Thumbing through an old volume of the White Center News this week I spotted a picture of the officers of the Kiwanis club taken at a meeting at the once famous Epicure restaurant. Now empty, the Epicure was the focal point where the "elite met to eat" in the glory days of the 1950's. It was a lot more than another Duffy's Tavern.

The "EP," owned and operated by Joe Boothby, who also owned the Sky Room at the county airport, was where you took your family or your best date.

It was also where every service club (White Center had five or six active men's service clubs) had their lunch meetings. There was a lower level for large gatherings and banquets. Vi Childs, a West Seattle born entertainer, spent many nights singing in the "Huddle Room" with her piano and accordion. (Vi passed away last year in retirement in Florida)

The kids loved the Juicy Ray roast beef that cooked on a spit near the front window. Turning slowly under the glare of blazing infrared lights, it dripped enticingly. It was an automatic favorite of ours as well.

Pancakes were a family favorite, too. The service clubs held annual pancake breakfast fundraisers downstairs.

White Center was buzzing with activity.

In those days, White Center was a lot more than a skating rink, five or six taverns and a great baseball stadium. It had three new-car lots, six major grocery chain stores including an A&P and Volkswagen dealership. Four television stores, three furniture stores, a camera store, two bowling alleys, three drug stores, three hardware stores, numerous garages and several real estate offices.

It also had two banks and six attorneys. There was a wrecking yard we called Filthy Phil's. We had one hay and grain store next to the News office on 17th SW; some people came in to buy oats.

The Salvation Army had a heated swimming pool and great gym for kids. White Center was home to Lou's 19-cent hamburger drive-in stand and one funeral parlor, several cleaners and one dime store. Having a department store was a big deal for our town too.

Oh, we had one newspaper. The White Center News. We were busy too but I had to have my morning coffee. Tall and thin, Jim Willis managed the Epicure at the time. I was such a frequent visitor, Jim had a telephone installed in my favorite booth. What a good guy! By keeping me there he allowed me to meet his best waitress, Elsbeth. I liked the food and service so much I married her.

On 16th Avenue, down from the Goodyear store, was the state liquor store (robbery in 1959 made big news). I could count three shoe stores and a Chubby and Tubby surplus store and one or two doctors and one dentist. It was a vibrant community.

Our newspaper staff built some wonderful floats beginning in the mid-‘50s as we wanted to represent the town in the annual Seafair parade. In 1958 we won the grand sweepstakes award with Sharon Hogue as our queen.

In the late fifties Burien woke up and blossomed with many new stores. Many of them were store owners from White Center. Our growth was over as they moved south to Burien in the popular suburban sprawl of those years. The war housing east of town was decaying. King County tore down much of it and replaced it with duplex units, which lasted about 25 years before they became shop worn. The business district suffered more as the population shrank visibly.

The Epicure struggled along for 35 years, changing hands and styles. It was a Chinese place for a while. The Fred Oldfield paintings on the walls were forgotten. The doors were shuttered and reopened and shuttered once more.

By the late ‘80s the growth of Westwood Village and the giant Southcenter expansion had a huge negative impact on White Center and Burien. The energy was sapped from the town. Many store fronts were empty.

In the last few years the Epicure spiraled down to become a medical marijuana outlet (since closed). White Center was never meant for this when George White and Hiram Green flipped a coin to name the town in 1918.

But things are changing again. The improved housing in what is now called Greenbridge is a good step and there is much more low and moderate housing planned on the east hill. This may create more demand for retailers to venture opening new stores on 15th and 16th SW. I Hope so. I love seeing the skating rink back in operation.

Burien city council members believe they can rejuvenate the White Center business district if the eligible residents vote to annex to Burien. They will have their hands full and I wish them well. Westwood Village, inside the Seattle City limits, is booming and offers major stores and good parking.

Burien City Councilman Gerald Robison is an advocate of annexation and says there are more empty store locations in Burien than in White Center. That might be true but Burien is twice the size of White Center and I have not counted; but neither area has a waiting list for new stores while Southcenter and Westwood Village are both happily humming.

Meanwhile back in Burien the new Ross Dress For Less looks to be doing well. I hope their expansion into Burien is a success. Looks like a wise decision.

Maybe some smart guys like White and Green will flip a coin on the annexation issue or maybe Joe Boothby will decide to reopen a spot like the Epicure in White Center. We need a nice place to take our dates.