In a message dated 06/08/2000 9:29:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: << There seem to be many VESTALs with a company of their own. >> Here is an article Sharpwin and I have shared with each other. I thought the rest of the list might enjoy reading it as well. The town is Elkin, which is in Surry County, North Carolina, it borders Yadkin County. Elkin has applied to put its downtown on the National Register of Historic Places. Evan Vestal is our great-uncle and the grandson of LINDSAY DAVID7 VESTAL (DAVID WILLIAM6, DAVID5, WILLIAM4, THOMAS3, WILLIAM2, WILLAM1 VESTALL) and PRUDENCE VASHTI VESTAL. Still hoping for information on Thomas Vestal married to Grace Swaim. Thanks, Barbara Vestal Byrd Published: April 1, 2000 He Built a Reputation Ed Vestal shores up his community by saving old storefronts in downtown Elkin By Sherry Wilson JOURNAL SURRY COUNTY REPORTER ELKIN, NORTH CAROLINA Evan Vestal already owned a handful of buildings in downtown Elkin two years ago when his wife said ''no more'' and joked that she might kill him if he bought another. Sometimes the old storefronts would have six or more roof leaks and rotting floors that cost thousands to repair. Vestal, 74, didn't stop buying, but he made offers on a few more buildings in his wife's name, Verlie. The purchases are now a joke between the two, who say that the technicality of his name not being on the deed was the only way he could get around her threat. And he still hasn't stopped buying. Last fall, he bought four more downtown buildings, and as restoration is completed on each, a number of small businesses are taking root in the downtown that 20 years ago was abandoned by big-name department stores and hardware stores. Vestal's restoration efforts have encouraged a handful of other business owners, as well as city officials, who approved a facade grant program this week to help owners fix up downtown buildings. ''Everybody else wants to take a dollar or two and run. I want to keep people here. Before I can get one done, I have some calling who want to rent it,'' said Vestal, who has been in business in Elkin for 56 years. The Vestals now own 15 buildings, including the former J.C. Penney building, which has been home to their furniture and appliance store for about 16 years. He has been in business for 56 years. The Main Street Advisory Board, which provides assistance to individuals and businesses working to improve downtown, thinks of Vestal as a kind of icon for Elkin, said Teresa Howell, who manages programs for the board. The Main Street board approved its facade grant program Tuesday, starting with $6,000 available in the pool, for people such as Vestal, she said. Business owners who want to spruce up the exteriors of their downtown buildings can apply for a matching grant of up to $1,000 of the cost, Howell said. This year, Elkin also applied to put its downtown on the National Register of Historic Places, she said. The state will review applications in June and decide on which to submit for federal consideration. John and Teresa Litschke are among those who have followed in Vestal's footsteps. They have transformed one building into a gallery and restored the upstairs into apartments, Howell said. ''It's kind of a domino effect when everybody's building looks good, the one down the street wants to,'' Howell said. Carol Dobbins, who runs a wedding shop out of one of Vestal's buildings, said that he has nurtured the town and improved its looks. The building where she sells wedding dresses and other formal attire used to be a run-down storefront with seven layers of leaky roofs. Another business owner, Jim Canter, remembers when the building on Main Street that he now leases from Vestal looked so bad that he couldn't imagine moving his clock business into it. Vestal bought it last fall, fixed some bad floors and walls, installed some partitions for a bathroom and cleaning room, and Canter moved in about three months ago. ''I think it's fantastic,'' Canter said. ''It's all overdue. The first time I looked at these buildings, I wouldn't have touched them with a 10-foot pole.'' But Vestal, who always has a carpenter at work repairing old buildings, doesn't want any of the credit for improving downtown. It's nothing to brag about, he said. It is rough fixing up the buildings, he said, but he is just committed to downtown Elkin. ''I will fix up an old building rather than see it stand there vacant, even if I can't get rent for them,'' he said.