Letters – Winter 2013
History Repeats
I always enjoy Paul Danish’s (Hist’65) columns, especially since we were students at the same time and remember the same things. Paul wrote about this year’s Sink party, noting, “No bouncer came through the revelers [at The Sink] with a nightstick in hand and a keg on a dolly shouting, ‘Watch your feet.’”
Actually, I remember they came through shouting, “Make a hole. Lady with a baby.” I marveled that, as a freshman in 1959, I could go to The Sink and legally order a beer. I was on a budget of $10 a week, which had to cover snacks, laundry and Sunday dinner, so I could only afford one beer and never a famous Sinkburger. Several years later, I did have one, and it was as good as it looked and smelled.
James Mulholland (ұDZ’64)
Denver
I’m John and Paulie Pudlik’s daughter, and I grew up on The Hill during the idyllic 1950s. The Sink was my home away from home. Paul Danish’s (Hist’65) article was lovely but not quite accurate. I’d like to make some corrections.
My parents didn’t buy The Sink until 1949 at the age of 31. The 3.2 beer license was obtained in ’51 or ’52 and was almost as hard to get as finding diamonds in Boulder Creek. Boulder politicians were always comparing 3.2 beer with the downfall of morality in Boulder. OMG women were drinking after the war! And then bang... we were in Korea.
Students then tended to be older by a few years and mature. The fountain wasn’t “sunken” but raised about 8 inches in the middle of the long dining room. I loved playing in it, turning it on and off and reaching through the beautiful wrought iron grill that surrounded it to pick coins out of the bottom of the small pool.
Mark Heinritz and his group have done an outstanding job of restoring The Sink and are to be thanked. I look forward to dropping in and saying aloha every time I am in Boulder. Know what I miss most? Shredded cheddar on those Sinkburgers.
When the Coors distributor cut a deal with Tulagi not to sell 3.2 beer to my dad, The Sink outsold Tulagi in barrels (kegs) per week while serving Carlings Red Cap Ale. That turned more than a few heads. It made my folks pretty happy, I can tell you that.
Herb and his group took over The Sink when they purchased it in 1957. Know why my dad sold? We went to Los Angeles one summer because he had heard about a McDonald’s drive-in that sold 10 cent hamburgers and nickel coffee. He knew he couldn’t compete with that so he got out of the business. He went on to be elected a city councilman, developed Olympic Lanes and of course built Pudlik’s Liquor. He died suddenly of sleep apnea at the age of 49.
So many wonderful students worked for my parents during that time. I remember many and as I get older, I realize what a lucky young girl I was to grow up in that era on The Hill and at The Sink.
Carolyn Pudlik Segawa&Բ;(&;’67)
Honolulu
Thank you for the history of The Sink. I worked there as a waitress my freshman year, 1948-49.
It’s fun to remember my other part-time jobs! My sophomore year I was a switchboard operator in the dorm and during my senior year I was a typist in the social studies department. I recall the early days of the Conference on World Affairs. In that Cold War era, the ambassador from Yugoslavia was introduced very briefly: “All I’ll say about this man is that he’s a Communist.”
In those times of jukebox music, a philosophy professor protested the sound at the student union by arranging to be able to put in a dime for a few minutes of silence.
I can remember babysitting for humanities professor James Sandoe. From him I learned about the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. He often performed there during the summer. Later in life I moved to Redding, Calif., 150 miles south of Ashland. I immediately made plans to see the plays there. We saw Hamlet, directed by Robert Loper (Jour’48, MA’51), my speech teacher from CU-Boulder.
When I retired from teaching, I moved from California to northern Colorado. The Boulder campus and Chautauqua Park were on my list of sights to show out-of-state visitors. A photo opp with the Flatirons in the background was a standard feature of the tour.
All those memories warm my heart. Sorry I will miss my 60th class reunion in October.
Jacqueline Huskey Hanford (پٳ’53)
Sebastopol, Calif.
A Boulder Legend
Thank you for your tribute to Virginia Wheeler Patterson (Jour’46) [March 2013 edition]. It brought back great memories of my associations with “Gingy.” We entered CU as freshmen in the fall of 1942 — the War Years — and we both graduated in the spring of 1946.
During those four years, our paths crossed many times, but the most memorable time came when we were part of a group who accomplished a “first” at the university. Virginia was the editor of the Silver & Gold newspaper in 1945, my best friend Betty Rich (Jour’46) was her assistant editor and I was vice president of Panhellenic. The three of us were enthusiastic and active members of a coalition to elect the first woman president of the ASCU [the student government organization]. And we did! Marcia Strong Golladay (Geog’44) was our candidate and she won in a hard-fought race. Gingy was always a mover and even though we were in different sororities and different schools (she was in journalism and I was in music), our paths crossed several times. Her enthusiasm and creative thinking made her a leader in our class, and she went on to share her many talents with the city of Boulder. Lucky for Boulder!
Anna Mae Strain Everett (ѳܲ’46)
Fort Collins, Colo.
Tulagi Memories
I just received my alumni magazine and I love how my picture of Tulagi turned out! Many thanks for using it!
Major mojo to all of you in Boulder with the awful flooding going on. Nothing like that ever happened when I was there, and I hope nothing like it ever happens again.
Do you know if the Red Lion in Boulder Canyon survived? It was one of my favorite places to eat, but I doubt it survived the flood waters.
Bill Wardwell (A&S ‘68)
San Mateo, Calif.
[Editor’s Note: The Red Lion survived! Read Paul Danish’s (Hist’65) column on page 8.]
Great memories from “The Tule!” Loved the cheesy South Seas mural. Did “the Dog” there a lot as I recall (for shame) to Louie Louie. Full disclosure: I had one of their small glasses (real glass!) that came with the pitchers for years in our kitchen glass collection. I should have saved it instead of using it to the breaking point.
Dick Field (’72,ѱʳܲ’74)&Բ;
Aurora, Colo.
Thank you for the Tulagi picture [September Coloradan pg. 66-67]. Those of us who were young then remember that the place was named by the owner who was a father of a soldier killed on the Pacific island of Tulagi during World War II. I always felt there should be a plaque commemorating the loss.
Janine Calmettes Brittin (&;’65)
Boulder, Colo.
Sense of Place
I live in Lyons and just got my issue of the Coloradan. Others might have already pointed this out to you, but your Editor’s Note was eerily timed and extremely emotional for me right now. I think this disaster has shown people just how important a community — the town and the neighbors — is in their lives.
Anyway, I just thought I’d say something! Thanks for putting out a great publication for alumni.
Deb Cain Melani (dzܰ’89)
Lyons, Colo.
Photos by The Sink