Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:14):
Never a good idea to putting metal in the microwave.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Always a good idea, however, to invest in your community.
And also a good idea to go to the Newlestown
Diner in Saint Clairsville.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is community connections and commerce.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm Drake Watson, as always with my co host Wendy Anderson,
and our very special guest this morning, TJ. Stewart, the
owner of the Newlestown Diner in Saint Clairsville.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
TJ.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We really appreciate you giving us your time this morning,
and we are thrilled to have you on.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
You're quite welcome.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Thank you TJ. For coming in.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
You're welcome, Wendy, So tell.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
Us a little bit about you. Who's TJ. Stewart.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
My family is from the valley. Actually, my family came
here or eighteen fifty eight. We had six sons and
six different families went from there. My father became a
state trooper in nineteen sixty seven, was stationed in Marietta.
So I was born in Marietta, was there for two years.
He was transferred to Saint Clairsville and I've been in
that town since.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Okay, cool, So you're not only a business owner, you're
also a Saint Clairsville police officer.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I am. I started with Saint Clairsville Police in June
of nineteen ninety eight after working for the State of
Ohio for six years prior to that, and have been
a police officer since. Still currently am.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Okay, So thank you, by the way for what you
do for Saint Clairsville, because I know I appreciate you
very very much.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, we get a lot of support. Thank you for that.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Yeah, So let's talk about Knowlestown Diner. Okay, So when
did you when did you buy it?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Well, I created the Nolestown Diner myself and Mike Trollis,
who's another police officer.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Was it okay?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
With Saint Clairsville. I was through high school. I drove
a nineteen fifty five Chevy that I had restored myself
and loved it and was always intrigued by the fifties.
So I'm driving around on midnight shift working in a
local business which was enchanted. Sound and video had moved
out of the building we're currently in, and the owner
of the building was inside cleaning up, and I stopped
(02:14):
and I said, I would like to open a fifties diner,
and he gave me a price, and I began remodeling
the place, and Mike and I spent night after night
building the place ourselves. So we didn't buy anything. We
created it.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
That you know, when you walk into Noolestown, it does
give you that sense of nostalgia that nineteen fifties soda
pop So did you know what they call what soda jerks?
And just the idea of the tables and your decor
in there is really reminiscent of what you wanted.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
We paid close attention to that and bought authentic furniture, flooring,
He did decorations.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, I want to ask you about the outdoor, which
is now kind of a big, a big deal for
the for the diner. Is that how much emphas have
you guys put on that in recent months or years
to have the outdoor seating. I think that's something when
you drive by it every day, you see that, and
you see the lights at nighttime, and that really adds
to the feel of the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
We started the outdoor seating almost right away, and we've
been through several sets of furniture over the years, but
it really caught on a year and a half ago
when we put a liquor license onto ballot. Now we're
not trying to become a bar well, but we do
serve everything that you can serve in the state of
(03:31):
Ohio legally and if you want that with your meal.
We didn't change the diner in any way. It is
one thing I did not want to do is jeopardize that.
But what that did was spur the outside seating. So
we have a lot of outside seating now and as
far as the lighting goes, it doesn't. I'm not going
to say it does a whole lot for our business.
But what does do is live and up Main Street,
(03:51):
which was the idea.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Yeah, and we talked about Main Street just.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Before we came on, and it's kind of a thriving
and quickly growing area throughout Saint Clairs Well, of course
with with some of the other things that are opening there,
and you guys certainly contribute to that. This is something
that we talk about usually later on with our guests,
but since we kind of mentioned it a little bit earlier.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Obviously, you've been.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
In Ohio your whole life, and you've been in Saint
Clairsville for a really long time, and has there ever
been any thought of going elsewhere. We've had a ton
of guests that are from here. They end up going
somewhere else and then they come back. You don't have
that story, obviously. I don't think you have ever wanted to.
You clearly don't want to go anywhere else. But what
about the Ohio Valley.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Keeps you here and keeps you happy with.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Where you're at. I don't know. I can only tell
you that it's a very comfortable place to live. I
wanted to raise my kids here. My youngest two just
turned eighteen, so I've accomplished that they all love it here.
None of them have left, and that's an accomplishment, if
you ask me, that's huge to keep your kids, to
make them like the valley enough to stay here and
contribute to the valley. My daughter left for four years
(04:57):
to go to the Marines, and she came back, so
everybody in my family loves the valley. I can't really
explain it. I just have deep roots here and have
no desire to go anywhere else. I do have a
desire to maybe head south for January February every year.
Other than that, I'm not waving.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
I am so with you, So how you have right now,
So what do you look for when you hire someone
and what is it that connects them with a diner?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
All I can tell you is that age has had
very little to do with it. We have we have
sixteen year old employees and we have fifty year old employees.
And what we look for is loyalty, and that's a
two way street. We're very loyal to them too. Anything
(05:57):
that any needs that we see in their lives try
to take care of quietly, and any needs we have
they step in and take care of. If I choose
to go on vacation. We have such dependable people, and
I do look for that when we interview. You know,
if I leave, can you function? And they and they
do so well. And I can only tell you that
there's no specific things that I look for. I just
(06:19):
need to trust them. I need to understand that they
will take over if I'm not there or Tara is
now my co owner. She's my fiance and she bought
Mike out four years ago of the diner, so she's
my partner now. But we can leave and go on
vacation and they're they're super They're they're very dependable, very trustworthy,
(06:42):
and that's all I need. That's really all I need
out of them.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Okay, So when you talked about Tara, when I go
up there, I always see her there. Either she's she's
running food, or she's talking to your guests or running
out the door to go pick up something from that.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
He's really as well as you.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
But one thing I did notice is this is the.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
Hub than I go next and I see everybody from
all different time and I think that bage is partly
your success.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah, it is. It is. It's a it's a political place.
I mean, we have all sides of politics coming in
there and they they do their little bantering, and we
have families, We have just about anybody you could imagine,
and not even from necessarily Saint Clairsville. We have had
people move here from other places for the oil industry
(07:47):
that are just as regular as anybody that's ever lived here.
And then we have a ninety ninety some year old
man who's been in this town his whole life that
is our mayor basically of the diner. You just it's
just wonderful. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, I saw him the other day sitting in there,
and several people were leaving and they went over and
said goodbye. To him and have a great day, and
it was nice to see you. So that's really kind.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Of cool, genuine soul. Yeah, so many of them are.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Yeah. So I noticed that you had a couple things
here that you showed me, which I read a letter.
