Baden McDonald's staff reunite after 50 years, share importance of their first job
BADEN – While reminiscing about his time working at the borough's McDonald's, Tom Applequist remembers the days in 1970 when the Big Mac was only 68 cents and the breakfast menu was still just an idea that was tossed around boardroom meetings.
"I lived just two blocks up the hill," Applequist said. "One day I walked over the hill, I think I was 15 or 16 years old, and applied for a job and I started working."
Working his way up to the assistant manager position at the first McDonald's location in Beaver County, Applequist would quickly form a bond with his coworkers at the popular Baden location. The group of high schoolers working in 1970 posed for a picture inside the classic "red and white" building, with all seven boys grinning near the kitchen while posing for the camera.
While Applequist worked with many different people over the next five decades, and the McDonald's brand in Beaver County continued to grow beyond the single location in Baden, the lessons and connections that Applequist made during that time left a large impact on his life. His first job allowed him to connect learn and socialize with his coworkers, all of them learning about the world together.
"You live and learn through all that," Applequist said. "I loved working with people and still do."
After recently rediscovering the photo from 1970, Applequist decided it was time to reconnect with the original crew. A few Facebook messages and phone calls later, Applequist assembled the entire team after 52 years to recreate their picture on June 29 and catch up on where all of their lives took them after their time at McDonald's.
"It was beyond anything I could ever imagine," Applequist said. "(These) guys were in the limelight today."
After 50 years, sharing life stories and vital lessons learned in 1970
Enjoying breakfast at the recently renovated Baden McDonald's, the seven former employees shared their experiences in the workforce and the important life lessons they took from their first job at that location.
Only working at McDonald's for a couple of years after the original photo, Dave Smedley decided that he wanted to pursue an education. In order to afford that field, he enlisted in the Marine Corps.
"I wanted to get an education, so I signed up for the Marines," he said. "I did four years in the Marine Corps, and I'm the luckiest Marine you'll ever meet. I guarantee you because three out of the four years, I got stuck in the Bahamas. They sent me there as a joke, because if you Google 'Smedley Butler,' he's a very famous Marine."
After his time in the military, Smedley would work at Armco Steel for 12 years before the plant shut down. Later, he would utilize the G.I Bill to pursue a degree at Robert Morris College. His new degree would take him into the insurance and financial industry, leading him to his current position as a financial advisor at Lincoln Financial offices in the Wexford area.
Lee Bookwalter also joined the military after leaving his position as the store's swing manager, joining the Navy's submarine service for eight and a half years. During this time, he would work his way up to a senior enlisted workstation. Bookwalter attributes his leadership skills to his time working at McDonald's.
"I learned how to work with people and try to be a leader, which helped me a lot once I left here," he said.
After the military, Bookwalter began to work for the Westinghouse Corp., got married and had two boys. He retired four years ago and currently has two grandchildren.
While Harry Rose would first work at a cheese factory after McDonald's, he would leave his position there to serve in the Army's military police during Vietnam. After serving overseas, he was stationed at Fort Ritchie, which is just under eight miles from Camp David, until 1974.
After his service, Rose would remain in the Wilkes-Barre area and hold a variety of different positions at companies in the area. He would eventually get married twice, have five children and become a grandfather of 11.
"Now I'm back here after 50 years," Rose said. "Seeing everybody, remember everybody. Nobody looks the same."
Smedley, Bookwalter and Rose attribute their first job as part of the foundation of their work ethics. Not everybody takes their first job at 16, but they credit the initiative with their lifelong successes.
While training as a manager for the Baden location, Rose learned to value hard work and continually challenged himself to set new goals. Often working two or three jobs at a time, this challenge allowed him to succeed and often landed him in leadership positions.
"If you work hard, you will succeed," Rose said. "That led me into management here and every job I had since then. I mean, I was actually a police chief for six months. I always raised my bar to try harder."
Bookwalter also attributed his manager duties at McDonald's as a foundation for his leadership roles, especially while serving in the Navy.
