Doak revisits childhood

Longtime Thermopolis resident, Joe Doak, presented "Growing up in Thermopolis" as part of the Hot Springs County Historical Society meeting on Saturday at the Hot Springs County Museum.

Doak said as a referee he was not used to giving presentations.

"I'm not used to talking to people like this," he said. "I'm used to people yelling at me."

When he was growing up, Doak said everybody knew everybody and everybody knew his father was Alvy Doak.

"It was quite interesting how many businesses this small town had back then," Doak said. "My father started out working at a coffee house but quickly decided he didn't like working for somebody else, he wanted to be the boss."

Doak said his father opened up Doak's Steakhouse and then the Sideboard Restaurant. He said he spent a large part of his youth learning the restaurant business.

"My fondest memories were at the restaurant," he said. "My folks worked a lot. As soon as I was big enough to stand on a cauldron, I washed dishes."

From there, Doak said he worked all aspects of the restaurant business when he was not in school, including the cash register near the candy jar.

Doak also spoke of the days when he was not working, when he was having fun with his friends.

"In those days, you either rode a bicycle or you walked," he said. "Parents didn't take you anywhere. My friends and I used to ride our bikes up to the cave on Roundtop Mountain and have sleep-outs with fires and ghost stories. Kids just found things to do."

Doak said Thermopolis was a good, happy place with bounds of stuff to do.

"It was an economic town where businesses thrived," he said. "When people get invested in local businesses, they become invested in that community. If you have a job, you do it and you don't complain about it."

Thermopolis is still a community with good, hard-working people, he said.

"This is where I want to be," he said. "And I don't plan on leaving. It was a good time growing up. And it'll be a good time continuing to grow older."