Bob's Affected Oregon in More Ways Than Just Hamburgers

(SALEM, Ore. ) - Oregon was blessed to have a man who saw a vision of how a fast food chain should operate -- by selling quality food at low prices, and treating their employees right -- that vision became Bob’s Hamburgers.

Bob Corey‘s mission statement was clear from the beginning: “Customers are our most valuable asset. They are highly perishable and must be treated as such. The customer is ALWAYS right. If we maintain a clean restaurant, treat him with courtesy, serve him the highest quality food, and make him feel we sincerely appreciate his business, he will be back. He is the one who is paying the bills. He makes our jobs possible. He is KING. Make him feel like it.”

Corey was the founder of the Bob's Hamburgers chain which began in Salem in 1955, with his first location at Capitol and Hood Street. He offered hamburgers at 19-cents, french fries for 11-cents, a shrimp burger for 39-cents, milkshakes 21-cents, and soft drinks a whopping 10-cents.

He and his family grew the fast food chain into a Willamette Valley, and Central Oregon hot-spot with restaurant locations in Salem, Keizer, West Salem, and the Lancaster Mall, as well as stores in Bend, Redmond, Springfield, Eugene, and Junction City. At one time there were also locations in Grants Pass and Medford. The stores were all closed by 2001.

When Salem-News.com was the first to announce the return of Bob’s to the Oregon State Fair this year by Gina Dankenbring, who managed a Salem Bob’s Restaurant for five years, and has owned Golden Grill Concessions for the past 13 years, nobody could have imaged the kind of responses that came pouring in.

And not just from Oregon, but from across North America, and as far away as Spain, people have told Salem-News.com they are already making plans now to come to this year’s Oregon State Fair to get a taste of Bob’s legendary burgers and sauce, and to tell their children, grandchildren, or even great grandchildren, their stories that made Bob’s such a special place.

Corey, now 95 years young, plans to make his appearance on opening day of the fair, August 22, along with his son Scott Corey and grandson Justin Corey to meet and greet their loyal fans.

The booth will also be selling bottles of his famous sauce during the state fair.

The best news is that 100 percent of the net sales from the bottled secret sauce as well as a percentage of the gross food sales will be donated directly to Bob Corey's non profit Chemeketa scholarship fund, Golden Grill Concessions owner Gina Dankenbring said.

These stories are from former Bob’s Hamburgers employees in their own words. I hope you enjoy their stories, as they take us through a special time in Oregon fast food history.

Worked for Bob’s for 21+ years. I started in 1979 at 14-years-old and stayed nearly until the bitter end. Bob’s was my favorite place to eat as a child. We lived on the corner of 5th and Hood so just a few blocks away from Capitol St. until I was 7.

When Bob’s first introduced the Big Brute, they had a contest to “Win your height in Big Brutes” at each location. I wanted that so badly, and my dad actually won at the Capitol St. Store. I was SO excited!

As I got older, I picked berries and such as most kids did back then but as soon as I was old enough, I wanted to work at Bob’s. My sister already had a job there, so she took me down and introduced me to the manager at Capitol who said he’d hire me, but I was waiting on my SS card and my work permit.

Once I had those, he didn’t have a position open, so he referred me to the Lancaster store where I went to work. I really learned the value of a job well done and most importantly, I learned the value of exceptional customer service.

As many before me have said, the things that I learned working at Bob’s have been carried through my entire career.

I met my wife at Bob’s when we were both 20 years old. She was from Corvallis and decided to make a change and move to Salem. At the time, she was working for Bob’s on NW 5th in Corvallis, or maybe it was Kings Blvd? Anyway, she transferred to the Capitol St. store where I was working and moved to Salem.

The first night I worked with her (we were closing the store on a Friday night Gut night in 1986), we were finishing up and she was mopping the back room by the sinks. When I came around the corner, she happened upon a small fry that hadn’t been swept up on the floor. Not knowing I was there, she kicked it under the sink and continued mopping. I gave her the worst time about that and we laughed and laughed over that and I knew then that she was the right one for me.

Of course, after 28 years I still have to remind her of that incident from time to time.

We were married in July 1988 and have been together ever since. Many fellow Bob’s employees attended our wedding including Bob Corey himself as well as his son Doug. That’s just the way we were at Bob’s. One big happy family! We did everything together.

Bob sold the company in 1990 to Bill Howard who was the driving force behind Bobs’ new image and expanded menu. All the stores were remodeled and new ones were built. It was an exciting time for Bob’s.

