Rusty Springs

The Metro St. Louis Live Music

Historical Society

Rusty Springs

Manchester and Kingshighway

Owners: Ed Atwood RIP and Bob Burkhardt

A Jiffy Lube now stands there!.

Co-owner Ed Atwood

RIP

Co-owner Bob Burkhardt

Staff and owners in 1976

Two shots of the Beer Garden

Manager Bob "Flash" Pierce

Bartender John Merrick

Sad news, doorman Daniel Robert Hilkemeyer passed away on July 1 2015

I got this wonderful note from Arthur Llewellyn:

Looking for the Rusty Springs saloon, I came across your great site at http://www.stlmusicyesterdays.com/Rusty%20Springs.htm , and almost immediately noticed that the photo of “Staff and owners in 1976” is one I took. I shared this with one of my travelling companions, Declan Barron, a few years back, and it seems that he has sent it on to you (and was credited for it!). Dec is the one with black hair and the teeth in the centre of the back row, and his then girlfriend, Tina, is the one in front of him.

We had a great few days staying with the ?manager (I think he is the one in front of Tina) and his girlfriend for a few days around the end of August that year, and spending Labor Day weekend camping and “floating” with them all on the Meramec. They were incredibly generous and kind to us – we had driven from Vancouver, British Columbia to San Francisco, stayed a few days, then took a driveaway van from San Jose along Route 66 to an army base near St Louis; we were just waiting outside the Rusty Springs for a bus into St Louis and struck up a conversation with one of the guys, who invited us back for a drink …. and so it all began. I have great memories of playing table football and pool, Mama’s Pride, etc, and the really warm hearted welcome we were given, as well as a fabulous weekend.

When we all got back to England, having driven on up to Toronto, I did not see Tina or Dec again, but continued to see Claire, my then girlfriend, for a while until she went off to university and met another guy. But this coming weekend, I have managed to get hold of them all and we are having a reunion, after 42 years!!

So sorry to hear the site is now a JiffyLube, but I suppose things move on.