and months, which was the catalyst for
opening a consignment shop in Vidalia
in 2010 named Kennedy’s Closet.
“That same year, Obamacare
came into effect, and the trial for the
experimental procedure was stopped,”
she said. “Later, doctors were able to
create a bladder for Kennedy using 30
centimeters of her intestines. Instead of
only a life span of only eighteen years,
she now has many wonderful years of
life ahead.”
Ginger continued to
work full-time as a paralegal
opening Kennedy’s Closet only on
Saturdays. When a building came
available in downtown Lyons, she
saw it as her chance to go full-in. The
building required extensive renovations,
which were all done by Ginger and her
husband Justin. By February 2015, she
was ready to open Broad Street Formals
for business. “From the beginning, I
realized I would need more space than
what I had there.”
g
Two years later, the unexpected
came as a terrible tragedy. On October
4, 2017, Ginger’s family received news
that her nephew, Staff Sergeant Dustin
Michael Wright, had been killed during
combat operations in Niger, Africa. It
was a devastating loss for the family
and the entire community. Weeks later,
Ginger woke from a dream in which
she saw a mural on the side of a corner
building in downtown Lyons. In the
mural, there was a tribute to Dustin as
well as other scenes that represented
Lyons.
Ginger made a drawing from the
images and drove to the building she
had seen in her dream. It was on the
corner of Highway #1 and NE Broad
Street. It just so happened that the
owner, Brenda Aaron, was there that
morning. “The store had been sort of a
‘picker’s place,’” said Ginger, “but Ms.
Brenda had to close it to care for her sick
family members. Over time, it became
more of a place for storage.”
When Ginger shared her dream
with the building’s owner, she learned
that the building was actually for sale.
“We agreed on a price right then, and
within thirty days, Ms. Brenda had
cleared out everything she wanted to
keep. What was left, we gave away.”
By that time, Ginger and her
husband had already accomplished
several renovation projects, but this was
without doubt going to be their biggest
challenge. It wasn’t just about having a
bigger building and more space. It was
about the town Ginger now loved. This
project was about her community and
revitalizing the downtown district.
“We worked down to the dirt in
some places and up to the sky where the
entire ceiling had fallen in in others,”
said Ginger. “Even though the building
was in bad shape, it had ‘good bones.’”
The pieces of tongue and groove wood
flooring that could be salvaged were
under six layers of flooring. We also
discovered a quarter of the floor was
concrete. Someone told us it was for the
car lot that was there in the 20s.”
66 TOOMBS COUNTY MAGAZINE