Braking for breakfast
07.13.10 - 11:00 pm
At the Marietta Diner, located at 306 Cobb Parkway, eating breakfast on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. This group of men call themselves the Romeos: Retired Old Men Eating Out.
The group includes a former Cobb County commissioner, a Ford Motor Company executive, an owner of a towing business, a former Sears employee and Lockheed employees just to name a few.
"Most people carry pictures of their wives, kids or grandkids," said Dik Wesson, who formed the group with his friend Jerry Weaver more than a year ago.
"Romeos carry pictures of their cars," he said. "(Romeos) is a networking thing for guys with old cars."
The basis of the group is the love of antique cars. On Tuesday mornings, classic cars fill the parking lot at the Marietta Diner. On any given Tuesday, a seafoam green '44 Ford coupe, a black '44 Sedan with orange and white and yellow flames, or a '32 Ford Roadster might be there.
"One guy has about 13 cars and he drives whatever starts in the morning," said Wesson.
But driving a classic car isn't a requirement for being a Romeo. "Some (Romeos) are in the process of remodeling. Some (cars) are finished and showable. Some (Romeos) don't have an antique car but appreciate them," he said.
The Romeos welcome anyone to join them, according to Wesson. Although most members live in the Marietta area, one Romeo comes from Horseshoe Bend for the fun.
"The more the merrier. We'd like to fill the place because it's just fun to talk about where we've been and where we're going," said Wesson, who retired from Delta where he worked on leases, contracts and real estate matters.
"We reminisce, we lie and we fabricate and we just go on and on and on," he said laughing. The Romeos observe one rule. "We don't talk politics or religion," Wesson said.
"It's (Romeos) something we've set in motion and everybody just looks forward to telling stories and hearing stories on a weekly basis. It's a good group and there's a lot of laughs and, at our age, I guess we decided we ought to be doing that."