You probably missed it in Sunday's Morning Call (Sunday, July 17, 2011, Allentown, PA) but in the Sports section, page 5, there was an article entitled; "Did You Know?"
Among other things about the Phillies, it announces that Roy Oswald opened a restaurant he named, Home Plate Fish & Steak House, in his home town of Weir, Mississippi in November, 2009.
By Alyson Footer / MLB.com
HOUSTON -- It's purely a coincidence that Roy Oswalt's hometown is pronounced "where," but in its own charming way, it's entirely apropos. When talking about the tiny town where Oswalt grew up, it's not unusual for someone to say to him, "Where?"
Exactly. Weir, Miss. Population 525 or so, and not remotely easy to find if you happen to take a casual drive through the middle of the state. It's also the hometown of one of the best pitchers in baseball, one who still makes his year-round home there, and where he will likely spend his retirement years when he decides to hang up the spikes.
Oswalt's ties to his hometown run deep, and recently, he decided to place his own special mark on Weir and its outlying areas. He is building a restaurant just outside of the Weir city limits, a cafe-type steakhouse that he hopes will give the community a convenient place to spend an evening out on the town.
This is no easy task. While most of us are used to a Starbucks on every street corner and a slew of dining options ranging from Asian food to Mexican to good old American burgers and fries, in Weir, the restaurant experience is less available. Taking the family to dinner often involves a lengthy car ride that runs an hour each way.
"You have to drive 30 miles to go to a restaurant," Oswalt said. "I thought it would be good for the community more than anything."
The desire to help out his neighbors has resulted in a roadhouse-style cafe called -- tentatively -- "Home Plate Fish and Steakhouse."
It'll be a weekend deal.
"Where I live, people don't really eat out during the week," Oswalt said. "So it'll just be open Friday and Saturday night."
"I'll just say this -- this is not going to make a lot of money," he said. "I hope it's going to be a plus, not a minus. As long as it makes a plus ... we've had a few cafes around there, and people try to make a living doing just that. You're not going to make enough money to live off a cafe around there. I'm just trying to make enough money to make the cafe run. If it creates some jobs along the way, that's even better."
Alyson Footer is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Roy Oswald is a Major League Baseball pitcher that pitched for the Houston Asttros for 8 1/2 years until being dealt to the Phillies in July 2010. He has been on the Disabled List since June 23rd, due to back problems. His future in baseball is not known at this time. Roy has had an outstanding career and is an Olympic Goal Medalist, one of his proudest achievements.
Okay, so what's the big deal? Well, just coincidence, but I was born in Weir, Choctaw County, Mississippi on January 25, 1936, in the home of my grandmother. Weir is located i the central portion of the State on the Yockanookany River and covers 1.1miles of total land area. In the 1930's during the pulp mill boom, Weir was a railroad junction that was the center of pulp wood shipping and the town had a population in access of 1200 people.
Everette's father, Everette, Sr. returned to Weir in retirement and served as Mayor for a number of years prior to his untimely death in May 1984.
And so it goes...
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