Thousands of Manatee moms enjoy being taken out for Mother's Day

MANATEE -- Willie Warrick drove to Bradenton's Greenbriar Health & Rehabilitation Center to say "Happy Mother's Day" to his mom, Clemmie, before going to his job at Duff's Original Buffet to carve roast beef, ham and turkey for more than 2,000 moms Sunday.

Warrick's visit to his own mom was so uplifting for him that he was still proudly wearing his Greenbriar visitor badge as he carved.

"I got a good kiss from her," Warrick said. "That's why I'm filled with energy."

Warrick was one of hundreds of restaurant servers, cooks and staff who may have been thinking of their own moms as they made the holiday special for thousands of families who celebrated Mother's Day in Manatee County at breakfasts, lunches and dinners Sunday.

"She raised five boys and one girl and taught us the right way," Warrick said of his mom. "She was a beautiful mother."

Remembers her first baby

Megan Miller, co-owner of Miller's Dutch Kitchen, 3401 14th St. W., Bradenton, with brothers John, Frank and Gene, took time from Sunday's 1,500 Mother's Day guests to talk about her own memories of having sons Japheth, now 31 and Shawn, now 30.

"When I was a child I always wanted to have a baby," Miller said. "I just couldn't believe it when I had this precious little gift from God. It was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Miller is still close with her sons, she said. Neither boy is married.

"Hugging them feels the same now as it did when they were little," Miller added.

Miller said she tries to bring the same family feeling to the restaurant she felt growing up as one of six siblings.

"I think God has blessed us because we have all stuck together as a family," Miller said.

The restaurant is in its 35th year and, on Sunday, Miller gave away free women's Snoozies slippers to every mom. The menu was very mom-like, including pot roast, ham, shrimp, fish, homemade stuffing, real mashed potatoes, strawberry delight and ice cream homemade by Miller's brother, Gene Miller.

Servers tell their stories

Five of the servers at Duff's on Sunday were moms, including Christine Lavigne, Tanya Smith, Tina Davis, Joyce Morgan and Shanna Grosse.

"I have two boys and they drive me nuts," Davis said, beaming. "Being a mom is amazing, especially when you do it by yourself as a single mom. But I had God with me. My boys are now adults."

Of motherhood, Morgan said: "It's the best job in the world."

"It's 24/7 and you give it all," Morgan added. "But you give it all in love so it doesn't feel like a job."

Grosse, who has two daughters and a son, has this advice for new moms -- be patient and give your love freely.

"You do your best and hope for the best," Grosse added.

As for the best memories, Smith remembers the first days of school for her kids and Lavigne remembers holding her newborn twins, Jonathon and Christopher, 19. Jonathon is this week in U.S. Army basic training in Fort Benning, Ga.

"I was scared," Lavigne said with a laugh of being handed the babies. "It was amazing."

This girl gets the award

If there was a Manatee Mother's Day award for "Most Determined to Surprise Mom" it would certainly go to Miller's Dutch Kitchen customer Dawn Kuhn.

Kuhn got up at 8 a.m. Sunday and raced to Walmart to buy flowers for her mother, Susan Chafins. Her idea was to put them on the front steps of her mom's West Bradenton home so her mom would see them when she left the house with her other daughter, Amy Semanie, to go and celebrate Mother's Day at Miller's Dutch Kitchen.

But when Kuhn approached the house, her mom and her sister were already driving away.

A lesser child would have just followed them but Kuhn, a teacher's aide at Anna Maria Island Elementary School, raced up near her sister's car and beeped her horn like crazy. She wanted mom to have those flowers.

"She chased us down," Chafins said of her daughter.

Kuhn had an explanation of why she was so eager to deliver those flowers.

"She just does so much for me and I love her," Kuhn said.

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter @RichardDymond.

This story was originally published May 8, 2016 at 11:18 PM with the headline "Thousands of Manatee moms enjoy being taken out for Mother's Day ."