I recently read of Louise Royer’s death. At 96, the matriarch of the Royer clan had passed. Remembering Louise carried me back to those good old days in Thurmont and my youthful days of work for the Royers.

It was 1962 to be specific, when classmate Sam "Chip" Royer asked me to work the horse sales at Eyler’s Stables on Wednesdays and Saturdays. His parents’ restaurant sold sandwiches, soup, pies and soft drinks at the sales. I, of course, had to ask dear old Dad and Mom for permission to accept my first job. Burnell and Regina gave me the wholehearted approval.

I suppose I passed muster, because the Royers asked me to work at the restaurant that summer. After my first few days at the restaurant, I realized many of my classmates and other kids from my school worked there. The main waitresses in those early years were Ruthie Gray and Ruth Ann Unger and a whole slew of cute high school chicks. I immediately thought, "what a great job", all those girls and all my friends — it was going to be girls, girls, girls and fun, fun, fun. What I failed to understand was that Royers served up some of the finest food around and were continually busy. That meant work, work, work.

After working there for awhile, I became pretty comfortable with my new employment. With guys like Chip, Larry Hauver, Jim Stitely and Bob Benjamin around, we were always kidding around or trying to pull off some joke or stunt. Wise comments about each other or any other employee was our credo and we practiced relentlessly. We had the most unique ability to aggravate even the most patient adults.

In those days, Louise Royer and Tom Bushman did most of the cooking. Tom was always joking and certainly enjoyed a good laugh.

While Louise maintained order among the troops, we recognized the fact that at times she could hardly contain herself with some of her antics. We would see her smile or hear a muffled giggle. It became universally known among the wise guys that Louise and Tom were definitely kindred spirits.

Now, Mr. Royer was a cat of a different stripe, he was a big man who ran a very tight ship. If he let out a roar of disapproval, it made the MGM Lion look like a kitty cat. So needless to say, we treaded mighty lightly around the boss-man.

But, in the world of kid-dom, he was a challenge. He was old, strict, and wily, but we were young and sneaky. Besides, he had other interests, like golf and going to antique auctions. So you know… while the cat’s away! At times we would try to get away with some wild and crazy things. At times we thought we were successful. But, in the final analysis, we realized we only got away with the things that he allowed us to get away with. It was difficult trying to out-fox the fox.

Louise’s sister, Pauline Smith, was the restaurant’s official baker. And, wow, she could make some delicious pies and cakes. There was a long table directly inside the back door of the restaurant. This is where Pauline prepared her wonderful desserts. From the time she came to work, until she departed, she was working at that table. The only difficulty was that her ingredients for baking (such as flour, shortening, oil, etc.) were downstairs. So, we kids were constantly being called upon to get the baker lady something from downstairs. We wore out a lot of shoe leather on those stairs. We were the yo-yo and Pauline held the string.

As our high school days ended, many of my buds went off to full-time jobs, college, or the service. Since I was going to attend Mount St. Mary’s College, I stayed employed at the restaurant for the next four years. My college friends would come back to work during the summer, but I also got to work with a large number of Thurmont kids who came to work at Royers.

As memories flood this poor old brain of these most happy days, as usual they come in no chronological order. As I reflect on those fabulous days, I have a much clearer view of why Mr. Royer could get slightly irritated with his rambunctious charges. Let me explain.

There was the occasion when my pal, Rick Kuhn, came to work at the restaurant. They asked me to show him how to use the potato peeling machine. You would put the potatoes in an opening at the top of the machine. Then, hook its hose to the faucet and turn on the timer. When the timer went off, you would open a door at the side of the machine and out came a clean, peeled potatoes. As the machine was running and I was explaining, Rick opened the door and potatoes went whizzing out all over the place.

The Royers were very tolerate as to what the employees could eat during their shifts. I recall that one time Tom Brown and I sat down to a breakfast of ham, eggs and homefries. That was perfectly OK, but we topped it off with milk shake glasses full of orange juice. When Mr. Royer spotted this, he was not a happy camper. Tom and I learned a valuable lesson…orange juice in moderation was definitely best for our health.

When Roy Wisotzkey came on board as a new employee, he was asked to make coffee. Roy was eager to please, so he poured the coffee and quickly added the appropriate amount of water. The only problem was that he forgot the filter. That coffee had enough grounds in it that you could have eaten it with a spoon. The cleanup afterwards was no easy job either.

Bob Reid and I always seemed to work on Friday and Saturday nights. And, usually there was always a dance at the elementary school on one of those nights. Bob and I were always anxious to get our jobs of pot and pan washing and grill cleaning completed so we could change clothes and head to the dance.

As we arrived at the dance one evening, Bob asked some lovely young lady to dance to a romantic slow dance. As they began to dance, she told him he smelled like a French fry. We then understood that no amount of Old Spice would disguise that greasy smell. Rejection is a bitter pill to swallow, so we resorted to Plan B.

