JohnCr8on’s Snapshots

There are businesses in many communities that play a role that transcends commerce.  These businesses don’t just sell a product or offer a service.  They are a source of community.

These businesses are celebrated in the movies, on television and even in the comics.  The Diner in Diner, Arnold’s on Happy Days, and Pop’s in Archie’s comic books come to mind.

Several places in Atwood played this role: Currier’s Drug where I coveted the Chocolate 400; Atwood Lanes were I worked on my pinball skills as well as bowling.  The adults had their own hot spots.  Currier’s, of course, was the place to play horses; the donut shop on 4^th and Main; and, now, the “new” donut shop and Williams’ Bros.  I’m sure there are others, too.

These are the places where people go to catch up on community news and gossip.  A standard lunch time question from Mom to Dad was, “What did you talk about at Currier’s today?”

A cornerstone of Atwood teen life when I was a teen was John’s Dew Drop Inn.

I remember when John’s was born.  Before it was even John’s.

I had to attend a city council meeting as a requirement for the Boy Scout Citizenship in the Community merit badge.  They held the meetings in Marion Frye’s office in those days at the abstract office.  On the agenda that night was a liquor license for Tom Ruda. (Am I remembering that right?)

The Rudas invested countless hours converting Stehno Market into The Dew Drop Inn.  A mural covering the east wall was the most discussed element of the Dew Drop décor.  High School art students were recruited to finish the job – my guess is sometime after John Vap became proprietor and added pizza as the featured fare.

Pizza joint or not, I always ordered a hot salami and cheese, with mayo, on rye.  A meal at John’s was a great change of pace from the standard high school lunch on those days when we piled into cars in the high school parking lot and raced down Main Street for a quick bite.  Racing back and forth was half the fun.

John’s was one of those places in a teen’s life where you did nothing in particular but everything that mattered happened there.  My memories are true snapshots.  I spent hundreds of hours at John’s but have few complete memories.  If a movie was being made of Atwood in the early 80s, my memories of John’s would be a “video montage.”

Choose your own sound track for background music…

Families sitting in the front booths sheltered from the noise in back.  The back room crowded with teens and twenty-somethings playing pool to the sounds of The Rolling Stone’s Start Me Up – did anything else play?

Thorn Hayden, surrounded by a support staff of girls, making pizza.  Jolinda Beamgard, Dawna Heble, Lisa Collins and Deb Montgomery taking orders in their red and white Dew Drop t-shirts

Roddy Dill camped out at the Asteroids video game racking up points I could only dream about.  Jeff Rummel going to new levels on Donkey Kong.  Playing Frogger – spending my time on George Castanza’s favorite game due to my lack of skills on games that required use of more than one hand.

Crowding around a radio perched near the cash register to listen to Kyle “The Animal” Lanning win a state wrestling championship.  Watching USC kick a winning field goal to defeat Notre Dame while eating pizza with my parents.

Regrouping between shifts dragging Main. Deciding whether to stay with the group I was with or get in someone else’s car.  Picking up more – preferably small – people to pack into my parent’s Chevette.

Planning Oktoberfest concert trips to Hays to see Hall & Oates or John Mellenkamp.  Getting details on the Toga Party at the Lankas farm.

As these memories flash across my mind I understand why movie makers celebrate the teen hang out.  Whether we are young or old, a hang out is the place we can go without invitation to nourish our connections to others who call our community home.

John sold pizzas.  He created jobs.  And, in ways that are hard to describe, he provided a community service.  I’m grateful that he did.

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What are your Dew Drop or hang out memories?