPshows.com for more information or call 423.242.5672. store is open MondaySaturday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. They can be contacted at 706-944-4193 or 423- 718-4167. They can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ Pickers-Produce.