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Peek Family Garage.
We invite you to tour the Chatt Hills Barn Quilt Trail and learn more about the rich rural heritage of beautiful Chattahoochee Hills. Visitors are welcome to take photos from the public road, and are invited to shop in the local businesses.
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Peek Family Garage (#21)
7790 Rico Rd 
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Birds of a feather. . . flock together
Mrs. Dan Peek "Tootsie" is a good neighbor, especially to those farming families that surround her country home in Chattahoochee Hills. She recently noticed her neighbors' new quilt had been hanging outside their barn for a few days, so she called to say it might be time to bring it in before it rained. Her neighbor chuckled and said it was a painted quilt attached to their barn as part of the Barn Quilt Trail. Tootsie loved the idea and asked to have one too.
When selecting a pattern for her family barn quilt, Tootsie was drawn to two birds she recently painted. She chose the "Cardinal" for its lovely saying, "When a cardinal appears in your yard, it is a visitor from Heaven." This larger barn quilt is displayed on the side of her garage. When the quilt trail painter learned that Tootsie was having a birthday, she painted a smaller "Golden Finch" barn quilt as a present. This one hangs on the front of Tootsie's Peek Family Garage. |
The art . . . of country painting
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Tootsie loves to paint, and it shows. Every room in her home is either a painter's studio or art exhibit. Her favorite place to paint is at her dining room table or in the adjoining sun room with its light-filled windows. From there, she is inspired by the nature that surrounds her country home. The vast pastureland behind her home is still farmed by grandson Cole, with cattle dotting the countryside as far as the eye can see, barn swallows swooping and soaring like kites in the air, and more colorful birds adding to the rainbow of flowers in her garden.
Largely self-taught, except for a few days she participated in a painting class years ago, Tootsie captures the essence of country living in her paintings. Two landscapes painted on canvas each feature a country path -- one meandering along a river's edge, the other leading to a farm's red barn. These images might seem nostalgic of a bygone era, but in Chatt Hills they are still a part of everyday life. Other paintings are done on non-traditional canvas, adding another dimension to the country scenes -- two paintings of ducks are done on saw blades, a series of birds are painted on dollies spray painted to the background.
Tootsie enjoys the art of painting and the joy it brings her by sharing her paintings with others. She hopes that visitors traveling through Chatt Hills will enjoy the newest addition to her collection, the two new barn quilts displayed on her Peek Family Garage.
Largely self-taught, except for a few days she participated in a painting class years ago, Tootsie captures the essence of country living in her paintings. Two landscapes painted on canvas each feature a country path -- one meandering along a river's edge, the other leading to a farm's red barn. These images might seem nostalgic of a bygone era, but in Chatt Hills they are still a part of everyday life. Other paintings are done on non-traditional canvas, adding another dimension to the country scenes -- two paintings of ducks are done on saw blades, a series of birds are painted on dollies spray painted to the background.
Tootsie enjoys the art of painting and the joy it brings her by sharing her paintings with others. She hopes that visitors traveling through Chatt Hills will enjoy the newest addition to her collection, the two new barn quilts displayed on her Peek Family Garage.
Heritage story . . Tootsie & Dan Peek
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Tootsie says she's a Yankee, originally from Michigan. She met and married Dan Peek of Palmetto, while he was in the Army. The following family history was submitted by Dan’s brother Ned Peek for the book, "Palmetto: A Town and Its People.”
Thomas "Dan” Peek was born December 22, 1930, to Charlie B. and Bessie E. Peek. He has nine brothers and sisters. He attended Charles Riley School in Palmetto. His first jobs away from home were at Kearn's Sawmill and Palmetto Standards Station. He went into the Army in April of 1951. While in service, he met and married Lorene A. Kortman (Tootsie). They married April 25, 1953, in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents were Lydia and Robert Kortman from Ocqueoc, Michigan. She had three brothers and six sisters and was raised on a farm. After completing Army duty, Dan and Tootsie returned to Georgia to live in Palmetto (now since incorporated into Chattahoochee Hills.) Dan worked at the Palmetto Standard Station, Gaylord Boxing Company and Coca Cola Company. In 1959, he went into business with his brothers, Billy and Ned, forming Peek Brothers' Garage (now owned and operated by grandson Cole McElwancy). Later they added Palmetto Auto Parts and Palmetto Used Cars. Tootsie was a homemaker. In 1972, Dan & Tootsie built their home on Rico Rd on land where Dan had helped work crops as a young boy. The couple has three children: Robert C. (Bobby), Ann Marie, and Larry Thomas. |
Dan & Tootsie's 50th wedding anniversary
Original Peek Brothers' Garage
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