Times change and so do market conditions and Bill sold the company in 1999. Things were already looking down in the market and they didn’t improve so the end was apparently near for the company.

By this time I had been working in the business office and I moved on to Pepsi. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Bob’s was all I knew and cared about.

I stayed on with them after that as a consultant to help with any needs or questions they may have until I got the call that “today at 4:00 p.m. was the last day”.

I went to the Capitol St. store and shared hugs and condolences and served the very last customer on Drive Thru that day. I recently told Bob that he had the honor of serving the first Bob’s Hamburger at that store and I had the sad honor of serving the last.

In my family it was a tradition to work for Bob's Hamburgers. It started with my brother Mike Patton who worked at the store on the gut in the late 70’s and thru the 80’s.

Brothers Jim and Steve followed. I started at Lancaster Drive Bob's in 1983 and worked there for 6 years as I went through high school and college under the management of Chellie Eggleston.

One of the things I always appreciated about Chellie was, she understood school came first and she built our schedules around our classes. She was so supportive of those of us in college.

I swear I could write a book about "Everything I Need to Survive In Business, I Learned at Bob's"!

I am currently as a Major in the Oregon Army National Guard I still use some of the hard learned lessons I learned when I was there.

Bob's Hamburgers will always hold a special place in my heart, mostly because I met my husband of 18 years there.

I worked at the Bob's location in the Lancaster mall for about 3 years. My husband, Troy Hilfiker, worked in the Bob's warehouse and in several of the stores, including the one on Lancaster Drive.

One day I was asked to go and help at the Lancaster location. I was just leaving my shift as he was clocking on to start his. The story goes, as my sister tells it, he noticed me walking across the street heading back to the mall.

He looks out the window, perks up and says, "Who's that?" My sister, who worked there also, slugs him in the shoulder and tells him to not even think about it, because I was her sister, and there was no way I would date him.

The short story is that we did end up dating, and have been married now for almost 19 years, and have two wonderful children.

I later learned that not only had my husband worked there, but so did his parents, as well as his siblings. His dad went on to become the Vice-President of the company.

We've often said that if it wasn't for Bob's Hamburgers, and my sister, we would never have met. Cherished memories for sure!

In April of 1980 our crew opened the new Bob’s on Wallace Road. I was in the last half of my senior year and loved getting out of school to work.

Before I go any further, I must admit that I was a bit of a “teacher’s pet”. I went to a parochial boarding school and grew up on a ranch, so I took direction well and knew how to work. Sometimes I babysat for the boss’s daughter. He was a very patient man.

A fun memory for me was the day Doug Corey and the ad guys came in looking for someone to photograph. They stuck me up against the white cooler wall with a tray of Bob’s food in my hands and snapped away. They were vague about why they wanted the photo.

One day I was stunned to look up and see a rendering of my likeness grinning from a billboard. I saw the same drawing in the newspaper ads. As an adult, I even saw the ad running when I came back to Salem to visit my family.

Usually, I worked the drive through window. For hours every day I would say “Welcome to Bob’s. May I take your order please?” when the bell rang. Often I automatically answered my own phone that way. For years after, and occasionally today when I am a little tired, I still have to catch myself.

One of the most memorable events was an ad campaign for the Orange Bang. We were all told to wear 3 buttons that told the customer to ask us about the Bang - yes they did. The other girls and I were so mortified, and after a few days some of us just quit wearing them because we were so disgusted by the snickering guys and their questions.

John Steinmetz was our manager. Don, the manager from South Salem came to help out, as well as Bobby who later became the manager of the Redmond store. There was a cast of characters who were alternately annoying, hilarious and snarling and always great people to have on a work crew.

From my time at Bob’s, I learned about efficiency, dollar production and how a restaurant makes a profit. I found that if you slice a lot of onions, your nails break off. I saw that complaining employees were a pain in the backside.

I discovered eating cheeseburgers with ham on them, putting ice cream in an Orange Bang and coffee, and eventually disliked soda pop. Later when I moved to South Salem, Don hired me at South. He was fun to work for, too. From Don I learned that a fast food manager should not hire someone who looks like they won’t or can’t clean a toilet.

When I left to be a ski bum in Sun Valley before college, they graciously held the door open for my return. Those are the only stories I’m telling.