"Being a swing manager, you had to kind of run the show and keep everything going," he said. "That just followed from here into the military."
For Smedley, taking the job at McDonald's was an opportunity he would never regret. It taught him to pursue opportunities when they were available.
"When the opportunity arises, it's what you make out of it," he said. "A lot of people have opportunity, but not everybody utilizes it."
While the military service took some of the boys away from the Baden area, some of them moved on to college and trade schools to pursue future dreams.
"I started going to Geneva College when I was working here, it helped me out in a lot of ways socially and thinking about the future," said Jack Linedecker, who retired from his position as a court-appointed therapist in West Virginia last year. "When I graduated from Geneva, I went to work at a place called Allencrest Juvenile Detention Center for a couple of years."
After his time at the detention center in Brighton Township, Linedecker would be contacted by a Lawrence County judge to run another detention center in New Castle. He would run the facility for a few years with his wife before their growing family moved to West Virginia. Linedecker received his master's degree in therapy around this time and would open his own practice, with the final years of his career focusing on families that were sent to therapy by a local judge.
Linedecker now shares his time between his home in Wheeling, W.Va., and a house in Tarpon Springs, Fla. Throughout his career, he credits his first job at the Baden McDonald's for teaching him the value of a dollar and hard work.
"You learn the value of a dollar, working at 16 to save money and buy cars," Linedecker said. "I don't know how it would have been if I hadn't been working here and didn't have a job."
In addition to their first job teaching them a lot about the value of hard work, it also taught them skills for communicating with others. Working in the service industry helped many of the group "break out of their shells," allowing them to overcome some of their shy natures and develop skills that they would use for decades.
"I went from a quiet kid, McDonald's opened me up and taught me how to interact," said Terry Pasteur, who currently owns an appliance repair business. "Man, I did some fantastic sales. You never forget your first job, that's for sure, but it helped me in a lot of ways."
Pasteur began classes at refrigeration school while still working at the Baden McDonald's, which eventually led him to a job with Whirlpool. Pasteur now works across the Beaver Valley with his own business, Terry's Appliance Repair. He married and started a family. Pasteur has two daughters and two grandchildren.
By learning to socialize and interact with customers in the food service industry, Pasteur believes he was able to form customer service skills and handle customer complaints.
"When you're in the service business, and you show up at a customer's home with a brand new refrigerator or washer that doesn't work, they want to put their hands around your neck," he said. "You have to know how to handle that person, calm them down so they can understand the problems gonna be handled. I got that training from McDonald's because there were people who used to come to the counter to tell us they weren't paying tax, or the food wasn't good, and we had to calm them down."
In addition to social skills, sales experience is an important part of Pasteur's work. He attributes part of his success in selling warranties and other products to contests held within the McDonald's store.
"We had those contests: who could sell the most large fries and everything," Pasteur said. "When I went to work for Whirlpool, we had to sell extended warranties. Man, I don't know how many times I got awards for selling the most, and I did some fantastic sales."
Working at McDonald's taught Ron Mowry important lessons for his future career with U.S. Airways, where he worked as a groundworker, unloading planes for 31 years. His career would take him from the Pittsburgh airport to the Philadelphia airport after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, but he would never forget the important lessons learned with his friends.
"Friends, working hard, showing up on time, those values stick with you," Mowry said.
After climbing that hill to work at McDonald's in 1970, Applequist remained an employee of the company for over 40 years. While he deeply values the memories made with his original crew, his experience with the company has left him with many fond memories and friends.
Whether remembering 1970 or ordering from the menu now, Applequist's time with McDonald's is something that he holds near and dear to his heart.
"I had to leave in '73 to go up to the Penn State University to finish my degree," he said. "I came back (home) when I graduated, and three days later, I'm back working. Then here we are, 40 some years later, and I tell people it's the most wonderful career that I could have ever asked for, every moment of it."
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Baden McDonald's staff reunite after 50 years