So how do you continue your positive outlook when you
have some negativity?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Well, the negativity is never going to go away. We
have been We've been put down pretty hard over the
years just for being police officers. Sometimes a lot of
people that don't like us always called it a cop
shop and said don't go in there, and a lot
of things like that. But what we have done over
the years is I have been I have been a
(08:56):
big proponent of not worrying about profit. I just need
to pay the bills and I need to pay our
employees good. I have never wanted to make a bunch
of money from it. I wanted the diner to be there.
So we treat our employees good. We keep our prices low.
I can't accomplish the five dollars bill walk in and
out when we open. We did that for a good decade.
(09:16):
Five dollars bill. You can get your launch drink included
and walk out. Can't quite do that anymore.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
But we say we are inventing funeral service at Care
back to the community. But the families we serve, I
don't know beyond make sure was given them.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
So we do and we try to give back everything
employ We make sure that they're not just.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
A family and our sons.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
They're able to work for just us.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Care funeral and cremation now with monthly chaments customers.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Right along with the services and facilities and having a
place downtown Saint Clairsville that adds to the town is
always been our goal.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
It has and since you had the oh the liquor
license pass. So what your hours? So I will tell
you what I heard like before all this start went
before it was you know, was voted on always going
to be a mess. We're gonna have drunk people walking
down the streets. I can't believe they're able to do that.
(10:18):
But what have you seen since you increased your hours
on Friday and Saturday.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
We have had zero incidents of anything. We know we're
not there to have drunk sit We don't even have
a bar that we have a counter that we had
we've always had, so we're not We're not a beer joint.
We're not We're not a bar in any way. We
have some live music sometimes, but it's it's real, mellow basically,
(10:45):
zero incidents, zero people stumbling out the door, and as
far as I know, no complaints whatsoever.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
I have not heard any complaints. I've just heard just
people being really excited that it's there and after work
you can go have a have a drink after work
if you want to after a long you know, day
or a long week, it's the place to go.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Specifically, people ask for a place to go have a
beer and a cheeseburger. Not that there's not places around, right,
but there's a lot of people that lived to come
up and we are that place you get you can
get a draft beer and a cheeseburger. And but we're
more of a we're more of the diner, leaning towards
(11:31):
the diner where you can get a mimosa or bloody mary.
And that's kind of that's kind of where we were
we're headed, or a nice summer drink out. That's kind
of what we were aiming for.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Not a beer joint, right, No, I think it's really popular.
I see a lot of people in there all the time.
Now you close it two o'clock in the afternoon, right, Yes, okay.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Except on except on Thursday, Friday Saturday.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Right, So you guys are open to when nine on Sursday,
Friday Saturday.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yes, we're up until nine pm. We would like to
expand our hours. One problem is finding anybody to apply
for a job anymore is a problem. Another thing is
uptown does kind of roll up the streets at Saint
Clairs what night. It's a pretty quaint town and people
calm down, and we want to keep it calm. But
(12:22):
we are currently, as you know, working on something called Dora,
along with Audrey's Avenue, and hopefully what can happen is
And I'm not saying alcohol is the answer to anything.
I'm not claiming that at all because I know what
bad it can do for my career. However, what I
am saying is if a shop is open, which we
need some storefronts filled, if the shop is open and
(12:45):
somebody's able to walk out with a a fancy little
drink in their hand and walk up and down the street,
they're likely to go in that shop. They're likely to
spend money because if they're like me, if I have
a drink, I'm amazon shopping all the time. So that's
kind of what we're looking to bring some life back
to Main Street. And even though you can like or
(13:08):
dislike the alcohol part of it, but it's true. It
is just a fact people spend money when they have
a drink and calm down.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
They do.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Look at places like like Columbus or Pittsburgh. I mean,
that's how their streets work. And you notice that all
over the place. You mentioned folks coming in from different
walks of life and all kinds of different people, with
different political people, different ages, and.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
That's kind of the connections.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Part of our show is how can we bring people together?
And you say that you have a you know, a
healthy way of doing that, I'd.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Imagine it's incredible. I mean, if you come in on
a Friday or Saturday night and talk to the people
that are in there, which everyone would talk to you,
to see the variety that are in there, there's everything
from millionaires to kids just starting out. It's the craziest thing.
And everybody is equal. Everybody talks yeah and sits together
and it's just a good time. We love it.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
They're all there for the same reason exactly.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Well, it's that feel like I said I mentioned earlier.
You have a very warm and literally warm and fuzzy
feeling when you walk in. You feel safe, a safe
place to be.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
That's that's nice to hear, and I'm glad, very glad
to hear that. We also, I mean, this is a
little plug for us, but we buy the best of
the best ingredients for everything we make, and it shows
and we buy. For instance, we buy our meats all
from Jacobin Sons and Martin's Ferry. Now when people know that,
(14:28):
we get customers for that reason. Yeah. Yeah, And we
try to support as much local as we possibly can
and always have since the day we open the doors,
and they do the same for us.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
And see that's what we're all about. Oh yeah, because
you know, we're all about that local, shopping local, saying local,
being local, having fun local. I know. I will say
my favorite burger, which I absolutely love this burger is
the Tommy Burger that.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Was created because when my son was little love Big Max.
When I built a diner, he was he was three
and he would go up there with me while we
were working, and he'd loved Big Max. So when we opened,
I wanted to have a Big Mac basically, but we
can't have a Big Mac, right, so the Big Boy Burger,
which is the same thing. So we created that named
(15:20):
Tommy Burger because it was because of him we had
it and it's been wildly popular.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
That and your homemade fries with brown gravy.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
We fresh cut our fries since the day we opened
the doors too.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Where did the potatoes come from?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Jebias? Okay, yeah, we we get We get almost all
of our produce from Jebias.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
That is really cool and I'm sure obviously that's much
better than the the ingredients you would find and things
like a Big Mac or whatever.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
So it's all fre I mean, it really is fresh,
from the pickles to to the to the.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Our pickles are wildly popular. To your pickles, the pickles.
