G. O. A. T.
The acronym stands for something very specific; something not tossed around with haste; and something considered the highest of honors.
Greatest. Of. All. Time.
G.O.A.T.
Like baseball’s Shohei Ohtani and the NBA’s Michael Jordan. Like Tom Brady and his seven Super Bowl rings, and Lionel Messi in men’s soccer. And, in this case, like Shelly Reager and her Fully Lit & Co. designs in the Brickyard area of Quaker Steak & Lube at The Highlands.
At least that’s how The Lube’s general manager, Michelle Frangopoulus, and marketing manager Christine Thomas described Reager’s creation that’s now in place in the eatery’s “Brickyard” area.
“I love it, but I knew I would because Shelly’s the G.O.A.T.,” said Frangopoulus. “When we hired her, the only thing we told her was to do her thing because she’s terrific with what she does.”
Thomas echoed in agreement.
“G.O.A.T.,” she said matter-of-factly. “That’s really all you have to say when it comes to Shelly Reager’s work. She’s only had her (Fully Lit) company for maybe two years, and she’s already the best around.”
Reager’s extravagant design stands in the space where the Quaker Steak managers host the majority of the restaurant’s holiday gatherings. The “Brickyard’ features a full-sized bar, several seating options, and there are separate entrances and exits, as well.
“I can’t wait for everyone to come in and see what it actually looks like when it’s all finished because the photos on Facebook just don’t do it justice,” insisted Frangopoulos. “I know people have been amazed by it when they’ve come in while Shelly was building it, and they were very impressed. It’s beautiful.
“This level of decorating has been a tradition for a few years at our Sharon location, and they call their pop-up ‘The Tinsel Bar’,” she explained. “They do theirs in the area where they have all of their Christmas parties, too, and that’s why we’ve decorated our ‘Brickyard’. Our parties are going to love it.”
Santa Is Coming to Coop’s Christmas Bar
While Quaker Steak already was a popular place for professional and personal Christmas parties this time of year, Frangopoulos and Thomas have planned a number of special evenings when gatherings are not yet on the schedule.
For example, there is live music on December 5, Santa will visit with local children on December 6, and “Christmas Karaoke” is set for December 22.
“We’re also hosting a gift wrapping evening so if you come up that evening, I’ll be one of the people who will be gift wrapping,” Frangopoulos said. “It’s something I’ve always enjoyed, and I’m pretty good at it, too.
“We’ll have things like a paint n’ sip, we’ll have ‘Christmas Bingo’, a scavenger hunt, and a cornhole tournament, too,” she said. “We’ll probably be adding evenings, too, so our local residents should watch our Facebook page for those additions.”
The Lube will also offer a holiday-themed beverage menu through New Year’s Eve.
“We’ll have the ‘Naughty’ and ‘Nice’ lists at Coop’s Christmas Bar,” Thomas said. “We have a lot of different Christmas-theme drinks like the ‘Jingle Berry Coolers’ and the ‘Santa’s Nightcap’, and who knows what else we’ll come up with. We have a lot of fun with the Christmas parties we have here because most of them are with businesses that come here every year.
“It’s going to be another amazing holiday here, and our new decorations are going to add so much,” she said. “We’ve been talking about doing it for a bunch of years, but then we always become too busy here to make it happen. This year, though, we’ve worked with Shelly and she helped us make it happen. It’s really amazing, and we could be happier.”
‘OH WHAT FUN‘
Fully Lit & Co. is a party supply and rental company that was founded by Reager in mid-2023, and ever since, she’s become known as an “event stylist”.
But don’t tell her.
“I’ve always enjoyed entertaining and hosting parties, and I really enjoy celebrating, but I do not like to be celebrated. I don’t even celebrate my birthday,” she said. “So, the attention I receive for doing these designs makes me uncomfortable sometimes, but doing the designs also lets me celebrate others, and that’s what I’ve always loved.
“I got involved with this business because a good friend contacted me because he needed help with a party he wanted to have for his wife when she was turning 40,” she recalled. “So, I used what I knew about it when we started decorating, and I knew she enjoyed taking pictures, so we had a great photo spot for selfies and went from there.”
At The Lube, the message is simple: “OH WHAT FUN”, and it’s clear to see thanks to Reager’s larger-than-life, illuminated letters.
“I’ve always really liked the big letters when I’ve seen them, but I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to get the good quality ones for the events I was doing,” Reager explained. “But after figuring out some things, I decided this was something I was going to do, so I researched everything I needed to learn, and here I am doing events every weekend, and getting opportunities like this one at Quaker Steak.
“This is what I’ve been doing for about two years now, and it’s a blast,” she said. “I love working with my clients, and I really enjoy it when I’m given free will as a designer because I always knock it out to the park when that’s the case. I just love to be creative and to use that ability to help celebrate someone. I love to see their reactions. It’s why I do this.”
On November 19, Reager announced on the Fully Lit Facebook page that her company was all booked up for the remainder of the year.
“That’s because Shelly is terrific to work with,” Frangopoulos said. “We didn’t really know what we wanted to do in the Brickyard so we just told her to do Christmas, and wow, what she created is perfect for our Christmas parties. Our guests are going to love it.
“She was technically finished earlier this week, but she’s come back because she wanted to make her finishing touches,” the general manager said. “She’s been wonderful to work with, and we know now why so many people recommended her work to us. We had seen the photos from here at other events, but seeing it in person is amazing.”
