(Brian McDonald)
Name: Joyce Lee Galleshaw
Age: 59
Position: Owner, Wright’s Farm Restaurant
Background: A one time professional dancer and dance instructor, Joyce
Galleshaw and her late husband Francis Galleshaw, II, purchased Wright’s Farm
Restaurant in 1972 and built their own family business. Francis Galleshaw, III,
now runs the restaurant’s day-to-day operations. Joyce Galleshaw’s daughter and
daughter-in-law run the gift shop. Her son-in-law is in charge of company’s food
products division.
Family: Widow of Francis Galleshaw, II; two children
Residence: Burrillville
PBN: How did you come to own Wright’s Farm?
GALLESHAW: My husband and I purchased the restaurant in 1972. I was
brought up in a restaurant – on Hartford Avenue. It was Lena’s Ice Cream Parlor
at the time. We lived upstairs. Hartford Avenue, at the time, was made up of all
families that ran businesses. There was a grocery store and a drug store. That’s
what it was like in the 1950s and 1960s. Everybody worked there. The wife was
at the register and the kids were in the back room. That’s how it was. That was
my background. I grew up in a family neighborhood where families ran businesses.
Was Wright’s Farm in the same location when you purchased it in 1972?
Yes, but it was much smaller. It was an up and going restaurant. Mr. Wright
lived in the house that you see directly across the street. It was Gene and Lila
Wright. They originated this as an operating chicken farm. They were raising chickens.
One day Mr. Wright was asked by a group to do a barbecue outside. From that, he
decided to start a restaurant. It was a full restaurant, with one little room.
He realized he needed a chef. So he went to a caterer he knew (Frank Iannoli).
Frank said he was retired, but if Mr. Wright wanted to do chicken family-style,
he would do it. It’s funny. There have been articles that have said we originated
the chicken family-style. But it’s not true. We’ve never said that. This particular
chef came from the Woonsocket area. There were a lot of restaurants doing it in
Woonsocket.
And Mr. Wright eventually decided to sell?
Mr. Wright had no children to leave the business to. So when he reached a
certain age and the restaurant had grown beyond what he ever expected–it just
grew and grew–he decided to sell it. We had the same accountant. He came to my
husband one day and said, ‘You know Frank, there is this man out in Burrillville
who has this wonderful restaurant and he really would like to sell it.’
What was it about the two of you that suggested you would be the right fit?
I had started singing when I was three at Fay’s Theater in Providence,
across from the Biltmore Hotel. The kids would perform before a movie and it would
be broadcast on the radio. From there I went on to teaching dancing. The accountant
knew that we were both comfortable with people. We were used to being around a
lot of people. My husband was a cook in the service. He said; ‘Frank, this place
needs a family that is willing to leave what they are doing and live up there.
It’s got to be a total dedication. It’s something you spend seven days a week
at.’ We felt that we were young. Our son, at the time, was ten. Our daughter was
nine. So that’s exactly what we did. We came up here. There is an eight-unit apartment
complex. We asked Mr. Wright if we could rent one of his apartments. And so we
lived in one of those apartments for the first four years. Then we went to a lady
up the street who had land for sale right next to the property. We explained that
we had a young family and we wanted them to go to school here. We didn’t want
to put up apartments for an investment. We wanted to live here. And so we did.
Did you envision the restaurant getting as big as it is today?
Absolutely not. My husband and I talked a lot about purchasing it. He was
already doing really well in the scrap metal business. He had great credit. His
word was good within the industry. There was so much interest in the restaurant.
Believe it or not, at the time, gaming was allowed up this way. People thought
we were going to buy it and bring in gambling. They really blew it out of proportion.
But Gene Wright was a simple man. He wanted somebody that was going to keep it
the way it was. It was a good restaurant and it was about family – about aunts
and uncles and grandparents communions and confirmations. We’re not a gourmet
restaurant. We don’t compete with anybody like that. We’re way out here. We’re
a destination. People come and bring their kids. They fly kites in our fields.
They bring lawn chairs and sit outside and watch the cars come in and out.
What has enabled you to bring people out here, out of their way, so to speak, to eat?
Originally, we did a lot of weddings. And when you are doing banquets, you
have people come by the hundreds. Once they come, then they realize it is a comfortable
place. Of course, the bottom line is that the food has to be good. If the food
isn’t good, it doesn’t matter if you are in the middle of Times Square. People
aren’t going to go. The product itself has always been of the highest quality
– and there has been consistency. We’ve kept it the same as it has always been.
That sounds easy, but it isn’t.
Where do you get the chicken?
It comes from the Delaware Valley and it is raised especially for us. We have
to maintain a certain size chicken. We bake them in the oven here and there are
so many on each pan. Because they are all together, they have to be the same size
or they would not cook with the same consistency. We are one of a very few restaurants
that just does chicken. A lot of other restaurants do it, but do other food as
well. If you do just one thing you should do it better then anyone else.
How does the business breakdown in terms of banquets and large gatherings as opposed to regular diners?
At one time we used to do a lot of banquets. Now, we are unable to do them.
We do some, but very few.
How many people can you seat at one time?
About 1,000 is comfortable. We could use the entire place and put in 1,500
or 1,600 – but it hasn’t come to that.
So when you walk through here and all of the rooms are packed – those are individual families and small parties?
That’s all it is. We occasionally get parties of 20 or 30 people and of course
we will do it. We’ll put together a few tables. On Wednesdays, we have senior
citizens day. We do a special price for them. They move a little slower. It’s
nice. They play bocce and bingo. Buses come from Massachusetts and Connecticut.
How many employees?
One hundred and sixty.
You probably bring more people to Burrillville than anything else does. Is there something special about being a landmark, of sorts?
When you are here every day – when you live here and work here — you don’t
really think about it that much. To me, the business is home. I spend more time
here. I am still shocked when I hear people say whenever they travel, they have
to stop at Wright’s Farm. I guess it’s like anything else – I’m more involved
with the people of the operation. The people have always amazed me. This coming
January it will be 30 years. We had a bartender when we first came here. He worked
here. His children worked here. And now his children’s children are working here.
Are you able to find the workers you need?
Definitely, because of the locals. We try to help the kids and the schools
as much as we can. We have a lot of kids who ride their bikes to work.
Has F&J Distributing, your food products division, been a success?
Yes. We have products in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut – even one
of the islands. Chicken pies. Salad dressing, pasta sauce, fudge. What’s better
advertising than going into someone’s house and seeing that dressing with the
label or the sauce with the label – and the person say; ‘I’ve been meaning to
go there.’
I’d be remiss if I did not ask you about your late husband (who died as the result of a moped accident in Bonnet Shores last summer). What did he mean to this place?
He instituted a lot of things for the employees. It’s a family-oriented group
here. All I can say is that if you worked here and your house needed to be painted,
you would have busboys, waitresses, and bartendersWe’re very close. We have profit
sharing and we do family outings. When my husband and I started here we were very
young. We never approached this like the people worked for us. They have always
worked with us. It was his vision to keep this a friendly place a good place for
young people to get a start. My husband also worked very hard at finding good
product. Some people tend to cut back. And he never did – never, never did.
Did the family atmosphere help you, when he died so suddenly?
Yes, definitely. And I want to say that his ego never got so big that he ever
thought this business could not get along without him. He was very honest and
up front, for example, in teaching our son at a very young age all about the business.
Frank, III, wanted to learn from his father. So my husband said; ‘If that’s what
you want, then you are going to work hand-in-hand with me and I am going to show
you everything.’ So he did.
