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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 9, 2002)
January 09,2002 Jîarthxnh (©bôeruer Page B5 Wendy’s Founder Dave Thomas Dies He was an adopted child who once mentored with Col. Sanders of KFC fame (AP) - Dave Thomas, the portly pitchman whose home- spun ads built W endy’s Old- Fashioned Hamburgers into one of the world’s most suc cessful fast-food enterprises, died Tuesday o f liver cancer. He was 69. “He was the heart and soul of our company. He had a passion for great tasting ham burgers, and devoted his life to serving customers great food and helping those less fortu nate in his community,” said Jack Schuessler, chairman and chief executive of W endy’s. The founder and senior chairman of W endy’s Interna tional became a household name when he began pitching his burgers and fries in televi sion commercials in 1989. The smiling Thomas, always wear ing a white short-sleeved shirt and red tie, touted the virtues HL of fast-food in more than 800 humorous ads, sometimes fea turing stars such as bluesman B.B. King and soap opera queen Susan Lucci. B ut burgers weren ’ t his first lo v e. T h o m as, w ho was adopted as an infant, became a national advocate for adoption. He created the Dave Tho mas Foundation for Adoption, a not-for-profit organization focused on raising public Dave Thomas, the founder o f Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers, also served food as the restaurant chain's advertising spokesman. awareness of adoption. The profits from his books, “Dave’s W ay” and “Well Done!” go to the foundation. In 1956, he was working at a barbecue restaurant in Fort W ayne, In d ., w hen C ol. Harland Sanders of KFC fame stopped in on a promotional tour. Thom as’s boss bought a KFC franchise, and six years later, Thomas came to Colum bus, Ohio to take over four Congressman Stripped to Underwear in Airport Search (A P) — Security guards at Washington’s Reagan National Airport forced U.S. Rep. John Dingell to strip to his un derwear before boarding a flight to Detroit. The guards at the Northwest Airlines termi nal did not believe the 75- year-old congressman’s explanation about his metal hip, which he re ceived after a horse fell on him 20 years ago. “They felt me up and down like a prize steer,” Dingell, D-Mich., said. “I was very nice, but I probably showed I was dis pleased.” The private security guards made him take off his overcoat, then his suit coat, then his shoes and socks on Saturday. When he still triggered metal detector alarms, the guards took him to a back room and asked Rep.John Dingell, D- Mich. in a Dec. 15 file photo. (AP Photo) him to remove his trousers. U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta heard about the incident and said he would look into it, Dingell said. “I asked Norman to check to see if they treated me like they do everybody else,” Dingell said. “I just wanted to be sure that what they did was necessary, that I got the same treatment, no better or no worse, than anyone else.” Classifieds/Bids failing Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants. He sold them back to the founder in 1968 for $1.5 mil lion, making him a millionaire at 35. He o p e n e d h is f ir s t W e n d y ’s O ld F a sh io n e d Ham burgers in Colum bus a year later. He named the res taurant after his 8-year-old d a u g h te r M e lin d a L o u , nicknam ed W endy by her siblings. D espite his su ccess, it w asn’t until 1993 that T ho mas earned a high school equivalency certificate. That year, he told 2,500 Co lumbus public school seniors his biggest mistake was not finishing high school. “We have 4,000 restaurants today, but if I had gotten my high school diploma, we might have 8,000,” he said. Highway To Improve (AP) — State transportation offi cials said they are accelerating a project of neighborhood enhance m ents along U.S. H ighw ay 30 through Portland’s Linnton neigh borhood. The goal is to reduce ve hicle speeds. The Linnton neighborhood is where 14-year-old Ryan Calvert was struck and killed by a van in November. Calvert had just gotten off a bus and was crossing the highway on his way hom e from school. The road improvements were sched uled to go to bid in September. ODOT planners now hope to open the project forbidding in April. The design elements include raised medians with and without trees, and the use of colored concrete to serve as visual cues for motorists. The Korean American Association of Oregon » PhillyCafe 445 NE Killingsworth 503-288-9367 Boston Market 726 NE Killingsworth 503-282-6776 Knott St. Grocery 2709 NE 7th 503-284-7490 Cullen’s Corner 4938 N Albina 503-287-0542 Ainsworth Market 5949 NE 30th 503-281-0479 Prescott Corner Market 1460 NE Prescott 503-284-7418 K C Food Market 309 N Killingsworth 503-289-7430 Union Market 3837 NE MLK Jr. Blvd. 503-284-6511 Alberta Street Market 915 NE Alberta 503-281-6388 We Appreciate Your Business and Support Thank you 1 I 1