They come in and ask for for a box of pickles,
and we happy to give them that.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
I don't know why, but I don't know. They are
the best pickles.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
They come out of a five gallon bucket. We got
five gallons at a time. We buy but you would
never think, but they're really good.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Yeah, So do you have any plans on expanding?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
We do.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
We would like to put a deck on the back,
oh outdoor we're currently working with the building owners. We
never did purchase the building, and I prefer it that
way because for different tax reasons, irs reasons, it's better
to do what we're doing now, and that our landlords,
(16:38):
our building owners, are wonderful people, absolutely wonderful people, and
they have always worked with us, and truthfully, I would
say they give us back twofold what we pay them
in rent every month. They're that good of customers they are.
We're currently working with them to possibly add on to
the back and maybe even in the future the shop
that they are in next door, we would like to
(17:01):
expand into their No hurry on that, no plan on date,
but we have talked about it.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Yeah, that is awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So obviously a lot a ton of folks.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
You know, I'm from Saint Clair's well, so I know
I've never been in there.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I really need to get in there. I wish I
had been before. But I know all about it.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
I've heard about the Norlestown Diner and I see it
every day as I'm driving through. And I'm sure that's
the case with many folks from around here. You know,
they know what it is, they know that there's that
fifties feel and the esthetic and and as she said that,
the warm and fuzzy feel that you get when you
go in there. But but how do you attract somebody
who might be coming from a different area and they
happen to pass through Saint Clairsville, maybe they get off
(17:38):
the highway on Route.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Nine or whatever.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
How do you track somebody there?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
And and really, you know, put yourselves out there like
this is the spot to go if you want a
good a good burger, or we don't.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
We don't do that. But it's it's crazy the amount
of people that get off the interstate because the Internet
told them to. I don't know a lot about those sites,
the food sites and all that, but we have so
many people that jump off the interstate and said that
it was recommended from whatever out they're in, and they
fall in love with the place, and we become a
(18:08):
meeting place, a halfway point for some people when they
meet people and they find us. We don't The reason
we don't advertise a lot is because we can only
seek forty people inside sure, and if there's forty people
in there already, advertising is going to cause people to
come to the door and leave. So I'm not trying
(18:28):
to not put us out there more, but I don't
want to make it work for people coming there, so
we never have really jumped on the advertising, and it's
worked out for us.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
It's good because then, I mean, it's kind of what
I call digital word of mouth, right, you have it
is people that you know, the folks that already are
established in the valley, and they know about it, and
they tell their friends about it, and then also somebody
who's coming, like you said, who might be traveling and
they stop in. And then if they have a cousin
two weeks later that happens to be going through that
same area, they're like, hey, you should stop at this spot.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
We also have been there long enough now I have
had We've had people get married in the diner, that
met in the diner. Oh wow. Yeah. And I've been
there long enough now that kids have been born, brought
in there by their parents and now have kids and
bring their babies in. That's and that's pretty often.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
That's a feel good that's a feel good moment when
you see that. I like it. When we did our
Christmas tree lighting last year and you guys were so busy,
there was actually a wait, I had more people like
they wouldn't they went to the event that we had
(19:41):
downtown Saint Clairsvoe. But they you guys were you could
hardly see your lights because of all the people.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
You guys, meaning the chamber. What an incredible thing you
guys pulled off on that one.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Wasn't that good? Told this year?
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I have seen a lot through the years. That was
the best I've seen and I can't I can't imagine
what's coming next. Oh, that was wonderful.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Listen, Lisa has Lisa Kindler, my assistant. She's got she's
gonna make this one this year really stand out.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Good luck top and that one that was good, I know,
good for the town.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
Yeah, it is good for the town. And that's what
we're trying to do is bring people through Saint Clair's
woll not just stop at Sam's and that plaza there
and then go around on the highway. We want people
to come through town just to see it. Are fall decorating?
You guys decorate for fall. Next door they decorate for fall,
and it's beautiful just to see people. Some lady told
(20:40):
me that she actually dressed her grandkids in their pajamas
and they started out forty somewhere and they came through
Saint clairsvo That was their highlight they wanted to see.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Pretty incredible. Yeah, especially during the holidays. But one thing
that does bring people into your question is when any
incident happens on the interstate and they have to reroute
traffic on the Route forty, the exposure we get is
absolutely amazing. It is, it's overwhelming. So the bad comes
(21:14):
with the good, but that we get a lot of
people that find us that way and that passed through
the area on a regular basis, and then they see
that that town not our not just our place, but
the town and it's it's a neat place.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
It's kind of the story of the Pixar movie Cars.
You know, that was my favorite movie still is.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
But you know a lot of people they bypassed that
little town because of the Interstate.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Acting and there's so many of those towns. Yeah, and
that's bad.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
That's a whole other conversation.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
But I love that when when the town actually sometimes,
like when I'm traveling from from here to Columbus, I'll
take forty instead just to go through some of those
old towns and you see what's there. Because there's so
many spots that you don't really notice.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
I tell people that all the time if they get
re routed for any reason, I don't care where you're at.
Instead of being mad if you're stuck in traffic, whatever,
stop and look around. It's stuff you drive past all
the time. It is and don't notice. Look at the houses,
look at things, and it's awesome. In Saint Clairsville is
very famous for that. The courthouse alone, Oh yeah, I
(22:17):
mean I've been working at the police department for a
lot of years and people that have come there from
out of town other places just to take pictures of
the courthouse. That's amazing.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
Yeah, because it's a beautiful courthouse. But we do have
a beautiful town and it's a hometown feel, and so
our listeners out there. If you want someplace good to
eat just to reminisce on the fifties, please stop at
Nolestown Diner because it's one of the best places that
I've been for lunch breakfast. My husband and I love
(22:48):
the breakfast there on Sunday mornings. So you're welcome. So
I think that's all.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah, we've got a little bit more time. I'd like
to talk to.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
You a little bit about the police officer aspect of
all this, and of course we mentioned something about being
good for the town earlier, and what's also good for
the town, of course, is you guys, and we thank
you for that and we appreciate your service. And again
we talked about before we came on the misconception that
you guys are the bad guys. Well, you know, I've
always been taught that you guys are there to help
you out, help people out, and maintain the safety. And
(23:20):
STA strikes me as a very safe place to be in,
a safe place to live. And I was just wondering
what your take is on how how safe it is
and what kind of crime you see, if you would
even consider it crime or wrongdoing.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
I don't hear of any kind of violence at all.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Well, just just to clear that up, we get the
same thing. Consider consider us a precinct in a large city.