If the crew that stood up Bob’s West is reading this, you guys were a lot of fun and a made it a great place for a kid fresh of the ranch to work. Thanks.

In from the field Christmas '67. Received an expensive food sampler from the Robert Corey Family in Keizer. Didn't know them but wrote back, told them about the Highlands and the hot rod I was going to' build when I got out.

Mrs. Corey wrote back. She said it sounded like I knew the route the kids took in Salem. She said they were at the North end of the loop -- WE'RE THE BOBS!

Couldn't believe it! 10,000 miles from home and I get a letter from where the hot cars hung out! Sent Christmas cards for several years. They'd always include some "Free Burgers & Fries" business cards signed by them.

Hope to meet them on opening day and thank them. Five of us even had a cheeseburger eating contest one time. I stopped after nine. The winner wolfed down 15, but they didn't stay down on the way home.

I remember every Sunday after church, a big group of us kids would head over to Bob's burgers and spend the afternoon.

I was the little one of the group, but could put away more cheeseburgers then anyone else. That seriously was a highlight of my childhood, and something that my children have not gotten to experience.

I would love to share of glimpse to my children. I am just hoping that maybe if this adventure with Bob's goes well, they will open at least one restaurant. I promise I will be there at least once a week if not more. Let's Bring It Bob's!

In the coming weeks, there will be a special application for former Bob’s employees interested in reliving their glory days with Bob’s. Keep watching the Golden Grill Concessions page on Facebook for more information on that. Also there are plans for a Bob’s Wall of Fame, so send in your pictures now on the Golden Grill Concessions page on Facebook.

Salem-News.com plans to give a copy of this story and the original story to Mr. and Mrs. Corey and their family as a keep sake so they can remember the good times, and the stories people from all over the world have about their experience either working or eating at Bob’s.

So please, feel free to add your story or comment at the end of this article, and let the Corey’s know just what Bob’s meant to you.

The Oregon State Fair runs August 22 through September 1 in Salem. Discounted admission tickets are on sale now.

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Deborah roisen July 20, 2017 10:16 am (Pacific time)

I want Bobs back. Loved the place and want to taste the burger again. Miss the good ole days

Ted April 4, 2016 11:32 pm (Pacific time)

I worked at Bobs, Lancaster and Capitol st. 1974 - 1978 through high school. You would have to be there to know what a time it was! We had the Gut, mussel cars, girls, races and great times... You know if you were there. bobs was the center peice of being a teenager, having fun and hanging out . Send me back in time please................

Lisa Ellison (Ambert) July 19, 2014 12:51 pm (Pacific time)

I worked for Bob's from 1981- 1986 or 87 somewhere around there. (Capitol, West Salem. and Court st. downtown) I made a lot of friends and we used to have great times. The things I remember most were when the State Fair was going on at Capitol street it was non- stop all day. Everyone had to pitch in. Then working downtown during the Salem downtown sidewalk sales it was the same thing. We had anyone and everyone owners, managers, anyone available either working or bringing more supplies because it was so busy. We made record sales for those days. The buses didn't run on Sundays and we opened so early that Jan would pick me up in her big car and give me rides. ( Remember the day you had little mice running across your windshield at the stoplight?) She was a great manager, like a mom to many of us and taught me a lot. I am an accounting student today and some of the things I am learning we had to learn back then, without any computers. I remember Bob Corey used to come in and visit us and chat during our breaks. Half of us were smokers and at that time we could smoke in the building. Bob used to bring slices of different people's lungs who had died at various ages from smoking and than healthy lungs of those who had lived longer. Those actually helped me to stop smoking. I remember those times well and all the people I worked with. Wish we could all get together again as we made a great team. Jan, Darrin, Dave, Zena, Mo, Peggy, Jamie, Tammi, Derek, I'm sure I'm missing someone and will remember after I close this. Thanks for the memories. I hope everyone is doing well and thank you for allowing me to be part of a bigger family.

Robert Blackmer July 17, 2014 1:45 pm (Pacific time)

Growing up going with the name Bob, it seemed kind of cool that there was a fast food restaurant with the same name. My family and I lived in South Salem and we went to the Commercial location and sometimes to the nearby competitors. Years later, I would find out that my grandpa took my dad there when he was a kid. When I was in the fourth grade attending Faye Wright Elementary, my mom got a part time job at the Commercial location and I remember walking to Bob's after school and waited for my mom to get off work so I could ride home with her. I'm sure there was also a hidden reason of getting some free Bob's food as the walk from school to Bob's was probably no more than where we lived. After I moved to Arizona in 1987, I made it a point of going to Bob's every time I visited my family until they closed down. Many years ago, my mom actually got me a birthday present - an entire package of Bob's napkins. I still have that package today having only used a few given the history that this chain had in my family.

