By Leslie Birdwell
HQ 42 | SUMMER/AUTUMN 2001
Ava Gibson Bicknell has a list of things to do, but hers isn’t your average “to do” list, the kind most of us write then immediately forget. Ava keeps and updates a record of life-time goals.
“Everyone should make a list,” she recommends, “and on mine was owning a restaurant.” She sits in the front parlor of the old home that fulfills her dream, relaxed and in charge at the same time.
“It started with a need to simplify my life.” Restaurants aren’t simple and maybe what Ava needed was a way to make tangible her feelings about people, family and the finest moments in life. And if you seek an expression of Ava Bicknell, look no farther than Savannah’s Restaurant, where you feel welcome as you walk up the front steps of the house on Sixth Avenue and open the door. Ava’s daughter, Katie, says that it’s like going to a favorite relative’s house for dinner.
“It gives you atmosphere instantly,” Ava says. From the wooden mantle of the foyer’s fireplace to the intimate rooms, 1208 Sixth Avenue is the perfect setting for good times.
“We have a wonderful wait staff and good customers,” says Ava, giving credit where it’s due. Her three children have worked there on and off and her mother puts fresh flowers on the tables every Monday. Husband John Bicknell built (and maintains) the wine cellar and chooses the music to set a particular mood. “We don’t subscribe to a service,” Ava says of the music, “because John has an extensive CD collection”.
When the season changes, so does the menu. John, Ava and chef Michael Bowen sit down together and plan. “We’re bringing back the chocolate parfait,” she explains, due to customer demand. Attention to detail makes the whole more than the sum of its parts.
“It’s the same thing in nursing. Nursing and food are both about nurturing,” she explains. A co-founder of the successful Pro-Nursing & Health Services, Inc, Ava has been a part of the business world since 1984 and understands well the joys and perils of a start-up business. Her family was very supportive of her ventures.
“My dad especially,” she explains. “My dad has always been supportive of my ventures. He encouraged us to get an education and challenged us to dream the dream. That’s the way I live my life.”
Ava considers herself a Tri-State person. Born on a Pike County, Ohio, farm, (her birth was attended by a doctor who arrived on horseback) she graduated from nursing school in Ashland, Kentucky. Later she earned her BSN from Marshall and her MSN from West Virginia University.
When she first graduated, she worked at King’s Daughters Hospital in Ashland, and then moved to Charleston, South Carolina. After returning to Huntington, she worked at the Huntington Hospital (now River Park Hospital). She also worked at the state hospital on Norway Avenue (now the Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital). Ava also had the opportunity to teach at the vocational school in Chesapeake, Ohio in the diversified health care occupations field.
“I loved teaching,” she says of that time in her life. “I still see some of my students.”
But the money wasn’t enough for a single mom with three kids; so back to school she went, driving to Charleston three nights a week for three years to earn an advanced degree.
It’s obvious that Ava Bostic is a task-oriented woman, but that’s how she likes it.
“I am really happy. My mom says I work myself to death. In fact, before this interview, I was at home, spreading mulch and cleaning the flowerbeds.”
She concedes that she must pause occasionally.
“I have to force myself to give myself time. I like to walk. When my sister Georgia died in 1991, I walked a lot.”
Ava talks about her sister and how close they were. The spirit of her sister and her father serve as touchstones of strength.
When it comes to cooking, she likes it, but requires a recipe: “If I improvise, it’s not always the best. I love cookbooks.”
For relaxation, she prefers a Busman’s Holiday. “John and I plan our vacation around food and wine. We’ve been to Italy. I wanted to go ever since I heard my dad talk about the country. He was there during the war and he always talked about the food, the wine, the olives and the people.”
“Families,” she adds, “should eat together. Italians seem to do it best.”
The perfect place for families to gather might be Savannah’s, where Ava and her staff make you feel right at home.
