The Original A&W comes to Fort William and Port Arthur 1958

Having an A&W Drive-In in Fort William and Port Arthur(now Thunder Bay, Ontario) was like a dream come true to us cruisers of the time because we had a place to hang out with our cars and be with our friends. The Millionaire was OK for awhile but to have an A&W....wow, that was cool. I remember going to Minneapolis with my parents before I started to drive and what a treat it was to get one of those Frosty Mugs of Root Beer and a burger and fries. When the Teen Burger came out in 1961, I was totally in love with it and still am to this day. No burger I have yet tasted has been quite like a Teen Burger.

The first A&W here was built on the corner of 10th Ave. and Memorial Ave. near the Intercity area(halfway point between Fort William and Port Arthur). It is now a combination business, one called "The Salon on 10th" and the other called "The Sushi Bowl" restaurant. Where "The Salon on 10th" is now, was the parking lot. For awhile it was called The Welcome Restaurant. I also remember during the summer there would occasionally be a band playing on a Saturday night on the roof.

The other ones that came later were Cumberland Street presently Chachi's, Southern and May Streets presently the Dairy Queen, and finally Arthur Street in Fort William, presently The Metro grocery store(A&P).

The current three are on Arthur Street near Shoppers Drugs, Memorial Ave., and Intercity Mall....none of these are old locations.

Even though I don't have an actual picture of the original drive-in, it looked very much like the one in the B&W photo.

The menu above shows the typical 1963 prices(I left it as a larger scan so you can see the prices and the fact that it shows the original address as well). DO YOU REMEMBER?

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Very Talented Car Builders!

Here's two great guys I have known most of my life........long time and very talented hot rod and custom car builders. Top left and b&w photo is Big Bad Bob Kostyniuk, and lower left is Volker Lehmann. We all attend the Church of the Golden Arches(you figure it out) every Sunday at 10am(with many more in attendance)....if us old timers can get up by that time...LOL. The B&W photo clearly shows a 1961 license place....Wow, Bob and Volkker look better now that they did way back then!.....it's just because we all refuse to grow up. Thanks for posing for the great pictures with your beautiful Chevys.....see you on Sunday! To the right of Bobs car you can see a bit of Ron Limbrick's '39 Ford and to the right of Volkkers car you can see some of Allan Yahn's '33 Ford. ....click to enlarge.

Matchbook Memories from our Cruisin' Days....

Click-on to enlarge, and scroll down!

You local Fort William and Port Arthur(ites) will fondly remember most of these businesses along our cruisin' routes back in the late 40's, 50's and 60's. Some of the buildings still exist to this day but most are long gone. Do you remember where they all were? I remember most of them.

The Flamingo Club is where our wedding reception was in the 60's. The place turned into a real dump throughout the '70's and 80's then was finally torn down to build an apartment building.

In Fort William, "Spuds Burger Major" was the next best place for burgers and fries after the long living A&W. The first A&W in what we now call Thunder Bay was on 10th ave. near intercity, which later became the Welcome drive-in and is now a hair dressing spa.

The Columbia Grille on May Street(now Norma Jeans) became famous for unknowingly harboring the infamous fugitive "Bambi" Bembenec, which took place about 20 or so years ago. Thunder Bay was put on the map because of a movie made of her escapades and the fact that she hid out at the Columbia. Click on comments below to get a final story on Bambi(Thanks for the input)....Dave.

Are you too young?...or too old to remember?