Lisa (Gingerich/Decker) Kutsch July 17, 2014 1:21 pm (Pacific time)

Wow--I don't even know where to begin on this! I never worked somewhere where it felt like family right away. I started at West Salem, w/ Mike Patton--he told me he figured if I could work for Dana Kottek (he was my manager at Lancaster A&W in high school), I'd be able to work at Bob's :) I made so many amazing friends over the years, at all the restaurants in the Salem area. Leaving Capitol Street when I moved to Va Beach, VA, was one of the hardest things I ever did...I don't think I had ANY makeup left by the end of that day! Besides having an amazing crew there, I had some awesome customers as well...Jim, Ken, Terry & Dave from the "Reserved" table, along with Pete & the "slime burger" hahaha! There are so many more, but 20 years have dimmed the names a bit :) So looking forward to reconnecting with several of the employees at the State Fair--also have to admit I'm a bit curious to see how much I remember! Bob, thank you for 11 1/2 amazing years of my life--I wouldn't trade that time for anything!

sandi montalvo July 17, 2014 12:51 pm (Pacific time)

I moved to Salem in 1957. I had never seen a fast food restaurant. To get a burger for 19 cents and fries for 11 cents was amazing and delicious too!

Carolyn Tompkins July 17, 2014 11:35 am (Pacific time)

I worked at the Bob's in Eugene 11th and Garfield. I loved that job and had so much fun working that job. All of my other jobs have not been as fun as that one was. I met my husband at my job. He was a customer and we have been married for 34 years!! Lots of memories and miss Bob's!!!!!!!!

Mark Anderson July 17, 2014 8:11 am (Pacific time)

I started eating Bob's hamburgers in 1964 when I was 8 and we moved to Salem.Ate at Bob's all through adolescents.Graduated from high school in 74 and moved to Bend..No Bob"s there then..That was hard,but I met my wife there,and we had a son.When we would come to Salem to visit grandma and grandpa,Would we stop to see them first? Hell no.Bob"s was the first stop.(My ex wife was from LA and she got hooked too) Finally they built a Bob's in Bend!But wait,it sucked because they used a broiler instead of grill.Not the same!! I could't take it any more so we moved back to Salem.I ate at Bob's at least 4 times a week..My ex wife hated Salem (too rainy).so she moved back to L A.. The weird thing is,I don't miss her,but I MISS BOB"S!!!!!

Christopher Wilson. July 17, 2014 8:06 am (Pacific time)

My story has to do with my mother and our coming up. We were very poor and we did not eat out often. When my mom was paid from her job we always went to bobs, getting a basic cheeseburger and fries. My mom would always get the onion rings with tartar sauce. There were four of us kids, but bobs really provided something really special for us. When I turned 15, bobs was my third job, after woking at the fair and the boys and girls club down the street. I was amazed by the professionalism of the training program, one week before we even got into our restaurant. I worked hard and enjoyed the work, some of the best in my life. I remember being trained to make a "plain cheeseburger" with Just butter, burger and cheese and was thinking "uh this person is missing the point of coming to bobs what about the sauce". I was there as we transitioned the sports theme with Rick Berry being a partner. I was than working at the Lancaster store. It was the first time I had catered food, but I was wishing we had bobs to eat. I love bobs. It reminds me of being a young kid and some of my first work lessons. I learned about organization development, training, process improvement (managers would time the drive through of ours and other restaurants", and the way a good organization treats human capital. It was not till I obtained my Masters that I had words for it all. It was an amazing experience. I am glad it still is.