We're a small town. But consider that small town a precinct.
We get the same thing the rest of the world gets.
We have I seventy, we have Route nine, we get
a lot of stuff coming through. We have one of
the most successful drug sniffing dogs in the entire High Valley.
(23:59):
It's amazing. We get a lot of arrest from that.
So as far as crime go, we get it. Now.
You don't know about it because we sweep up fast
our city and our residents have supported us to the
point where if you call for the police, you can
expect us sixty seconds or less at your house. There's
enough of us on duty and we hammer it. We
(24:20):
also are fortunate enough to have Richland Township Police. In STA.
We have the Belmont County Sheriff's Office.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Stair's Higway Patrol, and the Highway Patrol and st That's
why my parents.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Always told me never do anything wrong in Saint Clairsville
because there are so many, you know, things that.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
If in most of the places in the county are
are pretty fortunate when it comes to neighboring departments. But
I can tell you if if I watch a lot
of videos of this stuff. Now, if we pull you
over and a fight starts, there's going to be so
many cop cars around you within five minutes, you're not
even going to believe it. Ye bank robberies we've had,
We've had a few bank robberies through the years, and
(24:54):
we are just flooded. So we're very fortunate there. We believe.
Our department believes that it doesn't matter how far your
street is off the beaten path, or you deserve a
cop car going past your house as much as main street.
So we do that. We routinely go past everybody's house
in that town. We make sure that we notice things
(25:16):
that don't belong, cars that don't belong. It's a small
enough town we can do stuff like that. And our
guys love our town.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
How many is on the police force?
Speaker 3 (25:25):
We have ten full time, wow, and we have three
part time. In three part time. A couple of them
were full time and they took other jobs so they
stayed with us.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
But that says a lot.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Yeah, well actually nine right now. We're hiring a school
resource officer right now to replace one of our guys
that left for Zanesville. Okay, but the city takes very
good care of us. And I'm not just talking about
the pay and the city and council themselves. I'm talking
about our residents. Our residents are so good to us
(25:59):
and we appreciate that. So you get a lot of
you get a lot of bad out there that you
see on the news and stuff, but in reality, you
know when somebody says it's really hard to be a cop.
I can't believe you do that. Man. Our residents take
care of us. Yeah, they're good to us. Our businesses
are good to us. We're good to them back. I'm
not saying that, but we're treated very well. I don't
(26:20):
want to. I don't want to meet you to spoil that.
Most cops, most places are treated very well. We have
our bad moments, there's no doubt about that, and we
make mistakes too, but overall, most of us that are
there are there for all the right reasons.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
So this is a less serious question.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
But I've always was told that on your car, on
the outside of your car, you're not allowed to have
any kind of light other than red, yellow, and white.
And I see folks driving around with LEDs, green lights,
blue lights under the car, and I wanted to get
your take on it.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
If that's legal or not.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
It's not not visible perfect.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
So now I don't sound like a like a jerk
whenever I'm calling out and I'm driving along the road.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Well, here's the situation. You can't. You can have like
lights under your car shining down on the road, but
we can't. You're not supposed to physically be able to
see the light itsel I see. The problem with it
is is we're really outnumbered now, you know. And it's
a matter of attended windows is another problem. It's a
matter of you know, how much, how much do we
(27:18):
want to beat up our people? You know? And is
it worth it? Not saying we don't want to enforce
the law, but is it worth it. It's just like, if
you're parked the wrong direction, we're going to ticket everybody
for that. If you're if you're five miles over the
speed limits illegal, do we want to ticket you for that?
So we have to choose our battles. And we're human.
We know that, you know. Kids don't know sometimes and
(27:41):
they do things, and we talk to people, but overall,
unless it's causing a problem, we don't. We don't bother people.
I think most officers are like that.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
No, I know that it's illegal, so I don't have
to be right, but I like that.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
I did not even know that, and I didn't know.
I'm sorry, and I'm sixty three years old. Did not
know it was legal to go five miles over? Oh yes,
I just thought that was that wiggle room.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
You could just know what the courts generally allow for
a radar to be off by three so we wouldn't
write anybody for three over. We don't write anybody for
five over. Don't get me wrong, but we can. Yeah.
Oh I'm glad illegals illegal.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I mean, when I'm passing that cardiaccenter at two in
the morning, I better make sure I'm going to thirty
five because I see you guys there all the time,
that in the old uh, the old convenient location.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Yeah, well we are are you know, are our one
of our guys is well, a couple of our guys
are really heavy into drugs. Now, what people don't understand
is we stop a lot of cars, not necessarily to
pick on you, not necessary, but we want to know
who's in our town. Yeah sure, and you want us
to know, so we stopped talk to people. We don't.
(28:50):
Our department rates very few tickets. I mean very few.
I'm talking a dozen a month.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
We do a lot of traffic stops, but sometimes at
the end of that traffic stop, you're going to get
a Hershey bar handed to you in a warning ticket,
compliments of our mayor. Yes, she doesn't tell anybody that.
Oh that's fact. We don't want to be enemies. We
want to be friends. That traffic stop can end in
(29:17):
anger or can end and thank you for being here,
and thank you for reminding me, and you know that
that's that's what we do. Our department's pretty awesome like that.
We had somebody come in and donate a lot of
money last year and said, I want you to buy
gift cards and hand them out on traffic stops. And
we did. We did. We bought a lot of gift
cards from in town business, all of them good and
(29:41):
and what what.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Well, we'd look to end it here with it with
a thank.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
You very much, thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
This has been t J.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Stewart, the owner of Norstown Diner Saint Clairs. The police officer,
that's Wendy Anderson. I'm Drake Watson as always for community
connections and commerce.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Thanks for listening
Speaker 5 (30:01):
And
Never a good idea to putting metal in the microwave.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Always a good idea, however, to invest in your community.
And also a good idea to go to the Newlestown
Diner in Saint Clairsville.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is community connections and commerce.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
I'm Drake Watson, as always with my co host Wendy Anderson,
and our very special guest this morning, TJ. Stewart, the
owner of the Newlestown Diner in Saint Clairsville.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
TJ.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
We really appreciate you giving us your time this morning,
and we are thrilled to have you on.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
You're quite welcome.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Thank you TJ. For coming in.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
You're welcome, Wendy, So tell.
