Last year, we showed you this picture of the Roy Rogers in Shirley, NY at the intersection of William Floyd Parkway and Sunrise Highway.. This was the last place I worked before I moved to South Carolina in 1996. For 15 years, this was the last and only place around to get a Double R-Bar or the best fried chicken in New York - it was owned by Hardee's, so they had an idea of how fry a bird. Yesterday, they closed the doors forever...
The ironic part of it all is that they were supposed to close when I left, and they never did. I ended up taking them to small claims court in NC after I moved over the $1500 they promised, but I lost. Big surprise there. Never sue a company in it's hometown....
Still, that store was legendary for a lot of people. After all, how many fast food store closings make the TV and print news?? Why all the hoopla? Well, that store was there since before I was born I think.. Secondly, for decades, the Roy Rogers in Shirley was the last stop for fast food before you got to the Hamptons - the equivalent of a Last Chance Gas Station for munchies..
For me, there were other memories: meeting my wife there, realizing that working with 16 year olds was not for me. Bringing back leftovers to the bar for everyone after work, and drinking for free all night....Getting my last check with the U-Haul trailer hitched to my Nissan 200SX-SER in a blinding snowstorm, and sliding out of town for SC ..... literally sliding! Good times...
Yeah, this day was coming for a long time, and I'm surprised I was here to see it, but things come and things go. Vaya Con Dios, Roy!
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