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Skagit River Journal

of History & Folklore
Free Home Page Stories & Photos
The most in-depth, comprehensive site about the Skagit
Covers from British Columbia to Puget Sound. Counties covered: Skagit, Whatcom, Island, San Juan, Snohomish & BC. An evolving history dedicated to committing random acts of historical kindness

Noel V. Bourasaw, editor

810 Central Ave., Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284
Home of the Tarheel Stomp

Mortimer Cook slept here & named the town Bug

1949 Dairy Queen now Hal's Drive-In

A reader recently asked what was the first drive-in the Sedro-Woolley and upper-Skagit river area. This story was written in July 1999 for the 50th anniversary of Hal's Drive-In in Sedro-Woolley.

The original Sedro-Woolley Dairy Queen

Hal's Drive-In at 321 State Street in Sedro-Woolley will celebrate its 50th Anniversary on July 10, 1999. Free ice cream cones and a special drawing for a new bicycle will be featured at both Hal's locations, including Hwy 20 in Concrete. Hal's opened on July 9, 1949, as Pyeatt's Dairy Queen, the first drive-in in Sedro-Woolley.
The Badgley family ushered in the drive-in era with free ice cream cones and had to serve nearly 2,000 of them until midnight to help excited customers stave off 90-degree heat. Bob Anderson and Cheerie Carr, the current owners, will repeat the free ice-cream offer from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on July 10, courtesy of Riverside Distributors. They will also offer free Pepsi drinks with food purchase, courtesy of Walton Beverage. A bicycle will be the grand prize at a drawing at both locations, courtesy of Walton. The owners are asking longtime patrons to bring in their photos and memories of the drive-in to help prepare for the celebration.
R.G. Badgley and his son John opened the drive-in in much smaller quarters, less than half the size of today's Hal's. John recalled in a 1994 interview that ice cream was the only item on the menu, in the revolutionary new soft style, described as being "as soft as velvet." Cones were sold for 15, 20, 25 and 30 cents for up to four curly decks and some hardy teenagers ordered custom cones with six stacks, which soon resembled the leaning tower of Pisa. Quarts were sold for 55 cents and sundaes were whipped up for 20 and 30 cents.
The Pyeatt family opened another Dairy Queen in Mount Vernon the same day. They owned the franchise for Skagit County and the Badgleys bought it from them within a year. (Ed. note: The original news article did not give the names of the Pyeatts and we hope a reader will know. The only family we know of were early pioneers of Whatcom County.) The original building was constructed of concrete blocks and measured 20 by 36 feet, with an all-glass front. Bob Parker, the property owner then, contracted the Hanson & Browne Co. to build it, as soon as they finished a chicken house on the Kimble farm west of town. The Clark house originally stood on the site, the home of Sedro-Woolley Mayor Spud Walley's mother and stepfather. The drive-in spot was once sandwiched between the McClellan house to the west and the historic Hammer mansion to the east.
John Badgley recalled that they used a hand-cranked machine for the first couple of years. He operated it himself most of the time and soon built a ledge in the back that served as his cot for staying overnight. His father owned a grocery store in Bellingham and came down to help on Sundays. Mrs. Isabel (Isabelle) Hammer, who lived on the corner to the east, brought him cookies. And Dolores Renfro, who still lives across the alley, and her late father, Harold, often served him dinner. The Hammer mansion next door, on the southwest corner of Fourth street, was demolished in Dec. 30, 1966, and replaced by a bank.
After John went into the service and then worked in Bellingham, the Badgleys sold the drive-in in 1956 to Zola Lipsey, who was always known as Mom. She changed the name to Sedro-Woolley Drive-In and she and her son Jerry expanded the first time to accommodate stoves. She added hamburgers and other food to the menu and also added a new automatic milk shake machine and two ice cream machines. She recalled in a 1994 interview that back then she used to buy whole cows from local farms and grinds the meat for hamburgers.
She subsequently sold out on April 16, 1964, to Hal Carter, who renamed the place Hal's. Both Lipsey and Carter acted as mentors to their young workers and built up a staff that emphasized personalized customer service. That was a novel concept then but remains as Hal's most important service today. Dennis Carmen later owned Hal's for a short while and he subsequently sold out to Allen and Angie Fox.
Anderson and Carr bought the drive-in on Jan. 1, 1993, and made substantial additions over the past five years, especially adding more space for inside dining. They hired a design consultant who helped them retain the look of the original historic drive-in and also add picnic dining outside in front. Business has grown so much in the past six years that they also doubled the cooking space and adding drive-up order windows, making service even faster.
Hal's has successfully competed against the big fast-food chains with a combination of service and totally remodeling their kitchen. The owners installed a window onto the kitchen so that diners can see their food being prepared, and each order is custom-cooked to the customer's request. They are especially pleased that now the grandchildren of the original patrons are eating there in droves. A car even arrived recently with four generations of Hal's patrons. Hal's especially wants families to celebrate their anniversary with them on July 10. Please phone 855-0868 if you have memories or photos to share. And please copy or scan the same and share with us for a future update.

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For many stories about historical Sedro-Woolley businesses, see the Odds & ends portal: short features & transcriptions
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Story posted on May 17, 2002x . . . Please report any broken links so we can update them

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