The "The Frugal Birthday Club Members" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Carol was telling me about a conversation she had with her friend Marg about the days when both our families had to lead a remarkably frugal existence due to our families having to live on a teacher's salary for quite a few years.  Carol met Marg while taking a LaMaze class with her when they were both pregnant with their first child.  Marg's husband, as well as myself, had been teaching for perhaps four or five years at the time and making a very basic salary while starting a family.  Carol and I had just purchased a home and a new car a few years before and were both working at the time when Carol became pregnant.  When our first son arrived, we made the decision that she should be a stay-at-home mother and live on my teacher's salary.  Tough to do with car and house payments and a new child to support, but .......  Well, we did get to celebrate on paydays by going out to eat.  After our other two children arrived we continued the same "going out to eat Friday evenings" and our children loved it.  We had two places that we tended to use, one each month.  One was at a Burger King located on the Manheim Pike north of Lancaster, PA, but south of East Petersburg, PA.  We could treat the family to a fast-food meal, complete with dessert, for a reasonable amount of money.  

Pappy's was a chain pizza place, so if you
are reading this flyer, you will see that
this one was for a store in York, PA.

I know it was fast food, but it was only one time a month!  The other place we visited once a month was a place called Pappy's Pizza which was located directly off the Manheim Pike on the road that led to the Park City Shopping Center, directly across from the Fulton Bank.  Pappy's Pizza had great pizza, a neat atmosphere for kids, with some arcade games to occupy a few minutes while mom and dad ate our meal and a window where we could watch the pizzas being made.  Our three children loved watching the bakers hold the dough to make a circular form and then throw the dough in the air.  We always requested a table so they could view the pizza being made.  

Our children were birthday club members.

And ...... we celebrated many of their early birthdays at Pappy's with straw hats and bow ties as well as a special certificate for all party-goers.  Great place to take the kids and the friends of the birthday boy or girl without breaking the bank.  Those memories will always be with us as well as our kids.  Pappy's eventually closed and a variety of other businesses tried the spot, but with little success.  As of today, the place remains at the same spot, but siting vacant.  If it's any consolation to all those businesses, the bank across the street couldn't make a go it either.   It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.