The man behind Woody's

During a hot summer's day in 1999, I was busy working for my brother-in-law on his farm getting ready for the fall harvest.

Needing a lunch break, he dared me to try a burger that had no equal. He looked me in the eye and guaranteed me I would never finish the entree of his choosing. I took the dare and we whisked away to Woody's.

At the window, he called out: "two Jody burgers, fries and two drinks."

We headed for the park and he cut his burger in half and shared with his wife. He then told me, "You'll never finish."

Before me was a burger I had never seen before: a slab of beef, a slab of ham, lettuce, pickles and everything else a creator of hamburgers could think of. My hands fought for a grip onto this wondrous creation and I bit down, savoring each bite.

That day ended with me unable to move, partly with delight of feeling the accomplishment of packing down a Jody burger and partly because I was so full, my body could not handle the unbalanced weight stored to the frontside of my body.

I don't think I ate for days afterwards as my body was left digesting that midday meal, but that was fine with me.

For the first time in nine years of

living in Moses Lake, I had come across Woody's Drive Thru: An icon all its own.

My delight in the burger spurred me to search out the maker of an eatery that has stayed the same since I can remember. The building boasts a larger-than-life cartoon man holding a finger in the air signifying his place in life while holding one of his own burgers.

I came to find out that the man behind the cartoon character was an icon himself.

"How do you explain him?" said his wife Sharon Taylor, who has kept the business running since the grand opening in 1983. "He loved everybody and always had a grin."

Before Sharon came along, her brother Steve Tolley met Woody in the third grade. That friendship helped Tolley define his future brother-in-law in many different ways.

Tolley said he had a sense of humor, was a man of his word and believed in making his own dollars for himself and his family.

"He would love to buck hay," Tolley said. "We would get a thrill bucking hay."

Woody would contract local airmen from Larson Air Force Base to come and work for him bucking hay, Tolley said.

When he returned home from the Army, Tolley said, Woody called him with a job to buck hay.

"I don't know why he was so excited to buck hay," he added.

But Taylor did.

"He didn't understand welfare and didn't understand people not working," Taylor said. "He felt you had no reason not to work. It was your job to work."

Woody married Sharon in 1959, when he was a senior and she was a sophomore at Moses Lake High School.

About 24 years later, he made their favorite high school eatery into their own personal business. It was Woody's dream to buy the Tasty Freeze and make it his own, Sharon said.

"It was definitely his dream to own a drive-thru, don't ask me why," she said.

His dream came true in 1983, but was shortlived. After purchasing the drive-thru and getting it running, Woody died that same year on a trip to North Carolina of a massive heart attack.

Sharon was left the business, a family without a father and the duty to keep the dream alive.

Since then, it has been Sharon who has been the mainstay for a business that has lasted through three decades. It has been her who has played the role of a man most haven't forgotten.

"It has been hard and a struggle," Sharon said.

But the thought of Woody pleased with the business and its continued operation over the last 21 years has made her keep it open, she said.

Some may have disagreed with his views of life, but none could forget his face, booming voice, appearance or care for others, his daughter Jody said.