Keeping a Blue Circle promise

I whispered to Mike Marshall, “Someday I’m gonna write about you, my friend.”

Mike, who was at that time the owner of Bristol’s Blue Circle Restaurant, was dying of brain cancer. His dear wife, June, and their beloved daughter, Anna, stayed close by his side until the end. It was about 13 years ago, best I can recall, at our 35th high school reunion, when I pulled Mike aside and made the promise contained within the first sentence of this column.

June’s father, Mr. Glen Irwin, once ran both Blue Circles in Bristol for decades on end. Yes, at one time, there was a Circle on West State Street, too.

Mike and “June Bug” both graduated THS in Bristol the same year as me. Beloved classmates, indeed. They got married and eventually began to jointly run the lone remaining Blue Circle on Bluff City Highway, where it still stands. For many years, they faithfully kept the down-home, folksy “Mayberry feel” of this one-of-a-kind short-order diner.

One could always choose not to go inside and just use the drive-in, of course. But you’d forego a special treat, if you did; you’d miss out on the constant hilariously deadpan humor and sideshow going on inside.

I have no doubt that Mike (or “86”, as he was known to his many friends) could hold his own bantering live onstage with Robin Williams or David Letterman. He could “trash talk” with anyone. And I mean “trash talk” in the most heartwarming of ways. Mike’s sharp wit could cut you to the quick and you’d still come away feeling you’d been hugged and loved (and you were). I’ve not met many people in this life who could pull of such a dual endeavor (trash talk and real love all at once), but it is an undertaking at which Mike Marshall was a Jedi master.

After Mike’s passing, the Circle began to wane a bit. June and Anna made a go of it for a while, but I’m sure they felt it could never be the same without their beloved spouse and father constantly bantering with the customers.

A couple of other owners valiantly tried to revive its tasty fried food and homespun atmosphere. But the Circle would never be the same again. How could it? The one and only Mike Marshall had gone on.