In this picture from the Burlington Hawkeye newspaper, here used as reference, Mayor Milton Titus was on hand for the happy occasion, receiving a hamburger from Becky Reeder who is in full Sandy's costume. Becky is obviously thrilled to be there as her father, Bill Reeder, Sandy's manager, looks on. If you peek inside of the building in the picture, you can see the readerboard with the menu on it. In addition to the menu, just to the left of Mr. Reeder's head is the word SANDY'S with a glimpse of the Scottish Sandy's dancing girl icon!
In the picture above, Sandy's light fixtures can also be seen. These fixtures may have been the same as the one auction on ebay by gaslightonline and today fetch for $100 to $150.
Interestingly, Burlington was Sandy's number 178 according to the news account but is number 181 according to the official 1973 Sandy's list.
The location was in what is now an older, more established part of town. It was located near Hy-Vee grocery store as well as Walgreens drug store and still exists to this day as a thriving Hardees, now in 2005, over twenty-five years after its being built on this same location! Notice in the grand opening advertisement that a new item has been added to the menu - Slush! Hot pies were also on the menu. Sandy's pies were the greatest fast food pies to ever exist. They were Steaming hot, packed with fruit and a pastry crust which was glazed with sugar and incredible to taste. Nothing can compare!
In addition, balloons were given out to the kiddies and a point was made that indoor seating was available as Sandy's started as a walk-up drive-in fast food establishment. Burlington was a brand new 1969 third generation building, twin to numerous others including Iowa City!
Incredibly, the original classic Sandy's building stood on tenth and Angular Road until May of 1989 when it was torn down to make room for a new, modern Hardees facility. Owner Dave Ebbing explained that this was the last existing Sandy's building still being used by Hardees! The following historic picture appeared in the Burlington Hawkeye and is used here as reference to this last great Sandy's icon building.
UPDATE 03/16/06!... Mike Reeder is the son of the late Mr. Bill Reeder. Mike has graciously provided pictures of various Sandy's memorabilia of his father's collection. Special thanks to Mike for providing the pictures of Sandy's items which Mr. Bill Reeder kept in his possession and which are now three and one-half decades old!
I took pictures of the items that we were able to find in Dad’s collection. Sadly, my Father passed away in 1997. My wife put these items in a shadow box as a tribute and gave it to me for a gift. The only other thing I have is a Sandy’s logo glass that my sister found at an auction. It is the same style that is on one of the pages on the web site.
I was very excited when I saw that someone had a web site on Sandy’s. The link took me to the Ft. Madison site and I enjoyed that and was browsing others when I saw one for Burlington. When I saw Dad’s picture, it just blew me away. Keep up the good work; I really enjoy the web site.
Thanks
Mike Reeder
Fort Smith Arkansas
An excellent picture of Mr. Bill Reeder proudly wearing his Sandy's uniform. Notice the stainless steel doors in the background which reveal that this picture was taken at Burlington Sandy's!
Sandy's coin purse!
Interestingly, this letter's return address is from 502 East War Memorial Drive, Peoria, Illinois which is an unknown address to this website. Perhaps it is an address from a franchisee owner postmarked December 1969.
A Sandy's matchbook from back in the day when an ash tray was at most every restaurant table including Sandy's! The first thing nonsmokers would do when sitting down was move the ash tray to the side. These matches were complimentary just for the asking!
Sandy's standard uniform included a patch for the shirt, a patch for the cap or beret and a plaid bow tie! You can see Mr. Reeder's patch on his cap on the grand opening picture and you can view the other patch on his uniform in the Sandy's restaurant photo. Notice the bowtie in each photo as well!
Again, Special thanks to Mr. Mike Reeder for sharing part of his father's Sandy's experience and helping to tell the story of Sandy's Burlington!
If you have any memorabilia, pictures or stories of Sandy's in Burlington, Iowa or elsewhere or have contact with Dave Ebbing who may have pictures of the final Sandy's when it was torn down, or anyone else who may have pictures of Burlington Sandy's or other locations that could be used on this site, please email me!