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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1988)
Page 4E/The Battalion/Monday, August 29, 1988 That’s the maximum we ll charge you per minute to call anywhere in Texas from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. any day of the week, all day Satur days and until 5 p.m. on Sundays, (even less to some locations) For more information or to sign up: Contact our office at the corner of 22nd and Texas in Bryan When Saving Money Rings a Bell Call STAR TEL or Drop by our booth in the MSC (Thru Sept 2) 779-2830 779-2830 Fall Bicycle Sale Aggieland Schwinn, Inc. For the finest in Quality and Service Special Values Now Include: Schwinn Caliente 10 speed Raleigh Record 12 speed w/Index Raleigh Technium 480 Raleigh Pointe Mtn. 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All these knits are comfortable cotton blend for easy care and come with removable shoulder pads. You can choose from solid colors black, red or navy. Checks come in blacCwith- red, or black-with-khaki. Sizes: 5(4-6), M(8'10), L(I2'14). c. tabs If YOU want fun fashions for fall, please fill out the coupon and mail it to this address, along with a check or VISA/ MasterCard number. Mail to: c. tabs 7648 Old Hammond Hwy. Baton Rouge, LA 70809 ViSA/MasterCard (circle one) No Exp. Date Dress Size _ Size _ (circle one) Solid or Check Solid or Check Name Address. City Phone (. State. Zip. -) Please allow two weeks for delivery. 100% satisfaction guaranteed. No cash or C.O.D.s please. Thank your for your order. Please call us at 504-924-0554 if you have any questions or would like to see a brochure with our Fall Line. Pant with Peplum Top (circle one) Size Solid or Check Size Solid or Check Total Dresses Ordered . Total Top/Pants Ordered. Color Price $55 Color Price $55 Color Price $50 Color Price $50 Total Price . Total Price . Add $3 shipping for each order Total Enclosed Plant your ad in The Battalion Classified and harvest the RESULTS! Phone 845-2611 for help in placing your ad. Northgate (Continued from page 3E) Because there is no common own ership of property, the Northgate Merchant’s Association was formed in 1975. Rainey, who is the current president of the group, said the members have met off and on over the years to discuss their problems and possible solutions. “Most of the Northgate businesses are independently owned,” Rainey said. “And by definition, indepen dent businessmen are independent. “To a certain degree that makes things difficult. Not that we don’t get along, but sometimes there’s not as much desire to work in the same areas,” he said. “The things that con cern the bookstores may not concern the bars.” The restoration of the buildings that house Northgate, and an effort to keep the area clean are issues that concern most of the downtown resi dents. Rainey said he has tried to im prove on the appearance of the Texas Aggie Bookstore because of the historical perspective. “These are old buildings that you don’t see built today,” he said. Ganter echoed Rainey on the is sue of restoration. “This area is just so old and uni que,” Ganter said. Rainey said the merchant’s asso ciation also serves as a liason to the College Station City Council. North- gate has its own zoning and the asso ciation will be meeting with city lead ers in September to discuss changes in the zoning ordinance. Rainey said the special zoning has helped the area in the past. “If the zoning would have stayed the same,” he said, “we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the re storation of our buildings.” Callaway said the changes in the ordinance will deal with “landscape requirements” that were removed when Northgate was assigned as a separate zone in 1984. “The amendments will affect only new construction in the area,” he said. “It won’t mean any changes for the old businesses.” However, Ganter said commu nication between the city and the merchants of Northgate has not al ways been clear. “A few years ago the city said they were going to build a park back be hind The Dixie Chicken to try and eliviate the crowds spilling out onto University Drive,” Ganter said. “So we built a back end to our place. “Now we’ve got a back end, but there’s nothing but an empty lot back there.” Callaway said the city did make ef forts toward construction of a park for Northgate, but was unable to reach an agreement with landown ers. If the problems involved in doing business at Northgate seem obvious, the advantages are even more noti- cable. Texas A&M is directly across University Drive. In the fall, the stu dent enrollment will be around 40,000; 10,000 of which live on cam pus. Plus, there are 10,000 faculty and staff members on the University payroll. Rainey said most of those people make their way to Northgate. “The primary advantage is the Northgate area has historically been associated with the campus,” he said. But, Rainey said, the feeling that they are welcome in the area is also important. “All students like to think that Northgate is their place,” Rainey said. Ganter said the proximity to cam pus has put Northgate under the realm of an aspect most people asso ciate with Texas A&M — tradition. Battalion filephu: College Station restaurateur Don Ganter plans to turn the old Cam pus Theater into a nightclub. “We’re close to the University and the buildings are historic,” he said. “It’s become traditional for students to migrate to Northgate.” Because their student customers are on limited budgets, the restau rant owners