There have been some big stories that have taken place on deadline lately that brought up memories of the first deadline busting story that required remaking Page 1A on a Tuesday.
I was driving to work from my home in Courtside Villas about 6:15 in the morning, when I saw black smoke rising in the distance to the south.
The closer I got to the source of the smoke, it was becoming very obvious to me that the source of the smoke was the former Appelwick’s restaurant. The building did not open under that name. And after it was Appelwick’s, the community still called it by that name. Appelwick’s was THE place to eat or hold a banquet in Fountain Hills.
It was conveniently located at the northwest corner of the Shea and Saguaro Boulevards intersection. That’s where Circle K, That Guy’s Pizza and Senor Taco now share a building.
The building was built by an investor named Bob Munson. His son-in-law, Stan Davies, opened Stan’s Beef and Burger restaurant at that location on March 19, 1973, making it the first restaurant in Fountain Hills.
Stan’s operated for two years in the 3,040-square-foot restaurant that seated 114 people.
Interestingly enough, The Times’ coverage of the grand opening of Stan’s included a photo of Omer and Evelyn Appelwick. Little did they know that they would one day be operating the facility.
On April 10, 1975, the restaurant had new owners and the name was changed to the Catfish Parlour. It lasted about a year.
A partnership called Sominar was formed by Omer and Evelyn Applewick, Gil Knoll and Mr. and Mrs. Bill Kelly. They purchased the empty building and Appelwick’s Restaurant was opened on Dec. 7, 1976.
The story in The Times on the restaurant’s opening noted that the first customers were John and Pat Van Der Werf. They were the at the front door for breakfast at 7 a.m.
“Outstanding steaks plus assorted seafood are dinner items,” the story said. “A competitive breakfast menu and special luncheon salad bar round out the menu. Prices ranged from 30 cents for a cup of coffee to $6.75 for a New York strip steak, the top item on the dinner menu.”
Omer also owned South Dakota-based trucking firm called Apple Lines and a five-county Culligan soft water franchise, also in South Dakota. He had worked as one of the community developer’s sales staff upon moving here in 1972.
He was particularly proud of his restaurant. He added a formal dining room at the rear of the building. That became the setting for the Noon Kiwanis meetings and annual banquet. Many of the clubs and organizations held their annual dinners there.
It was indeed a fine dining establishment.
But the restaurant took its toll on Omer. In the middle of constructing a second addition to the building, an upstairs revolving dining room, he suffered a stroke and died several hours later. That was in October 1981.
Evelyn kept it open for a while, but her heart wasn’t in it like Omer.
There were at least three other restaurant operators that tried to make a go of the facility. It was never again the attraction that it had been under Omer.
The building was called The Following/Upfront Restaurant when it was destroyed by a fire on April 15, 1986.
There was to have been a breakfast held there that morning for Eddie and Johnny Basha along with local dignitaries prior to the ribbon cutting for the new Bashas’ store in Fountain Hills Plaza.
The spectacular fire was fought by 50 firefighters. Rural/Metro Fire Company received the first call on the blaze shortly after 6 a.m. from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Firemen worked on the blaze for some five hours. Two reserve firemen from Fountain Hills, Ray Fish and Sharon Bozik, received minor injuries when a “backfire explosion “ occurred in the rear dining room at approximately 8 a.m. They were treated for smoke inhalation and first degree burns to their faces.
The fire occurred at Fountain Hills’ busiest intersection at morning rush hour. Large billows of black smoke from the fire could be seen over most of the east Valley. The fire was described as “a difficult sprinkler system and the building was not constructed with any fire walls or other fire preventive building systems. There were no fire codes in effect at that time.
Fire Chief Tim Cooper said, “A lot of fire traveled through concealed spaces. The main fire route traveled through an approximately 1-1/2-foot open space between the first and second floor.
“We had men inside trying to cut into that area so we could get water to it, but we heard the building creaking, could see the roof sagging and heard several explosions. We ordered our men out and just after they cleared the building, we had a structural collapse. From that point on, all we could do was go into a defensive mode.”
Units were on hand from Fountain Hills and four Scottsdale stations.
