The Papa referred to in the title is "Dad" to me, since I am one of his two daughters. As stated in the first post, Dad was a McDonald's owner/operator, first in the Baltimore area (1963-1969) and then in Richmond, which included Farmville, VA (1969 - 1986). I worked for him, first in the office and then in operations, eventually becoming a supervisor.
One of Dad's favorite stories is the day the Farmville store called the office, late in the morning, to say they didn't have enough Big Mac buns to make it through lunch. Being an hour's drive away, it was too late to try to drive to Farmville with the buns. Instead, Dad found that the store across the street from our office had more than enough Big Mac buns, so they could transfer some to Farmville. He called the Farmville store and asked if someone could meet him at the Farmville airport. Then, he got the buns and drove to the Chesterfield County airport. He flew the approximately 20-minute flight to Farmville, as pilot of his Mooney airplane, and delivered the Big Mac buns in time for lunch!! He saved the day (...and the possibility of lost business....)!!!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Start
This is a new project to begin the recording, in a historical sense, of the stories of my grandfather. He has hinted over the years that he should write a book with all the tales of his life. We have gone to the extent of providing him various means of recording his stories but to date have not made great strides in memorializing these interesting, sometimes fascinating, adventures.
He is a self made man, born on a farm in Western Pennsylvania he tells of cows, plows and barns. But as a young man he had dreams and quickly outgrew the farm life. He began his own excavating business and can take you down a country road in PA and show you the basements he dug and yards he flattened, all with the motions he made years ago guiding his bulldozer over the land.
After several successful years of moving dirt and repairing his own equipment, he broke through during the pioneering days as an owner/operator in McDonald's. First in Baltimore, MD then in Richmond, VA, he was able to succeed again in life and expand his business portfolio and experience. Along the way there are stories of becoming a pilot, purchasing an antique fire engine which he drove in several parades and events to represent the McDonald's franchise and eventually moving into a new are of business by starting a Jiffy Lube franchise.
This blog is to celebrate his many stories and begin to save them for posterity and perhaps one day, for the book that he has longed to have written.
He is a self made man, born on a farm in Western Pennsylvania he tells of cows, plows and barns. But as a young man he had dreams and quickly outgrew the farm life. He began his own excavating business and can take you down a country road in PA and show you the basements he dug and yards he flattened, all with the motions he made years ago guiding his bulldozer over the land.
After several successful years of moving dirt and repairing his own equipment, he broke through during the pioneering days as an owner/operator in McDonald's. First in Baltimore, MD then in Richmond, VA, he was able to succeed again in life and expand his business portfolio and experience. Along the way there are stories of becoming a pilot, purchasing an antique fire engine which he drove in several parades and events to represent the McDonald's franchise and eventually moving into a new are of business by starting a Jiffy Lube franchise.
This blog is to celebrate his many stories and begin to save them for posterity and perhaps one day, for the book that he has longed to have written.
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