agree they must deal in volume. A1 Hossain recently opened The Aggie Grill in Northgate, and believes volume will be the key to his business. “I believe if I serve the same food as resaurants in other locations, but for a lower cost, volume will pick up the slack,” Hossain said. Ganter said he has to keep the prices low at The Dixie Chicken to keep customers. “I have to charge 95 cents for the same beer that people pay $2 for in Dallas,” he said. Throughout Northgate,the bookstores have expanded. Rainey said the growth is directly related to the growth of the student popula tion. He said he started The Texas Aggie Bookstore with 2,000-square- feet in 1969 and has expanded three times to reach its current capacity of 6,400-square-feet. “We’ve got another 1,600-square- feet we’ll probably include in the next three years,” he said. However, the other Northgate bookstores also have expanded and the proprietors are having to find new ways to hold their own, Rainey said. Therefore, he said, soft goods such as T-shirts are being used to pick up the slack. “I think we are going to see more locations fighting for thesame:| lars.” he said. “We will have to J more promotions. So there is irii expense to hold on to the saraeil lars. 1 don’t really know if anyoBtl going to gain from all ofthisex™ sion. “We must have more square hi age of bookstores than any uni™ sity in the country,” Rainey said. I Ganter is doing some expansl of his own, but not to The Etl Chicken or Stickey Chins. Instil he plans to reopen the CampusE ater as a nightclub this fall. “It will still be a theater in Iffi he said. “We’re just sprucing it: We’re not going to changeathinjt I the outside.” Ganter said erapti | will be on 1950s and 19(1 rock’n’roll and the club will occasi I ally feature live music. Chris Blaylock, whoopenedlj A&M Steakhouse in July, said: I chose a Northgate location beat I he felt “it is where things are It I pening. “1 don’t plan on making a bud I two and taking off,” he said, I signed a ten-year lease and I wad I stay here a long time.” Ganter believes his new club I College Station’s downtown cano: I get better in time. “I can’t see the Northgate) | doing anything but chargingfl ward with a brilliant future,”best I Rainey agreed and said theft® I of Northgate is all but guaranteed | “As long as Texas A&Misafl l the street , there is going to best: I important economic activitt I Northgate,” he said. “And w I know the University isn’t goingf I where.” Messina Hof offers vineyard tours, wine-tasting to local connoisseurs By Marc Weisinger Reporter Touring a winery, strolling through a 36-acre vineyard and sam pling award-winning wines isn’t just for natives of California or France — it can be done right here in the Bra zos Valley. As the sixth generation of Italian winemakers, Paul V. Bonarrigo is one of the pioneers of the wine in dustry in Texas. Bonarrigo has been running the Messina Hof Wine Cellars and Vine yards since he founded the business in 1977. His family, from Messina, Sicily, first started making wine in the 1800s. Competing against some of the best wines around the country, Mes sina Hof has been the recipient of over 60 awards for excellence in in ternational, national and regional wine competitions. “Texas wines are finally being rec ognized as national wines,” Bonar rigo says. The vineyards and winery are open to the public for tours on Sat urday afternoons by reservation only. The tour, starting off with a short introduction of Bonarrigo’s family and his business, is followed by a brief video on the rising popularity of Texas wine. Tasting wine made in Brazos Val- “Texas wines are finally being recognized as na tional wines. ” Paul V. Bonarrigo, owner and founder of Bryan’s Messina Hof Wineries and Vineyards ley is the next step. In so doing, the group will get to sample some of Messina Hof’s finest wines. During the wine tasting, Bonar rigo gives a short but informative lesson on wine appreciation and ex plains what wines to drink with what foods. After moving the tour to the fields, Bonarrigo explains how the vineyard features nine different va rieties of wine grapes. “Each wine is made from a differ ent kind of grape,” he says. “All the grapes are hand-picked, and the vineyard will produce 60 tons of grapes this year.” One of the sights that might sur prise someone unacquainted with the wine industry is the rose bushes placed at the end of each row. The roses help determine if the grape vines need to be treated for disea? I Bonarrigo explains that 11 bushes are susceptible to the sa: I diseases that grapevines are I show symptoms sooner. “We can tell when to sprat I watching the roses,” BonarrigosJ “This is a century-old technique!)! rowed from Bordeaux, Fra® where the humidity and weather! similar to ours.” The group then moves to» grape dump, where the grapes! de-stemmed and processed befo they move to the fermenting roo® The dump is where the Bonaf I go’s 6-year-old son works. He! the seventh generation winenu! of the Bonarrigo family and will® the winery some day, the elderS j narrigo says. After seeing the ferment® room, the group is shown a s : I presentation on the history of!! sina Hof. The presentation sh 1 everything from the first grape® planted to Bonarrigo’s home in ! I ily, as well as the many awards I wines have won. When a person on the tour as! 1 1 Bonarrigo what wines provided | biggest competition, he simply I plied, “My main competition is I | ing tea live up to my father, gran 11 I ther and great-grandfather’swi® I