Glen E. Buckner, age 85, of High Falls passed away last
week. Glen Buckner was a legend, not
just in High Falls, but all of Georgia.
You may know him as the owner of Buckner’s Family Restaurant just off
I-75 on Buck Snort Road. This
restaurant is a source of many memories for families and friends coming
together for a meal in a home setting.
Buckner’s is also known for the gospel music hall adjoining the
restaurant and has hosted many well known gospel recording artists.
While he and his wife, Evelyn were successful in the
Buckner’s Family Restaurant business, this success did not happen by
accident. Despite years of struggling
and facing much adversity, they worked hard and never gave up. Evelyn told about their first Thanksgiving
together. All they could afford was a
can of Spam that she baked and they pretended they were eating turkey.
In 1974, I was living in Savannah and attended a conference
in Atlanta. I had heard much about
“Underground Atlanta” so I decided to check it out. The only memory that stuck with me about that night was an organ
grinder with two trained monkeys. That
act was hilarious.
Fast forward thirty years, just after I moved to High
Falls. I learned that the organ grinder
was none other than, Glen Buckner.
Small world, huh? Over the years
I never tired of hearing stories about his monkeys, most of which I could not
print.
Too many years ago to count, I was fortunate enough to have
a work schedule that allowed me to join the coffee club at a High Falls
restaurant. That’s when I got to know Glen and Evelyn. I soon realized that Glen Buckner was the
most uniquely funny person I’d ever known.
Each day the coffee club members looked forward to see what Glen would
say or stir up that day.
Glen Buckner’s comedic talent was star worthy. Additionally, Glen and Evelyn together took
me back to the days of George Burns and Gracie Allen. I wish they had taken their show on the road.
As I heard more and more jokes and quips, I coined the word,
“Bucknerisms” and would like to share some of those with you now.
Glen: “I’m taking
Evelyn to one of those fancy places where they cook the food in front of
you. What’s that place, Evelyn?
Evelyn: Japanese
Steak House?
Glen: Oh, I
know. Waffle House!
Glen was excited about getting new hearing aids, (and so was
Evelyn). The day after he was supposed
to get his hearing aids, he arrived at the coffee club and someone asked,
“Where’s your hearing aids, Glen?” He
responded, “They’re here in this box.”
Everyone wanted to know why? Glen
said, “The doctor said I had to get used to them first.” The next day, when he arrived, he told us
that he called back to the audiology nurse and the conversation went something
like this: Glen: “You told me to put the one with the red dot
in my right ear. Where do I put the one
with the blue dot?” Audiologist: speechless.
Another time everyone at the coffee club was concerned about
Glenn having an MRI. The next day he
walked in and announced, “The doctor said I had the worst case of MRI he’s ever
seen.”
When someone complimented him on the food at Buckner’s, he
lamented, “That place is so high, I can’t afford to eat there anymore!”
There are many more “Bucknerisms” but I have space
constraints. I will end this by saying
that I will remember Glen for many things, but mostly for his love for Evelyn,
his ability to make people laugh, his big heart, and his philanthropy to those
in and around High Falls.
By the way, in reflecting for this article, I realized that
Glen and I never had a political conversation in all those years. I couldn’t tell you if he was a Democrat or
a Republican. In the scheme of things,
that doesn’t really matter, does it?
Marilyn
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