Since we had off that next Sunday, we organized a coed softball game at the old Little League Field near the shoe factory. We had such a fine turnout that we immediately went to Louise and said we would continue to work Friday and Saturday nights for Sundays off. She agreed. For Bob and I, if there’s a will, there’s a way. We had some fun Sundays that summer.

There was an ice cube maker by the back door of the restaurant. It supplied cubes for all those drinks served on a busy day. On one particularly hot and busy day, Mr. Royer came back with a glass to fill with cubes for a small drink. However, someone had turned the machine to make large cubes. Those things were so big they wouldn’t fit into his glass. He turned and gave us a look that would have pierced steel and questioned, "can you people keep your hands off anything?"

I suppose the classic Royer’s Restaurant tale has to be the time when high schooler George Campbell was working a breakfast shift. A customer ordered half a grapefruit and George thought he said half a grape. This blunder would plague George for the rest of his employment. I would have given anything to see that customer’s face when George delivered that half of a grape.

I believe it was about my third year of working that Mr. and Mrs. Royer announced they were hiring a new black husband and wife team from Frederick to become cooks at the restaurant. When Dave and Leah Myers arrived, we didn’t know what to expect, but we soon learned they were a perfect fit. Dave was a big man with a robust laugh and a wonderful sense of humor. Leah was a little woman who spent most of her time trying to curtail Dave’s jolly personality. I learned a lot from both of them, especially to respect diversity.

As time passed, I don’t think there was anyone who didn’t learn to love Dave and Leah. They taught us many things about food preparation and they did it with kindness and understanding. When Dave and Leah began to work at the restaurant, they came to Thurmont on the bus from Frederick. The Royer’s taught Dave to drive and when got his driver’s license, they purchased a car for him to drive back and forth from work.

Anticipating a very busy weekend, Dave and Leah baked and cut up many turkeys. They placed the sliced turkey meat in a huge pan, covered it carefully with foil and asked Doug Harbaugh to take it downstairs to the walk-in. I think Doug made one step on the stairs, tripped and fell down the steps. If you ever wanted to see a grown man cry, Dave Myers was a sure-fired candidate. After examining the situation on the stairs, Dave told Leah, "looks like we’ll have to come in real early tomorrow".

With all the things that Louise Royer had to do with operating a restaurant and a home, she found time to take groups of us guys to Hagerstown to play golf. Most of us had never played before, but she encouraged us to give it a try. At first we were absolutely horrible, but she had sparked an interest and we decided to practice and play more often. We did improve. Of the many fellows she took over to Oak Ridge for a golf outing, many still enjoy the game to this day.

If Louise wasn’t leading golf trips, she would invite her young employees to attend a play at the Totem Pole Theater. She seemed to have boundless energy and thoroughly enjoyed giving her young folks a chance to experience things they may not normally have gotten a chance to do.

My years at the restaurant came a close in 1967. I would be remiss not to mention just a few of the sweeties who had worked there. Please forgive me if I forget anyone. They were Belva, Bea and Bonnie Dinterman, Sandy Clabaugh, Linda and Jane Angell, Judy Creager, Doris Gearhart, Lorraine Hagelin, Penny Wood, Bonita and Ginger Feeser, Shirley Edmonds, Bev Devilbiss, Diane Royer, Eileen Thatcher, Joan Knott, Lucille Alexander, Suzie Saylor, Mary Lou Winebrenner, Arlene Campbell, Linda Smith and Joyce Creeger.

Is there any questions about why I worked at the restaurant for so long?

As I mentioned before, Mr. Royer bought and sold antiques. He had many for sale throughout the restaurant. I can remember one piece in particular. It had a cast metal statue of a Civil War soldier. I had admired it for some time, but just wouldn’t part with the money to buy it. After graduation from the Mount in the spring of 1967, I stopped by the restaurant. Mr. and Mrs. Royer presented me with a large box as a graduation gift. As I carefully unwrapped the package, I recognized that Civil War soldier. That gift has remained a treasure for me over these nearly forty years and will always be displayed in my home.

Many of the kids who went to work at Royer’s Restaurant had been encouraged by their parents to have a good work ethic. Sam and Louise simply honed and polished our work habits to make us ready for full-time employment. They made us work, but they also allowed us to be kids.

Memories of Sam and Louise Royer and days at Royer’s Restaurant pour forth like fine wine, sweet, aromatic and unforgettable.

Royer’s Restaurant A Quick Timeline

• Opened by Samuel T. Royer, Jr. and wife Louise in 1958
• Samuel T. Royer, III, takes the reigns and leases it from his father from 1969 until he purchased it in 1972
• Closed temporarily for
• renovation and expansion in 1980 and reopened in 1981 as Royer’s Dockside Restaurant
•  Closed in 1993. Land sold for development of Sheetz convenience and gas station.

This popular local restaurant was busy from the time it opened until the very last night in 1993.