have added beer and wine , we ’ ve added a lot more to our menu , because we have more space to do it , a large kitchen , and now , since we ’ ve come , we ’ ve had several other businesses that are coming downtown also .”
And the staff of First & Broad , she said , is made up of a few local high schoolers getting their first job experience in downtown Cairo .
“ I work a lot of high schoolers ,” she said . “ Like , the majority of my night staff are high school students , so we work around soccer and cheerleading and band and softball and a lot of them have never had a job before and this is their first job .”
Holder said that it feels good for local students to have their first job experience at her restaurant , with some enjoying the experience enough to return for work during their summer away from college .
“ It ’ s a good starting point for a kid to have their first job ,” she said . “ They learn to wash dishes and sweep and mop and all the things they don ’ t do at home , they come here and learn how to do .”
I didn ’ t want to lose the history and the feel of the history of the building . My biggest goal was to just do it justice and make it fun to come and hang out ; it ’ s still an old building that ’ s been brought back to life .”
Holder said that it was always her intention to bring new life to downtown Cairo and help it grow , adding that with everything that First & Broad offers to locals and those tuning in from afar , she thinks Cairo has done exactly that .
“ It really has . On Tuesday nights , we do cornhole tournaments and the motocross guys kind of run that ,” Holder said . “ So we have a large crowd Tuesday nights , it ’ s open to the public . That ’ s been huge and Thursday nights we feature live music , though it ’ s usually local entertainment , and the bar is packed every Thursday night and so that has been amazing .”
Holder said their expectations for the new business had been blown out of the water number-wise , but continued on to say that there is definitely a pressure in growing something her entire family is involved in .
“ It ’ s a lot of pressure , number one , I ’ m a mom , I have two kids , and I ’ m very involved ,” she said . “ My oldest , he works up here , my husband has a
Thomasville Scene | Summer 2023 95