Speaker 4 (00:41):
Us a little bit about you. Who's TJ. Stewart.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
My family is from the valley. Actually, my family came
here or eighteen fifty eight. We had six sons and
six different families went from there. My father became a
state trooper in nineteen sixty seven, was stationed in Marietta.
So I was born in Marietta, was there for two years.
He was transferred to Saint Clairsville and I've been in
that town since.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
Okay, cool, So you're not only a business owner, you're
also a Saint Clairsville police officer.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I am. I started with Saint Clairsville Police in June
of nineteen ninety eight after working for the State of
Ohio for six years prior to that, and have been
a police officer since. Still currently am.
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Okay, So thank you, by the way for what you
do for Saint Clairsville, because I know I appreciate you
very very much.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Well, we get a lot of support. Thank you for that.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Yeah, So let's talk about Knowlestown Diner. Okay, So when
did you when did you buy it?
Speaker 3 (01:44):
Well, I created the Nolestown Diner myself and Mike Trollis,
who's another police officer.
Speaker 5 (01:50):
Was it okay?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
With Saint Clairsville. I was through high school. I drove
a nineteen fifty five Chevy that I had restored myself
and loved it and was always intrigued by the fifties.
So I'm driving around on midnight shift working in a
local business which was enchanted. Sound and video had moved
out of the building we're currently in, and the owner
of the building was inside cleaning up, and I stopped
(02:14):
and I said, I would like to open a fifties diner,
and he gave me a price, and I began remodeling
the place, and Mike and I spent night after night
building the place ourselves. So we didn't buy anything. We
created it.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
That you know, when you walk into Noolestown, it does
give you that sense of nostalgia that nineteen fifties soda
pop So did you know what they call what soda jerks?
And just the idea of the tables and your decor
in there is really reminiscent of what you wanted.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
We paid close attention to that and bought authentic furniture, flooring,
He did decorations.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yeah, I want to ask you about the outdoor, which
is now kind of a big, a big deal for
the for the diner. Is that how much emphas have
you guys put on that in recent months or years
to have the outdoor seating. I think that's something when
you drive by it every day, you see that, and
you see the lights at nighttime, and that really adds
to the feel of the whole thing.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
We started the outdoor seating almost right away, and we've
been through several sets of furniture over the years, but
it really caught on a year and a half ago
when we put a liquor license onto ballot. Now we're
not trying to become a bar well, but we do
serve everything that you can serve in the state of
(03:31):
Ohio legally and if you want that with your meal.
We didn't change the diner in any way. It is
one thing I did not want to do is jeopardize that.
But what that did was spur the outside seating. So
we have a lot of outside seating now and as
far as the lighting goes, it doesn't. I'm not going
to say it does a whole lot for our business.
But what does do is live and up Main Street,
(03:51):
which was the idea.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Yeah, and we talked about Main Street just.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Before we came on, and it's kind of a thriving
and quickly growing area throughout Saint Clairs Well, of course
with with some of the other things that are opening there,
and you guys certainly contribute to that. This is something
that we talk about usually later on with our guests,
but since we kind of mentioned it a little bit earlier.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Obviously, you've been.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
In Ohio your whole life, and you've been in Saint
Clairsville for a really long time, and has there ever
been any thought of going elsewhere. We've had a ton
of guests that are from here. They end up going
somewhere else and then they come back. You don't have
that story, obviously. I don't think you have ever wanted to.
You clearly don't want to go anywhere else. But what
about the Ohio Valley.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Keeps you here and keeps you happy with.
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Where you're at. I don't know. I can only tell
you that it's a very comfortable place to live. I
wanted to raise my kids here. My youngest two just
turned eighteen, so I've accomplished that they all love it here.
None of them have left, and that's an accomplishment, if
you ask me, that's huge to keep your kids, to
make them like the valley enough to stay here and
contribute to the valley. My daughter left for four years
(04:57):
to go to the Marines, and she came back, so
everybody in my family loves the valley. I can't really
explain it. I just have deep roots here and have
no desire to go anywhere else. I do have a
desire to maybe head south for January February every year.
Other than that, I'm not waving.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
I am so with you, So how you have right now,
So what do you look for when you hire someone
and what is it that connects them with a diner?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
All I can tell you is that age has had
very little to do with it. We have we have
sixteen year old employees and we have fifty year old employees.
And what we look for is loyalty, and that's a
two way street. We're very loyal to them too. Anything
(05:57):
that any needs that we see in their lives try
to take care of quietly, and any needs we have
they step in and take care of. If I choose
to go on vacation. We have such dependable people, and
I do look for that when we interview. You know,
if I leave, can you function? And they and they
do so well. And I can only tell you that
there's no specific things that I look for. I just
(06:19):
need to trust them. I need to understand that they
will take over if I'm not there or Tara is
now my co owner. She's my fiance and she bought
Mike out four years ago of the diner, so she's
my partner now. But we can leave and go on
vacation and they're they're super They're they're very dependable, very trustworthy,
(06:42):
and that's all I need. That's really all I need
out of them.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
Okay, So when you talked about Tara, when I go
up there, I always see her there. Either she's she's
running food, or she's talking to your guests or running
out the door to go pick up something from that.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
He's really as well as you.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
But one thing I did notice is this is the.
Speaker 5 (07:06):
Hub than I go next and I see everybody from
all different time and I think that bage is partly
your success.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah, it is. It is. It's a it's a political place.
I mean, we have all sides of politics coming in
there and they they do their little bantering, and we
have families, We have just about anybody you could imagine,
and not even from necessarily Saint Clairsville. We have had
people move here from other places for the oil industry
(07:47):
that are just as regular as anybody that's ever lived here.
And then we have a ninety ninety some year old
man who's been in this town his whole life that
is our mayor basically of the diner. You just it's
just wonderful. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, I saw him the other day sitting in there,
and several people were leaving and they went over and
said goodbye. To him and have a great day, and
it was nice to see you. So that's really kind.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Of cool, genuine soul. Yeah, so many of them are.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Yeah. So I noticed that you had a couple things
here that you showed me, which I read a letter.
So how do you continue your positive outlook when you
have some negativity?