J-me Iverson (Mahony) July 17, 2014 8:02 am (Pacific time)

I started in 1995 at the Keizer Bobs. I had the opportunity to advance to Relief Manager while I was there. We had such a good team and had lots of fun. I moved on to Capital Street Bobs as the Asst. Manager. I remember having a large lunch rush, mainly from state workers (Soups were big as well. That was my first experience with making split pea soup. I started doing a lot of training at that time, which I really enjoyed. I then went onto Manage the South Commercial store, which at the time was having some problems. I got to meet Bob Corey at that time. He would stop by from time to time and share stories with me. In everything I have done in my life managing at South Commercial holds the best memories and experiences and I will always hold that dear. Thank you Bob

Melody Berg July 15, 2014 9:11 pm (Pacific time)

My whole family grew up with bob's. When My Grandfather was a young man he still remembers that bob's hambugers were $0.10. When I was a kid I grew up in the pendleton and walla walla area so I didn't get them, but we have family still in Salem. So when we visiting them we would ALWAYS stop at bob's when we got into town and when we left town. That was one of my fondest memories. Thank you Corey family!

donna kottek July 15, 2014 2:51 pm (Pacific time)

I went to work at Bob's when I was 15 at the Capital St store ( the gut).my dad worked next door at an insurance office.our last name was Cory. When I started there everyone thought I was Bob Corey ' daughter and walked on eggshells around me. My husband became a manager and I worked as a supervisor. I think I worked a total of t yrs there...Most fun I think I ever had in a job !

Steve Schmidt July 15, 2014 9:36 am (Pacific time)

Wow, long time, lots of old memories. I started in 1959 and worked through 1961. I was the first "male" to work a window as I was required to handle cash to participate in the North Salem High Retail Selling class. Did about 30 minutes on a window and then to the grill. Transferred for a short time to help open the 2nd Bob's in South Salem. At the North Bob's, I met my wife Phyllis (Mischke) and we have been married 51 years. Bob attended our wedding and took movies, but his cameras and film were stolen from his '56 Ford Wagon before anyone got to see them. Bummer! During my first month, I remember being asked by a counter person to "toss me a ketchup". I did, the lid came off in mid flight and she had ketchup all over her. Little did I know that was Betty, Bob's wife. As they now say...awkward! I usually had the night shift and did the closing which meant emptying the registers and locking the money in the safe under the front window. One time I closed and then had the opening shift. As I was mopping, Bob came in, walked around a bit and then asked who had closed. I said I did and he calmly showed me that I had left all the cash on top of the counter above the safe in full view. His only comment was "probably shouldn't do that again". Greatest boss I ever had. Bob supported the young work force with training, goals and responsibilities that I have used through out the years. Thank you Bob.

Clint Davis July 14, 2014 10:58 pm (Pacific time)

After high school, I joined the Army, and got sent to Panama for my first assignment. I tried to come home for at least a couple weeks of heave every summer. One summer in 1992 1993, I came home on leave and rode my motorcycle to Keizer for some Bob's burgers. I bought 6, though at times when I was younger, I could eat 10 in one sitting! On the way home, I had the bag of burgers sitting on the seat between my legs. As I leaned into the corner by Bunacrest school, the bag came open and inflated like a parachute, flying off the motorcycle and off the side of the road. I saw in my mirror my bag of burgers hit a fence post and explode all over. Nothing left to do, I slowed down, pulled a u-turn and headed back to Bob's for 6 more. :-)

Clint Davis July 14, 2014 10:50 pm (Pacific time)

When I was 12 and finally allowed to ride my bike on the road, I would ride all the way from home on Waconda rd to the Keizer Bob's for a bag of burgers and a root beer shake. Sometimes I would skip the shake and stop at 7/11 for a coke slurpee, but I had to have those burgers. Best use of my summer job money ever. It's a wonder I didn't get run over. There are no bike lanes in the country and I would be eating a burger with one hand and holding my drink and the handlebars with the other!

Clint Davis July 14, 2014 8:39 pm (Pacific time)

I grew up on Waconda rd, north of Hopmere. I'm the youngest of 8 kids, they had 7, stopped, and I showed up 9 years later. My dad was 43 when I was born. He served in WWII in the Army. We didn't have much in common, but many a Saturday I went grocery shopping with my dad in the Keizer area. More often than not, after a 4 to 7 hour shopping day, we would swing into Bob's on the way out of town. My parents always lived like we were more poor than we actually were, but I knew I could get 6 burgers and a root beer shake at Bob's because it wouldn't cost that much. My dad died in 2007 at age 80. I miss those shopping trips very much.

