Woody Wilson Planted The Birch Tree

Daughter Susie Wilson Capillo recalls that it was her father who planted the birch tree which appears in front of the Barrel cottage in this mid 1970s vintage photo.

ROOT BEER BARREL MEMORIES

ROOT BEER BARREL MEMORIES

Bonnie McVoy, Car Hop, circa 1955

We are still collecting memories of the Douglas root beer barrel!! Ten former employees or owning families now have their memories on the "Barrel blog".

These include young Miss Bonnie McVoy (Now Bonnie Verwys) whose family may have operated it for the longest period (c1954-c1961). If you have memories or pictures to add, send them along to Chris Yoder at cyoder@tds.net or call             269-857-4327      .

THE ROOT BEER BARREL, CENTER STREET, DOUGLAS

Barrel ca 1952

The Barrel was recently saved from demolition by a group of preservationists ("Friends of the Barrel") of the Saugatuck-Douglas Historical Society. The Society obtained the structure and the Friends have a plan in place to move it (deconstruct) and eventually restore it to its original glory - hopefully to a place in Douglas where it can remain the 'icon' it was during the mid-century day's when the fast-food 'drive-in' culture and fast-food "highway architecture" was at its height. In addition to the Historical Society, the Friends received support from the Douglas City Council. No funds are being solicited or accepted at this time. The group is looking for a workspace.

Please add your name to the Friends of the Barrel by contacting Judy Hillman, hillman@hope.edu 

BACKGROUND

The Barrel was built in the early 1950s by Joe Decker and Harold Kelly. They built it in Joe's back yard in Flint, disassembled it and brought it to Douglas on a flatbed for reconstruction. They operated it for several years before selling it to the Earl McVoy. The McVoys operated it into the 1960s when George and JoAnn Gallas bought it and operated it for several years, then selling it to Woodrow Wilson.

During the McVoy ownership, a miniature golf course was added to the west side. The Barrel became a favorite for root beer, burgers, and foot-long hot dogs (forty cents), and root beer floats (twenty cents). It closed sometime around 1977. Originally without the exterior iron bands (see photo above), the barrel was of varnished wood planks ("stays"), with a number of exterior lights on stem-like poles that cast the light downward onto the structure. Read the memories of those who worked there at the Barrel Blog.

TELL US YOUR BARREL STORY!

The "Barrel Story" is still being written. Send your reminiscences/Barrel Stories to Chris Yoder at cyoder@tds.net, phone             269-857-4327       or writing them yourself into the Society's blog - just click HERE.

PHOTOGRAPHS of the Barrel are very rare. If you have photos to share, email or call Chris Yoder at cyoder@tds.net, phone             269-857-4327      

 JOIN the Barrel reconstruction/Preservation group. Contact Judy Hillman hillman@hope.edu ,Brent Birkholz info@harborducks.com,Duane Brown or Chuck Carlson CharlesKCarlson@aol.com

Gerald Bekken Remembers

“I worked there one summer after I got out of the Army, making
root beer floats, hot dogs and serving up ice cream,” said Gerald
Bekken, now 86. “We would get double lines of cars parked all
around the Barrel to buy mugs of root beer and hot dogs. There
was a carhop outside who took the orders, and I worked inside to
fill them. There wasn't a lot of room in the Barrel, just enough for
one or two people to work.”

The Olney and Westport, Illinois Barrels

by Glenn Decker, nephew of Joe and Carl

Joe Decker, Chuck's father, was an engineer and a graduate of the University of Illinois, and he designed the barrel. He built one of them in Saugatuck, and then my uncle Carl Decker built two. One was in Olney as kind-of a drive-in restaurant selling root beer and hot dogs. The other was put in Westport which is across from Vincennes, Indiana and it did the same thing selling root beer and foot long hot dogs and some French fries and things like that.

They built three of them as far as I know. Now Chuck thought there was one in Robinson too, but I don't think there was one at Robinson, maybe they considered but never built one.  My father, his name was Glenn Decker, and he and Carl and a crew built the two in Illinois. I was a little kid when they built those.

The one in Saugatuck I think was built in 1952 or someplace around there. I would say the others were built in 1952-55. I was born in 44, and when I was growing up I worked at the one in Olney. The one in Olney still exists. A guy bought that and moved it out to the east side of Olney, it's about 300 yards off the road back in the woods.

The one over by Vincennes was actually on the Illinois side of the river in a little town called Westport. People from Vincennes would drive across the river and get hot dogs and root beer there.  There is a restaurant in the northern part of Vincennes which has a picture on the wall of the Westport barrel. Next time I get up there I'll see if I can you a copy.