Family Affair: The Blue Bell

She’s the one on the left. No idea who that guy is on the right…

Continuing the saga that is the life of my family, here is my sister Mandy. She’s the 3rd oldest (or, as she would prefer, the 4th youngest) and this is her memory of my parents’ “family-owned” restaurant. I put “family-owned” in quotes because it was REALLY owned by my parents…but we say “family-owned” because we all peeled potatos & washed dishes there at one point or another…

The Blue Bell was the restaurant that our parents owned during the 70’s and early 80’s. It was located right on the town square in McConnelsville, so it was a fairly popular place. Well, at least it seemed that way to me. I remember the “cafeteria line” for people who just wanted to quickly get whatever the day’s special was, and the candy counter near the register. How mom ever kept us out of that I’ll never know.

There was a big round booth towards the back of the restaurant, which was perfect for fitting all 8 of us when we would eat dinner together. I remember how Frank used to put ketchup on everything, and one day when he was probably 5-6 years old he ordered a “hot beef and gravy” (open faced roast beef sandwich) because that’s what I always got, and he dumped ketchup right on top of the gravy. Yuck!

I also remember the “party room” upstairs, where they would host banquets or rotary meetings. On the days when mom couldn’t get a babysitter (this was before Alan was old enough to be trusted to lock us out of the house (editors note: HEY!)) she would bring us to work and just let us play in the party room for a few hours. We would play red-light-green-light and all those games, and inevitably mom would have to come up and tell us to quiet down when we got too loud. There was also a room connected to the party room that we were never allowed to go into. Mom used to tell us that it was dangerous or haunted or something, but it turns out that was just where she hid our Christmas presents (which she bought all year long, since there were so many of us to shop for).

During the summer, we would walk around the block, and play on the “lions” that decorated the steps of the dentist office next door. We would also run back and forth across the street (which we young ones were not allowed to do), just to prove that we could do it. As we got a little older, dad put us all to work back in the kitchen. Alan may have gotten paid to wash dishes (editors note: somehow I doubt it), but the rest of us never saw a dime for the thousands of potatos we peeled! Kathy & I (ages 7 & 8 or so) used to race the employees to see who could peel the fastest and strangely we always won. Hmmm…

Dad made the most awesome homemade ice cream for the restaurant. Every time he made a fresh batch, we would all gather around to get a little bowl of it while it was still soft. C’mon Alan, you have to admit that stuff was even better than your beloved Graeters! Or Chunky Monkey for that matter. 😉 (editors note: yes…it WAS pretty good! But no chunks! The secret is CHUNKS)

Well, mom & dad sold the Blue Bell and “retired” when I was in 4th grade. Dad tried to keep occupied cooking us pancakes and experimenting in the kitchen, but they must have gotten bored pretty quickly because a year later they decided to start running Mickey’s.

And that is where THAT story ends and another one begins. Who wants to write about Mickey’s? Frank? Amber? Kathy? Anyone? Hmmmm…I’ll give it some time and then I might have to write something. Wouldn’t want to leave you hangin’…