Woot!

Let’s Go To Nader’s by Clay Jones

At least we’ll know what we’re getting Read on Substack

This cartoon was drawn for the FXBG Advance.

Back on July 6, I published another cartoon on this same issue. A sketchy developer is asking for Fredericksburg to zone an area for homes, apartments, retail space, and for it all to be anchored by a “specialty” grocery store. The catch is, the city won’t be allowed to know which grocery store it’s getting. And now, they’ve taken a closer step to approving it.

Nader’s is a downtown grocery store in Fredericksburg, and it’s an institution. But over the years, I’ve heard complaints about it being the only grocery store downtown. It’s probably Fredericksburg’s version of a Bodega. A Bohemian friend of mine wrote a song about the place. I think Nader’s name has changed, but it’s always going to be known as Nader’s. It is by the Purina tower and the train station.

Creative note: I came up with this idea while on the train to my convention last Thursday. Because of all the shenanigans happening here, I wasn’t able to finish the cartoon until Friday afternoon. I drew this in the lobby so I could spend more time with my colleagues, and a LOT of them were looking over my shoulder watching me draw this. That would have been intimidating a few years ago, as most of them are better artists than I am, but they’re really the coolest people and are super supportive.

During the awards ceremony Saturday night, the president of the AAEC, Marc Murphy, mentioned that the winner of the Rex Babin Award was drawing (a local cartoon) in the lobby with friends watching. And that’s how I knew I had just won the award. More on this soon. (snip)