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Washington Evening Journal
111 North Marion Avenue
Washington, IA 52353
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New owners appreciate history of iconic restaurant
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
WILLIAMSBURG — When The Raider in Williamsburg went up for sale this year, Bruce Hanson saw a good business opportunity.
Hanson, who moved to Williamsburg about a year ago to become the chief financial officer at Farmer’s Trust and Savings Bank, has owned a couple of bar-and-grill establishments before. His girlfriend, Deb Smith, a Williamsburg native, told him the restaurant was iconic.
So the pair bought The Raider, and they reopened last weekend after a few days of washing, painting and rearranging.
Smith graduated from Williamsburg High School and became an elementary art teacher. When her husband at the time accepted a job in Waterloo, Smith took a job as an elementary art teacher in Denver. She now operates a photography studio there.
“Right now, I’m available to be down here when I can,” Smith said last week while working at the restaurant. She and the staff gave the interior a fresh coat of paint, and Smith’s father power-washed the exterior.
Smith was in the process of getting the cash register set up Thursday, which was going to take longer than she had expected. The Raider had to open using old methods — taking orders with a pencil and paper and taking payment in cash.
The ice-cream and sandwich shop at 817 S. Highland was built in 1960 as a Tastee-Freez.
The menu featured malts, milk shakes, sundaes, cones, sandwiches and pop. It closed for the season in late September.
Jesse and Dorothy Smith ran the Tastee-Freez in 1961, and Dale and Ruth Mayberry and their son Larry took over in 1962, operating Larry’s Tastee Freez until 1963.
The Mayberrys sold the business to Joe and Esther Evans and their son Gary who called it Gary’s Tastee Freez.
In 1966 the Evanses held a contest to rename the business. Connie Meade, of Parnell, won the contest, and the shop became The Raider Drive-In.
The Evanses sold the business to George and Rita Stahl in 1969.
The Stahl family operated The Raider for 26 years. Their daughter, Barb Grauer purchased the business in 1993 and added the patio dining area.
Smith was high school classmate with the younger Stahl daughter, she said, and she was a customer at the family’s restaurant.
Hanson has worked in finance for 25 or 30 years, he said, but he’s also owned a couple of bar-and-grills.
“When this opportunity came up, and partly knowing that Deb grew up with The Raider … it was an interesting proposition,” said Hanson.
“What I liked about it was the small … diner look to it,” Hanson said. He sees it as a place that families and children can come and enjoy themselves in a relaxed setting.
The location is good, said Hanson. It’s near the sports fields and the swimming pool, and everyone in town knows where it is.
“It’s been a consistent location for many years,” Hanson said. Families can find a meal and ice cream without having to go to another part of town.
“Our plans are to keep it relatively consistent to the way it was in the past,” said Hanson.
The biggest change people will probably notice at The Raider is the switch to Coke products, Smith said. She has a 40-year Coke collection that she wanted to display at the Raider, and the red, white and black Coke colors are the same as Williamsburg’s school colors.
The menu will be mostly the same, Smith said. “We might add a few things here and there.”
Smith is excited about their plan to add ice cream cakes to their product line. Does she know how to make ice cream cakes? “We’re going to find out,” Smith said. “We’ll see how our decorating skills go as we proceed.”
Smith plans to offer three sizes of ice cream cakes in personalized flavors.
“We do want the employees highly involved,” said Smith, “and they are excited about being a part of that.”
Smith created a new logo for the business, incorporating the Williamsburg Raiders W from her letter jacket in the design. Each staff member wears a jersey with the new logo on the front and a number and nickname on the back, “so they look like a team,” Smith said.
Smith and Hanson hope to extend the hours of The Raider and open seven days a week.
Tuesday may be an ice-cream only day with shorter hours, said Smith. They have to shut down the fryers for maintenance every week, she said
“At least during the summer, we want to stay open until 9 p.m.,” said Smith.
They may also push the season into November.
Hanson works full time at the bank, and Smith still lives in Denver, “So we’re going to be relying on staff,” Smith said. “And we’re retaining most of our staff.”
Job applications are available at The Raider for anyone who might want to fill shifts during the day after student employees go back to school, Smith said.
People can follow Raider Drive In on Facebook for information about new menu items and specials. Smith and Hanson took over the Facebook page used by the former owners, so anyone already following Raider Drive In will see information from the new owners on their news feeds.
Hanson said he wants to keep the Raider a fun place for families and employees. He looks forward to continuing to support the school and the town of Williamsburg.