Speaker 3 (08:33):
Well, the negativity is never going to go away. We
have been We've been put down pretty hard over the
years just for being police officers. Sometimes a lot of
people that don't like us always called it a cop
shop and said don't go in there, and a lot
of things like that. But what we have done over
the years is I have been I have been a
(08:56):
big proponent of not worrying about profit. I just need
to pay the bills and I need to pay our
employees good. I have never wanted to make a bunch
of money from it. I wanted the diner to be there.
So we treat our employees good. We keep our prices low.
I can't accomplish the five dollars bill walk in and
out when we open. We did that for a good decade.
(09:16):
Five dollars bill. You can get your launch drink included
and walk out. Can't quite do that anymore.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
But we say we are inventing funeral service at Care
back to the community. But the families we serve, I
don't know beyond make sure was given them.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
So we do and we try to give back everything
employ We make sure that they're not just.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
A family and our sons.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
They're able to work for just us.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Care funeral and cremation now with monthly chaments customers.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Right along with the services and facilities and having a
place downtown Saint Clairsville that adds to the town is
always been our goal.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
It has and since you had the oh the liquor
license pass. So what your hours? So I will tell
you what I heard like before all this start went
before it was you know, was voted on always going
to be a mess. We're gonna have drunk people walking
down the streets. I can't believe they're able to do that.
(10:18):
But what have you seen since you increased your hours
on Friday and Saturday.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
We have had zero incidents of anything. We know we're
not there to have drunk sit We don't even have
a bar that we have a counter that we had
we've always had, so we're not We're not a beer joint.
We're not We're not a bar in any way. We
have some live music sometimes, but it's it's real, mellow basically,
(10:45):
zero incidents, zero people stumbling out the door, and as
far as I know, no complaints whatsoever.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
I have not heard any complaints. I've just heard just
people being really excited that it's there and after work
you can go have a have a drink after work
if you want to after a long you know, day
or a long week, it's the place to go.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Specifically, people ask for a place to go have a
beer and a cheeseburger. Not that there's not places around, right,
but there's a lot of people that lived to come
up and we are that place you get you can
get a draft beer and a cheeseburger. And but we're
more of a we're more of the diner, leaning towards
(11:31):
the diner where you can get a mimosa or bloody mary.
And that's kind of that's kind of where we were
we're headed, or a nice summer drink out. That's kind
of what we were aiming for.
Speaker 4 (11:41):
Not a beer joint, right, No, I think it's really popular.
I see a lot of people in there all the time.
Now you close it two o'clock in the afternoon, right, Yes, okay.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Except on except on Thursday, Friday Saturday.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Right, So you guys are open to when nine on Sursday,
Friday Saturday.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
Yes, we're up until nine pm. We would like to
expand our hours. One problem is finding anybody to apply
for a job anymore is a problem. Another thing is
uptown does kind of roll up the streets at Saint
Clairs what night. It's a pretty quaint town and people
calm down, and we want to keep it calm. But
(12:22):
we are currently, as you know, working on something called Dora,
along with Audrey's Avenue, and hopefully what can happen is
And I'm not saying alcohol is the answer to anything.
I'm not claiming that at all because I know what
bad it can do for my career. However, what I
am saying is if a shop is open, which we
need some storefronts filled, if the shop is open and
(12:45):
somebody's able to walk out with a a fancy little
drink in their hand and walk up and down the street,
they're likely to go in that shop. They're likely to
spend money because if they're like me, if I have
a drink, I'm amazon shopping all the time. So that's
kind of what we're looking to bring some life back
to Main Street. And even though you can like or
(13:08):
dislike the alcohol part of it, but it's true. It
is just a fact people spend money when they have
a drink and calm down.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
They do.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Look at places like like Columbus or Pittsburgh. I mean,
that's how their streets work. And you notice that all
over the place. You mentioned folks coming in from different
walks of life and all kinds of different people, with
different political people, different ages, and.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
That's kind of the connections.
Speaker 2 (13:27):
Part of our show is how can we bring people together?
And you say that you have a you know, a
healthy way of doing that, I'd.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Imagine it's incredible. I mean, if you come in on
a Friday or Saturday night and talk to the people
that are in there, which everyone would talk to you,
to see the variety that are in there, there's everything
from millionaires to kids just starting out. It's the craziest thing.
And everybody is equal. Everybody talks yeah and sits together
and it's just a good time. We love it.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
They're all there for the same reason exactly.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Well, it's that feel like I said I mentioned earlier.
You have a very warm and literally warm and fuzzy
feeling when you walk in. You feel safe, a safe
place to be.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
That's that's nice to hear, and I'm glad, very glad
to hear that. We also, I mean, this is a
little plug for us, but we buy the best of
the best ingredients for everything we make, and it shows
and we buy. For instance, we buy our meats all
from Jacobin Sons and Martin's Ferry. Now when people know that,
(14:28):
we get customers for that reason. Yeah. Yeah, And we
try to support as much local as we possibly can
and always have since the day we open the doors,
and they do the same for us.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
And see that's what we're all about. Oh yeah, because
you know, we're all about that local, shopping local, saying local,
being local, having fun local. I know. I will say
my favorite burger, which I absolutely love this burger is
the Tommy Burger that.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
Was created because when my son was little love Big Max.
When I built a diner, he was he was three
and he would go up there with me while we
were working, and he'd loved Big Max. So when we opened,
I wanted to have a Big Mac basically, but we
can't have a Big Mac, right, so the Big Boy Burger,
which is the same thing. So we created that named
(15:20):
Tommy Burger because it was because of him we had
it and it's been wildly popular.
Speaker 4 (15:25):
That and your homemade fries with brown gravy.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
We fresh cut our fries since the day we opened
the doors too.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Where did the potatoes come from?
Speaker 3 (15:35):
Jebias? Okay, yeah, we we get We get almost all
of our produce from Jebias.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
That is really cool and I'm sure obviously that's much
better than the the ingredients you would find and things
like a Big Mac or whatever.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
So it's all fre I mean, it really is fresh,
from the pickles to to the to the.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
Our pickles are wildly popular. To your pickles, the pickles.
They come in and ask for for a box of pickles,
and we happy to give them that.
Speaker 4 (16:03):
I don't know why, but I don't know. They are
the best pickles.
