Shoney's dedication day a success

Oct 05, 2009 (The Charleston Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- SHOY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Sherry Grubb and Larry Casdorph remember the drag races, carhops and pranksters outside the old Shoney's restaurant on Patrick Street.

"They would start out here," Grubb said of the racers as she sat near a new monument celebrating the first Shoney's restaurant. "They would do their donuts, all that stuff. Those were the fun days."

In the mid-1960s, boys met their girlfriends outside the old Shoney's, which had outgrown its small but popular predecessor, the Parkette Drive-in. Guys pulled pranks on each other, Grubb said.

She asked Casdorph about when the drag racers tried to run away from police officers.

"Well, that's a different story," he said. "And sometimes you didn't get away."

Casdorph would race his 1956 Pontiac with its 285-horsepower engine against cars like 1959 Chevrolets, the 1960 Ford Starliner and, a couple years later, powerful 1963 Plymouths.

Casdorph and Grubb remember when the guys would race across the Patrick Street Bridge, out on Kanawha Boulevard, across the river and on the south side along MacCorkle Avenue and even out on sections of interstate -- both finished parts and also those stretches still under construction.

"And the food was good, oh man," Casdorph said.

On Sunday afternoon, fans of the old Parkette and Shoney's met the Schoenbaum family and others in dedicating the new memorial on Patrick Street.

The guests Sunday enjoyed authentic double-decker cheeseburgers and shared old memories.

Betty Schoenbaum, the widow of Shoney's founder Alex Schoenbaum, told how former New York Yankees and Milwaukee Braves pitcher Lew Burdette, along with many others, enjoyed their first kiss outside the restaurant.

"From the drag racers to the cute carhops, the memories persist," said Emily Schoenbaum, the youngest daughter of Alex and Betty Schoenbaum. She conceived the idea for a memorial.

Behind the glass, old photos and newspaper clippings show Alex Schoenbaum's days as both a businessman and an Ohio State University football player, while old menus and memorabilia from the Parkette and Shoney's harken back to the days of a 40-cent serving of fudge cream cake, a 50-cent Big Boy and a large barbecue ribs dinner for only $1.85.

Atop the memorial, however, is the most recognizable -- and controversial -- sign of the past.

The "Big Boy," who is holding a double-decker cheeseburger, was on several people's minds Sunday.

Jennifer Bourgoin, vice president and general counsel for Big Boy Restaurants International in Warren, Mich., told the Gazette last month that because Shoney's split from the Big Boy organization in 1976, use of the icon is trademark infringement.

"We do not want the 'Boy' on the 14-foot pillar," Bourgoin said. "As an owner of a trademark, we have a duty to make sure the marks are used in authorized or trademarked ways and as the owner of the mark we have the sole authority to determine how the marks are used."

Emily Schoenbaum said to cheers Sunday that "our 'Big Boy' is still standing," while Charleston Mayor Danny Jones said "they can't tell us" where to put the Big Boy, which used to sit outside the old Shoney's.

Otis Martin of Charleston had some choice words about those who want to take down the Big Boy.

"It's silly, silly to do that," he said.

Grubb, who was wearing a pink rock-and-roll jacket with the words "At the Hop" stitched on the back, said the Big Boy statue holds a lot of memories.

"I think it should stay there," she said. "It's a West Side emblem."

Naomi Bays, the project manager for Sunday's ceremony, said she hopes the Big Boy can stay up.

"That's our hope," she said. "That's all I know right now."

Anyone who wants to share Shoney's memorabilia can e-mail Bays at shoneysmemor...@gmail.com.

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