Bryce’s employees talk about combined 110 years of service
Two employees talk about their combined 110 years of service
Leo McCoun and Pearlene Jennings loved working for Bryce’s Cafeteria so much they each worked there for more than a half-century.
Even though the cafeteria will see its last tray full of cuisine slide before the cashiers at the end of this month, McCoun’s and Jennings’ memories of working there will likely live on as long as they do.
For 86 years, one of Texarkana’s most renowned eateries, founded by local resident Bryce Lawrence in 1931, not only pulled off an entrepreneurial miracle by surviving all 10 years of the Great Depression, it went on to become one of the most popular, non-franchised businesses in the region—attracting customers from as far away as Dallas.
Both McCoun and Jennings were not only eyewitnesses, but major contributors to that success—as well as being veteran employees long enough to work at both the cafeteria’s original and current locations.
For McCoun, born in 1935 and raised in Lewisville, Ark., his employment debut started Nov. 10, 1958 at Bryce’s original setting at 215 Pine Street, with a starting income of $15 a week.
“Guys got $15 a week while the girls got $12.50,” he said.
For his first job there, McCoun, who was 23 years old at the time, began as a pot washer, which he did for three years, before becoming a silverware roller for another three years. He eventually became a dining room cleaning attendant as well as an occasional meat slicer in the customer serving line. He still performed both those tasks when the cafeteria made its move from 215 Pine St. to its current location, near Interstate 30, in February, 1989. Starting in 1996, McCoun became the dining room manager.
“I loved every one of my jobs here,” he said. “I enjoyed all 58 year because I just liked being around people. Moving to the north side of town was different and a good move because I-30 pulled business northward, but I think I will always like the look of the old place we had at 215 Pine. It just had a vintage atmosphere about it. At the time we were downtown, there was only one other cafeteria near by and that was in Wake Village.”
Even though it’s been 58 years, McCoun said it hasn’t seemed that long.
“To me, the time went by pretty swift because Bryce’s was a popular place the whole time,” he said. “We had customers from as far away as Nashville (Ark.), Ashdown, El Dorado, Magnolia, Camden and yes—even as far away as Dallas.”
Having worked at Bryce’s for nearly six decades, McCoun said he has seen at least four generations of customers.
“I got to know customers that were as young as five years old, now they have grown up and have had children and grandchildren of their own,” he said.
When Bryce’s closes its doors and cafeteria food line permanently in a few days, McCoun said he’ll miss fellow employees as well as hundreds of friends and perhaps thousands of customers he came to know.
“I got to know so many families and customers from all over,” he said. “I’ll never forget this.”
However, as for his future, McCoun said that after 58 years of steady work, it’s time for some relaxation.
“I’m 81 years-old and it’s finally time to retire,” he said.
Like McCoun, Jennings, a seasoned waitress of nearly 52 years, also started at Bryce’s while the cafeteria was still at its original 215 Pine St. location, in May of 1965. As a 17-year-old Macedonia High School student, she was looking for parttime work as a waitress during the summer of 1965. Upon graduating the following year, she went full time and made a career of it.
“I started out getting paid $17 a week as take-home pay, which came in a brown envelope,” she said
As a waitress, Jennings remembers the exercise the first Bryce’s location had for waitresses.
“We had an upstairs as well as a downstairs dining room and we helped customers carry their trays upstairs,” she said. “I stayed with Bryce’s because I just liked the place, all the friendly customers and the employees. Waitressing was my only job.”
Even when Bryce’s eventually moved near I-30, Jennings said the new location never changed the friendly clientele.
“I loved both locations, but I do miss going up those stairs back in downtown,” she said. “I think I got to know hundreds, maybe thousands of customers through the years.”
McCoun and Jennings both remember Mothers Day as being the most popular holiday, followed closely by Easter.
“Both of those holidays drew the crowds, but waiting on the customers and getting to talk to them will be the thing I will always remember most and like the best,” Jennings said.