York’s Dairy Bar closing forever

It is true, there will be no more car hops, no more lights on for service or a place for the guys to hit on a cute carhop for a date. Many will be sad to hear they won’t be able to order their favorite pizza burger, chicken burger, clam basket or maybe just a cheeseburger and fries.
I can hardly remember a time when the dairy bar wasn’t there. It was the place where all the girls wanted to work when they were in high school and where all the boys hung out waiting for their girlfriends.
The late Hope York, wife of Gerard York and mother to Nancy, Dick, Gerry and Dawn started the business in 1960 as a dairy bar, but it wasn’t long before it was enlarged to include a grill and deep fryer for a more extensive menu. The York children worked there, even the boys and eventually some of the York grandchildren.
York continued to operate the dairy bar until 1982 when Marlynn London took over the business. In 1987 the York family sold the property to Dysarts of Hampden. The Dysarts planned to build a truck brokerage on the property, however when that did not materialize London continued on with the seasonal eatery for 26 more years, but decided this was the year to close it for good.
“It was a hard decision,” London lamented. “I started working in 1964 for Hope, as a helper and then in the summer of 1965, I was old enough to work full-time. My salary was 35 cents an hour plus tips.  I worked there in some capacity either helping with the spring opening until the students were available to work or in the fall after they went back to school until I took over the business myself.”
As London recalled her years at the dairy bar she noted some things that have never changed and others that had.
The menu for the most part has remained the same since the early days of York. Chicken salad burgers were one of the most popular and then others took their place such as, pizza-burgers, clams, onion rings and  most recently, tuna burgers.
“Of course,” said London, “it’s hard to beat the classic hamburger or hotdogs.”
London recalled that unlike today several products were delivered to the dairy bar daily in the early years, such as Houlton Farms Dairy milk, fresh meat from Tidd’s Slaughterhouse and fresh fruits and vegetables from Aroostook Fruit and Produce operated by the Carmichael Brothers. Also sold at the dairy bar were cigarettes, lifesavers and gum delivered by Reid’s Confectionary of Bangor a business located in Houlton at that time.
Former employee Leslie Schools who worked for York three years during high school in the late ‘70s is sad to see it close. Schools said that she had fun working there. It was always busy and a very social place. She recalled the variety of tasks that were required to start the day such as, making the hamburgers, mixing the tuna and chicken salad, cutting the onions and frying the bacon for the BLTs.  She also remembered the strict rule of,  ‘no boys in the back room’.
The dairy bar was broken into twice. The first time some change was taken and the next time the thieves cleaned out the walk-in freezer, helping themselves to seafood, including the lobster.
Bob Carpenter, a local trash collector called London early one morning informing her there was water pouring out of the building. Upon arrival she found a hose connected to the ice-cream machine which employees had nicknamed “Herbie” had sprung a leak. The motors were soaked and the entire inside of the building was flooded. It was a day without ice cream.
Other trivia was that the cash register was called “Penny” and some nights and early mornings were spent looking along the edge of the back driveway for parts to the ice-cream machine that got thrown out with the scrub water.
London said that she lost many, many window trays and even Carpenter told of coming across many of them on his trash route.
The hours have changed significantly since the ‘60s. Back then the Borderland Drive-in Theater was open and the dairy bar stayed open until 11 p.m. waiting for the movie crowd. After the closing of the drive-in the hours slowly changed to 10 p.m. then 9 and the most recent closing time of 8.
Even though the York boys had jobs at the dairy bar, London said until last year no boys ever applied. In the summer of 2009, she hired Nick Chase and Tyler Delano, students at Houlton High School. She had high praise for both boys. They were dependable and showed up on time. They were polite and ready to work.
Although London has had some very good employees through the years, it became more difficult to find dependable workers. There wasn’t the commitment to the job and other activities started to take precedence over working.
She has many good memories to take with her including a surprise one day when schoolmate, Diane Corey delivered a delicious cake thanking London and her crew for a great summer of service and food. London also enjoyed seeing many friends visiting from away when they made their yearly stop at the dairy bar.
London has already sold much of the equipment in preparation of the building being either moved or torn down. York’s of Houlton will be expanding their used car lot to the property.
It’s been quite a ride, one that many will talk about for years to come just as the closing of Ricker College, a topic that never seems to die.