Speaker 3 (16:06):
They come out of a five gallon bucket. We got
five gallons at a time. We buy but you would
never think, but they're really good.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
Yeah, So do you have any plans on expanding?
Speaker 2 (16:16):
We do.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
We would like to put a deck on the back,
oh outdoor we're currently working with the building owners. We
never did purchase the building, and I prefer it that
way because for different tax reasons, irs reasons, it's better
to do what we're doing now, and that our landlords,
(16:38):
our building owners, are wonderful people, absolutely wonderful people, and
they have always worked with us, and truthfully, I would
say they give us back twofold what we pay them
in rent every month. They're that good of customers they are.
We're currently working with them to possibly add on to
the back and maybe even in the future the shop
that they are in next door, we would like to
(17:01):
expand into their No hurry on that, no plan on date,
but we have talked about it.
Speaker 4 (17:05):
Yeah, that is awesome.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So obviously a lot a ton of folks.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
You know, I'm from Saint Clair's well, so I know
I've never been in there.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I really need to get in there. I wish I
had been before. But I know all about it.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
I've heard about the Norlestown Diner and I see it
every day as I'm driving through. And I'm sure that's
the case with many folks from around here. You know,
they know what it is, they know that there's that
fifties feel and the esthetic and and as she said that,
the warm and fuzzy feel that you get when you
go in there. But but how do you attract somebody
who might be coming from a different area and they
happen to pass through Saint Clairsville, maybe they get off
(17:38):
the highway on Route.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
Nine or whatever.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
How do you track somebody there?
Speaker 2 (17:41):
And and really, you know, put yourselves out there like
this is the spot to go if you want a
good a good burger, or we don't.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
We don't do that. But it's it's crazy the amount
of people that get off the interstate because the Internet
told them to. I don't know a lot about those sites,
the food sites and all that, but we have so
many people that jump off the interstate and said that
it was recommended from whatever out they're in, and they
fall in love with the place, and we become a
(18:08):
meeting place, a halfway point for some people when they
meet people and they find us. We don't The reason
we don't advertise a lot is because we can only
seek forty people inside sure, and if there's forty people
in there already, advertising is going to cause people to
come to the door and leave. So I'm not trying
(18:28):
to not put us out there more, but I don't
want to make it work for people coming there, so
we never have really jumped on the advertising, and it's
worked out for us.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
It's good because then, I mean, it's kind of what
I call digital word of mouth, right, you have it
is people that you know, the folks that already are
established in the valley, and they know about it, and
they tell their friends about it, and then also somebody
who's coming, like you said, who might be traveling and
they stop in. And then if they have a cousin
two weeks later that happens to be going through that
same area, they're like, hey, you should stop at this spot.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
We also have been there long enough now I have
had We've had people get married in the diner, that
met in the diner. Oh wow. Yeah. And I've been
there long enough now that kids have been born, brought
in there by their parents and now have kids and
bring their babies in. That's and that's pretty often.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
That's a feel good that's a feel good moment when
you see that. I like it. When we did our
Christmas tree lighting last year and you guys were so busy,
there was actually a wait, I had more people like
they wouldn't they went to the event that we had
(19:41):
downtown Saint Clairsvoe. But they you guys were you could
hardly see your lights because of all the people.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
You guys, meaning the chamber. What an incredible thing you
guys pulled off on that one.
Speaker 4 (19:54):
Wasn't that good? Told this year?
Speaker 3 (19:56):
I have seen a lot through the years. That was
the best I've seen and I can't I can't imagine
what's coming next. Oh, that was wonderful.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
Listen, Lisa has Lisa Kindler, my assistant. She's got she's
gonna make this one this year really stand out.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
Good luck top and that one that was good, I know,
good for the town.
Speaker 4 (20:17):
Yeah, it is good for the town. And that's what
we're trying to do is bring people through Saint Clair's
woll not just stop at Sam's and that plaza there
and then go around on the highway. We want people
to come through town just to see it. Are fall decorating?
You guys decorate for fall. Next door they decorate for fall,
and it's beautiful just to see people. Some lady told
(20:40):
me that she actually dressed her grandkids in their pajamas
and they started out forty somewhere and they came through
Saint clairsvo That was their highlight they wanted to see.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
Pretty incredible. Yeah, especially during the holidays. But one thing
that does bring people into your question is when any
incident happens on the interstate and they have to reroute
traffic on the Route forty, the exposure we get is
absolutely amazing. It is, it's overwhelming. So the bad comes
(21:14):
with the good, but that we get a lot of
people that find us that way and that passed through
the area on a regular basis, and then they see
that that town not our not just our place, but
the town and it's it's a neat place.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
It's kind of the story of the Pixar movie Cars.
You know, that was my favorite movie still is.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
But you know a lot of people they bypassed that
little town because of the Interstate.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
Acting and there's so many of those towns. Yeah, and
that's bad.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
That's a whole other conversation.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
But I love that when when the town actually sometimes,
like when I'm traveling from from here to Columbus, I'll
take forty instead just to go through some of those
old towns and you see what's there. Because there's so
many spots that you don't really notice.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
I tell people that all the time if they get
re routed for any reason, I don't care where you're at.
Instead of being mad if you're stuck in traffic, whatever,
stop and look around. It's stuff you drive past all
the time. It is and don't notice. Look at the houses,
look at things, and it's awesome. In Saint Clairsville is
very famous for that. The courthouse alone, Oh yeah, I
(22:17):
mean I've been working at the police department for a
lot of years and people that have come there from
out of town other places just to take pictures of
the courthouse. That's amazing.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
Yeah, because it's a beautiful courthouse. But we do have
a beautiful town and it's a hometown feel, and so
our listeners out there. If you want someplace good to
eat just to reminisce on the fifties, please stop at
Nolestown Diner because it's one of the best places that
I've been for lunch breakfast. My husband and I love
(22:48):
the breakfast there on Sunday mornings. So you're welcome. So
I think that's all.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Yeah, we've got a little bit more time. I'd like
to talk to.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
You a little bit about the police officer aspect of
all this, and of course we mentioned something about being
good for the town earlier, and what's also good for
the town, of course, is you guys, and we thank
you for that and we appreciate your service. And again
we talked about before we came on the misconception that
you guys are the bad guys. Well, you know, I've
always been taught that you guys are there to help
you out, help people out, and maintain the safety. And
(23:20):
STA strikes me as a very safe place to be in,
a safe place to live. And I was just wondering
what your take is on how how safe it is
and what kind of crime you see, if you would
even consider it crime or wrongdoing.
