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Harper sisters visit the Circle R display at TRH

Sisters Margaret Harper and Joanna Harper Conover paid a visit to the Trabue Russell House for the Annual Soup and Sandwich Luncheon on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. While they were there, they got to view the display about the Circle R Restaurant that is now part of the TRH collection, thanks to donations from the Harper family collection.

The display includes photos of their father, J.D. Harper, who ran the Circle R from 1957 until his retirement in 1995, plus some past employees at the restaurant, including Sylvia Wilson, Peggy and Vonda Brockman, Dean Cowan, and DeGary Bailey, and Mrs. Dowell and Mrs. Johnson hard at work in the kitchen.

There is also a framed copy of an article that Byron Crawford wrote about his visits to the restaurant over the course of 30 years, for the January 11, 1995, issue of the Courier Journal, titled, "A wisp of a waitress, an eternal corsage and food for the soul."

The display provides a unique look back at a Columbia institution, still missed by many. As is written on the scrapbook, "The personalities that made [the restaurant] such a memorable place to spend some time were impossible to replace. It is now just a happy memory."

The historic Trabue-Russell House is located at 201 Jamestown Street, Columbia, KY.




This story was posted on 2023-10-22 11:05:41
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Harper sisters visit the Circle R display at TRH



2023-10-22 - Columbia, KY - Photo by Linda Waggener.
Sisters Margaret Harper (at left) and Joanna Harper Conover (at right) paid a visit to the Trabue Russell House for the Annual Soup and Sandwich Luncheon on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. While they were there, they got to view the display about the Circle R Restaurant that is now part of the TRH collection, thanks to donations from the Harper family collection.

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Circle R feature article from 1995 at TRH



2023-10-22 - Columbia, KY - Photo by Linda Waggener.
A framed copy of an article that Byron Crawford wrote about his visits to the restaurant appeared in the Courier Journal, titled, "A wisp of a waitress, an eternal corsage and food for the soul." Pictured are owner J.D. Harper, sisters Peggy and Vonda Brockman, and Sylvia (the girl with the eternal corsage" Wilson. It is on display at the historic Trabue Russell House.

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Circle R Scrapbook



2023-10-22 - Columbia, KY - Photo by Linda Waggener.
A scrapbook display from the Harper Family includes photos of J.D. Harper, who ran the Circle R from 1957 until his retirement in 1995, plus some past employees at the restaurant, including Sylvia Wilson, Peggy and Vonda Brockman, Dean Cowan, and DeGary Bailey, and Mrs. Dowell and Mrs. Johnson hard at work in the kitchen. There are also photos of some of the regulars, plus a visit from UK Coach Joe B. Hall.
Two people have written in to say that the man labeled Earl Mann, on the mid left side of the picture above beside Dan Waggener, is actually Earl Holt. Both Earls were from Russell County. Earl Holt was a loyal customer and Earl Mann ran the night shift at Circle R for 19 years.

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Coach Joe B. Hall visits the Circle R



2023-10-22 - Columbia, KY - Photo from Harper Family Collection.
UK Coach Joe B. Hall with Circle R owner J.D. Harper inside the restaurant. This photo is part of the display about the Circle R Restaurant at the Trabue Russell House.

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Regulars at the Circle R



2023-10-22 - Columbia, KY - Photo from Harper Family Collection.
Some of the "breakfast regulars" at the Circle R Restaurant, as pictured in the display at the Trabue Russell House. Rollin Coomer, Pee Wee Sinclair, Jim Evans, and Ralph Roy Waggener, at left, taking his turn with the daily newspaper that fueled so many of the discussions every morning.

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Dean, Marie and Charlie at the Circle R



2023-10-22 - Columbia, KY - Photo from Harper Family Collection.
Dean Cowan, taking orders from Marie and Charlie Hood, as pictured in the Circle R display at the Trabue Russell House.

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Some of the Cooks at the Circle R



2023-10-24 - Columbia, KY - Photo from Harper Family Collection.
A scrapbook display from the Harper Family includes photos of Mrs. Dowell, Mrs. Doris Johnson, and another cook at the Circle R Restaurant. You can see the display now at the Trabue Russell House. It provides a unique look back at a Columbia institution, still missed by many. Mrs. Johnson's son, Robert, says, "My mother worked at the restaurant for many years as a cook, and I would like to think that she played a small role in the near legendary status of the great food and service that could be enjoyed at the Circle R."

Note: If you recognize the third person in this photo, please let us know and we'll add it.

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