The Fountain of Youth

The recent Echo editorial about the "Fountain" brought an outpouring of affection for the old place:

It was Connie Hanson, as owner, It was called the Fountain of Youth and it was the BBQ that had all of us rushing across the street during lunch period. My two older sisters worked there. I have no idea what the recipe was.
- Paul Donley (Alex, class of '64)
Conrad Hanson. His daughter Cindy was in our class. Funny, I didn't remember a barbecue, either. But I sure remember the hamburgers and cherry cokes. And the "standing room only". What a great little place that was.
- Patty Wicken (Alex, class of '67)
ya sloppy joes.
- Diane O'Brien (Alex, class of '65)
It was a high spot for kids when the Law Enforcement Center was Central High (later, Junior High) School. Lunch there could be had for $.25 - composed of a delicious $.15 hamburger, and nickel Coke, and a nickel bag of chips (for another nickel, one could get a fried roll). The "Fountain" was a summer long dining experience as little league baseball was played on a ball field where the library now resides. I recall enjoying Roy Orbison's "Dear One" one summer afternoon as I left the "Fountain" for the ball field. I don't recall the owners' names, but the last name of Hanson sticks in my mind. I have sent out feelers. -
Tom Obert
We thought the Fountain was the best. I worked there during noon hours and got to leave class about 5 minutes early to get there.Do you remember the chocolate cake with the white frosting? The kids would order suicides (soda pop) which combined every combo of coke, squirt, orange, etc. that you could think of.I do remember the pot of sloppy joes on the stove in the back kitchen. They were good but the hamburgers were the best.
- Linda Akenson (Alex, class of '68)
The Fountain did serve fried rolls. They bought them from the bakery. Yeutter's, Blue Ribbon or Tubby's. All were such good bakeries.
- Patty Wicken
Didn't they also serve those fried rolls - is that what the were called - or was that another bakery in town?
- Judy Blanchard (Alex, class of '65)
Dave and I were talking about the Fountain this morning and we don't remember bbqs either but we do remember burgers and pop for 25cents and of course fried rolls! Thank goodness I never had a lot of money or I would have been as wide as I was tall. We also remember going to Shorty's on Broadway and getting hot gravy and pop for a quarter. More low cal fare. :-)
- Bonita Gilbertson (Alex, class of '65)
Don't remember a barbecue hamburger but that doesn't mean they didn't have it. Didn't they have penny candy too??? Couldn't you buy wax red lips and the wax pop bottles filled with that gawd-awful liquid sugary substance? Also the black licorice rolls with the red candy centers? Were they supposed to be tires? I think they also had fried rolls. I remember Mrs. Hanson the most. Didn't she wear an apron tied around her waist in which she carried change in the little pockets? She also wore white anklet socks with "practical" shoes to be on her feet all day. At times, didn't she even wear a hairnet? I remember her having thin dishwater blond hair with a slight curl. Very pretty and young looking to have a child in junior high school. I think Cindy was the oldest of their children and she had two younger brothers. Am I correct?
- Gretchen Obert