Ringgold, GA, August 9, 2011 -

Rome News-Tribune: Graves takes ‘Back to Business’ tour of Ringgold

Congressman Tom Graves, R-Ranger, scheduled a town hall meeting at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School on Monday then toured downtown Ringgold to encourage local small business owners struggling to rebuild after the April 27 tornado.

Graves began his “Back to Business” tour at Aunt Effie’s restaurant, where he spoke with Ringgold Mayor Joe Barger, as well as restaurant owner, Jim Cox.

Graves said he was very optimistic about the progress that has been made since his last visit immediately after the disaster.

“It’s great to see Ringgold rebounding so strongly,” said Graves.

“So often when a disaster happens, the media comes in and we see the devastation, but when it’s over, months down the road, nobody comes back to tell ‘the rest of the story’, which is so important. This is a true story of resiliency.”

Graves and board members of Catoosa’s Chamber of Commerce rode golf carts throughout the city, stopping at several downtown businesses.

Their first stop after Aunt Effie’s was Cochran’s Furniture, where he met with owner Tim Cochran and toured the store, which is still in the remodeling stage.

Graves then proceeded further into downtown, stopping to speak with Chuck Gass, owner of Price Drugstore, Melodie Church, owner of Kudzu Interiors, and Cindie Robinson, owner of Uniktings. Robinson and Church both stressed that the disaster and economy had been extremely debilitating to their businesses.

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