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Cafe To Be Open On Christmas

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By CHERYL BENTLEY

The Suncoast News

Published: December 24, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - A concerned stepdaughter, sympathetic restaurateurs and a good friend have joined forces to make sure New Port Richey resident Kay Beal, 81, gets her Christmas dinner.

For the first time in years, it looked as if Beal was destined to have Christmas dinner alone. She formerly ate with friends at the First Assembly of God Church in New Port Richey. But this year, the church will not have its usual Christmas Day event.

Moreover, in a lean economic year, invitations from neighbors were on hold. To make matters worse, her asthma and chronic bronchitis kept her close to home this year. Beal began to feel isolated.

That was an unusual feeling for her. According to her stepdaughter, Lynda Beal, who lives in Cincinnati, Kay Beal is by nature a giver. Until this year, she had cooked Thanksgiving dinner for those who had no place to go during that holiday. Husband Dick Beal had helped her until his death in 2002.

Kay Beal tried to put on a happy face about the holidays, but Lynda Beal knew she was hurting. "She made a lot of excuses why people couldn't invite her, but deep down inside she felt lonely."

Lynda Beal could not accept the idea that no one would give to her stepmother, the giver. She spent several evenings trying to find a restaurant that was open on Christmas so that Kay could enjoy Christmas dinner with her friend Barbara Russell. But she had no luck.

Finally, she called the Cafe Grand in New Port Richey.

The cafe's owner Tony Robinson takes up the story. The Robinsons are newcomers to the Grand, a beloved eatery in downtown New Port Richey. They bought the cafe on Nov. 20 and had decided not to keep it open for Christmas.

His wife Barbara answered Lynda Beal's call. Barbara Robinson was moved by Kay Beal's plight and Lynda Beal's concern for her stepmother. "We're family people," Tony Richardson says. "We could understand."

When Barbara Richardson found out Kay Beal was from Queens, she softened even more. The Robinsons are from nearby Brooklyn.

The Robinsons looked at each other, Tony remembers. "The two of us said, 'Let's open.'"

And so the Cafe Grand will serve Christmas dinner. Kay Beal will be there with her friend Barbara Russell. Russell is trying to keep the Christmas dinner a surprise.

As for Lynda Beal, she hopes the Grand will fill up with customers to compensate the two people who have gone out of their way to help her stepmother.

"I can't get over the generosity of those two people I had never met," she says. "I just feel the Lord wanted us all to have the spirit of Christmas."

Cafe Grand is at 6238 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey. Its telephone number is (727) 848-7098.

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