Kathleen E. Hanifen, DVM July 14, 2014 8:18 pm (Pacific time)

I was hired at the Lancaster Drive store by Chellie Eggleston when I was 16 in 1986. I worked there through high school and college. Chellie knew our education was important and always supported us, pushed us and was proud of us for doing well. She always said that her kids were the best. I've worked for many bosses with MBAs and Chellie was one of the best managers I ever worked for. She led by example, working hard and never being afraid to get in there and do the dirty work right by our side. I have employees of my own now and often refer back to my days with Chellie as guide of what a good employer should do. I'm a little proud of this story. I might have been said that I was a little stubborn when I was younger - some would say that hasn't changed much. One day Chellie told me that I had been selected to clean the grease trap. If you've never cleaned a grease trap before, it was a VERY dirty job. By the end of it, I was wearing most of the grease. I cleaned it and came back the next day for work. Chellie said that she was trying to teach me a lesson and thought that I would either quit or get the lesson. Well, I ended up cleaning that grease trap so many times that I got quite good at it and eventually just volunteered to do it on a regular basis. I guess I did learn the lesson in the end. I credit Chellie's mentorship for many of the things I have accomplished and I am very grateful to her for all her efforts on my behalf. I also had the privilege to work with Allen Wright, Laurie Wright, Stacie Midkiff, Amy Patton, Steve Patton, Troy Hilfiker, Damon Pike, Brian Schaap and so many other great people. I loved being on the Bob's Softball team and being coached by Mike Hilfiker! We were a family at Bob's and it's a family that I feel blessed to be a part of. Ceobia - the story is true. It was love at first sight for Troy!

STEVEN ROBERT HEINE July 14, 2014 7:27 pm (Pacific time)

My dad, Walt Heine knew Bob from the early days and used to tell us stories. My best memory was getting four hamburgers for a dollar on Thursday nights (in 1975). Four hamburgers was all I could eat! But they surrrrre were gooooood!

Sherry Hoffert Wilson July 14, 2014 7:03 pm (Pacific time)

When I was in high school me and my friends would hang out at Bobs every day after school. They had the best gut bombs ever! On Friday nights my parents would take us to Bobs as there was 6 of us kids and the burgers were 5 for $1.00, so $6.00 fed us all! Occasionally we would let our parents have some, lol! We were extremely sad when they closed the last restaurant and now buy the Bobs sauce at the store. My brother John loved them so much that for Christmas 4 years ago we bought him lots of bottles of Bobs sauce and he said that was his best present ever! The owners of Bobs couldn't have picked anyone better than Gina and her crew to carry on the legend!

Letrisha Taylor July 14, 2014 5:26 pm (Pacific time)

I went to high school at North, despite the "closed" campus me and my friends would always go to bobs for lunch on capital. For $5 we could get 5 cheeseburgers and a large fry. It was a great way to pool our lunch $$ and many memories made dodging the security guards so we could get our bobs burgers.

Anna Sichley-McClung July 14, 2014 5:26 pm (Pacific time)

I grew up in Mt. Angel. When I was a kid in the 1970's about three times each year my mom would take us into the "big city" of Salem to go shopping. It was always such a special trip for us because each time we would go we would end the trip with a stop at Bob's. Oh how my little sister Helen and I would look so forward to having a delicious Bob's cheeseburger and fries. There was nothing better! Bob's was our favorite place to eat. We would go to the one on Lancaster drive and sometimes in Lancaster Mall. Those stops at Bob's will forever hold special memories in our hearts. Thank to Bob Corey and his family for giving the PNW such a special place. Nothing today compares to Bob's.

Anonymous July 14, 2014 3:55 pm (Pacific time)

I live in Keizer.I went to McNary everyday we would go to Bobs for lunch from school.and then again after school.It was a wonderful place for the kids to hangout and visit and eat their wonderful food I would have a cheesebuger every time with xtra sauce and fries and dip my frinchfies in my extra sauce I loved it no buddy makes better burgers then Bobs I love Bobs and was so happy to eat at the one at the co. fair I'm looking forward to the one at the state fair.

ShayLa (Gookin) Haguewood July 14, 2014 10:13 am (Pacific time)

I grew up with Bob's. My parents, Stan and Diane Gookin met there. My mom worked at Capitol St when she had me, that is my birth announcement on the sign in the picture above. My dad was did maintenance there when I was growing up. It was always a special treat when he would take us kids on a service call, especially if he was fixing a milkshake machine. We had to "test" it to make sure it tasted right when he was done. My sisters and I would go to the warehouse with him and occasionally we got to sit in the "bobcat car" (those are my younger sisters in the picture above). I wanted to work at Bob's as a kid but by the time I was old enough, there were only one or two stores still open. Reading this article has been a trip through so many happy childhood memories.

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