Speaker 1 (23:31):
I don't hear of any kind of violence at all.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Well, just just to clear that up, we get the
same thing. Consider consider us a precinct in a large city.
We're a small town. But consider that small town a precinct.
We get the same thing the rest of the world gets.
We have I seventy, we have Route nine, we get
a lot of stuff coming through. We have one of
the most successful drug sniffing dogs in the entire High Valley.
(23:59):
It's amazing. We get a lot of arrest from that.
So as far as crime go, we get it. Now.
You don't know about it because we sweep up fast
our city and our residents have supported us to the
point where if you call for the police, you can
expect us sixty seconds or less at your house. There's
enough of us on duty and we hammer it. We
(24:20):
also are fortunate enough to have Richland Township Police. In STA.
We have the Belmont County Sheriff's Office.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Stair's Higway Patrol, and the Highway Patrol and st That's
why my parents.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Always told me never do anything wrong in Saint Clairsville
because there are so many, you know, things that.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
If in most of the places in the county are
are pretty fortunate when it comes to neighboring departments. But
I can tell you if if I watch a lot
of videos of this stuff. Now, if we pull you
over and a fight starts, there's going to be so
many cop cars around you within five minutes, you're not
even going to believe it. Ye bank robberies we've had,
We've had a few bank robberies through the years, and
(24:54):
we are just flooded. So we're very fortunate there. We believe.
Our department believes that it doesn't matter how far your
street is off the beaten path, or you deserve a
cop car going past your house as much as main street.
So we do that. We routinely go past everybody's house
in that town. We make sure that we notice things
(25:16):
that don't belong, cars that don't belong. It's a small
enough town we can do stuff like that. And our
guys love our town.
Speaker 4 (25:23):
How many is on the police force?
Speaker 3 (25:25):
We have ten full time, wow, and we have three
part time. In three part time. A couple of them
were full time and they took other jobs so they
stayed with us.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
But that says a lot.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Yeah, well actually nine right now. We're hiring a school
resource officer right now to replace one of our guys
that left for Zanesville. Okay, but the city takes very
good care of us. And I'm not just talking about
the pay and the city and council themselves. I'm talking
about our residents. Our residents are so good to us
(25:59):
and we appreciate that. So you get a lot of
you get a lot of bad out there that you
see on the news and stuff, but in reality, you
know when somebody says it's really hard to be a cop.
I can't believe you do that. Man. Our residents take
care of us. Yeah, they're good to us. Our businesses
are good to us. We're good to them back. I'm
not saying that, but we're treated very well. I don't
(26:20):
want to. I don't want to meet you to spoil that.
Most cops, most places are treated very well. We have
our bad moments, there's no doubt about that, and we
make mistakes too, but overall, most of us that are
there are there for all the right reasons.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
So this is a less serious question.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
But I've always was told that on your car, on
the outside of your car, you're not allowed to have
any kind of light other than red, yellow, and white.
And I see folks driving around with LEDs, green lights,
blue lights under the car, and I wanted to get
your take on it.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
If that's legal or not.
Speaker 3 (26:51):
It's not not visible perfect.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
So now I don't sound like a like a jerk
whenever I'm calling out and I'm driving along the road.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Well, here's the situation. You can't. You can have like
lights under your car shining down on the road, but
we can't. You're not supposed to physically be able to
see the light itsel I see. The problem with it
is is we're really outnumbered now, you know. And it's
a matter of attended windows is another problem. It's a
matter of you know, how much, how much do we
(27:18):
want to beat up our people? You know? And is
it worth it? Not saying we don't want to enforce
the law, but is it worth it. It's just like, if
you're parked the wrong direction, we're going to ticket everybody
for that. If you're if you're five miles over the
speed limits illegal, do we want to ticket you for that?
So we have to choose our battles. And we're human.
We know that, you know. Kids don't know sometimes and
(27:41):
they do things, and we talk to people, but overall,
unless it's causing a problem, we don't. We don't bother people.
I think most officers are like that.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
No, I know that it's illegal, so I don't have
to be right, but I like that.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
I did not even know that, and I didn't know.
I'm sorry, and I'm sixty three years old. Did not
know it was legal to go five miles over? Oh yes,
I just thought that was that wiggle room.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
You could just know what the courts generally allow for
a radar to be off by three so we wouldn't
write anybody for three over. We don't write anybody for
five over. Don't get me wrong, but we can. Yeah.
Oh I'm glad illegals illegal.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I mean, when I'm passing that cardiaccenter at two in
the morning, I better make sure I'm going to thirty
five because I see you guys there all the time,
that in the old uh, the old convenient location.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Yeah, well we are are you know, are our one
of our guys is well, a couple of our guys
are really heavy into drugs. Now, what people don't understand
is we stop a lot of cars, not necessarily to
pick on you, not necessary, but we want to know
who's in our town. Yeah sure, and you want us
to know, so we stopped talk to people. We don't.
(28:50):
Our department rates very few tickets. I mean very few.
I'm talking a dozen a month.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (28:57):
We do a lot of traffic stops, but sometimes at
the end of that traffic stop, you're going to get
a Hershey bar handed to you in a warning ticket,
compliments of our mayor. Yes, she doesn't tell anybody that.
Oh that's fact. We don't want to be enemies. We
want to be friends. That traffic stop can end in
(29:17):
anger or can end and thank you for being here,
and thank you for reminding me, and you know that
that's that's what we do. Our department's pretty awesome like that.
We had somebody come in and donate a lot of
money last year and said, I want you to buy
gift cards and hand them out on traffic stops. And
we did. We did. We bought a lot of gift
cards from in town business, all of them good and
(29:41):
and what what.
Speaker 5 (29:44):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Well, we'd look to end it here with it with
a thank.
Speaker 4 (29:47):
You very much, thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
This has been t J.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
Stewart, the owner of Norstown Diner Saint Clairs. The police officer,
that's Wendy Anderson. I'm Drake Watson as always for community
connections and commerce.
Speaker 1 (29:57):
Thanks for listening
Speaker 5 (30:01):
And
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