Shack destruction planned;
friends fondly recall 'Wheaties'
r
By ARLENE AYCOCK
Incoming summer school students will
find one change in the Chapel Hill scene that
can cramp their style the legendary Shack
is no more.
The building, which has been a popular
spot for beer drinkers since 1941, is being
emptied of its contents, and plans are being
made for its destruction. Tim Kirkpatrick,
owner of the lot, has tentative plans for a
parking lot or building of some type to be
placed on the vacant land, but this is yet to be
finalized.
Even vaguer than plans for the lot are
plans of the former owner, a man known as
"Wheaties" by his friends and associates. A
consensus by all who know him seems to
indicate he is an affable, soft-spoken fellow
with a quiet, yet poignant sense of humor.
Owner of the Shack since 1971, John
Lawrence Richardson graduated from UNC
in 1962 with a degree in chemistry. Wheaties
left Chapel Hill a few weeks ago when the
Shack officially closed at 5 a.m. on April 23
after a final farewell blast. There are many
speculations about where Wheaties will
spend his future. Friends said Wheaties was
formerly a co-owner of a bar at Wrightsville
Beach called "Wits End" and that he also
used to own a bar in Asheville: His friends
also said he is the ownerof another bar called
"the Shack" at Atlantic Beach. They vaguely
remember Wheaties mentioning he owned a
motel in Pittsboro and a black bar on
Rosemary Street.
"No one knows for sure what Wheaties
plans are. There are all kinds of rumors
about what he might do next," said Linda
Margeson, manager of the Cavern bar in
Carrboro of which Wheaties is part-owner.
"He was a real fraternity-type guy when he
was in school. Still is no, not really," she
said with a giggle.
Margeson said Wheaties gives the
Cavern's telephone number as his business
number now and he frequently visits both
socially and for business reasons when he is
in Chapel Hill.
She said the Chapel Hill building
inspectors tried to condemn the Shack five
years ago but Wheaties took the case to court
and won. This year when the Shack was
again inspected and condemned, Wheaties
didn't argue because "he didn't want to pay
the lawyers."
Tim Kirkpatrick, owner of Kirkpatrick's
bar said Wheaties mentioned Washington
State as a place he might visit.
"He wanted to pick apples during the
apple season with the migrant workers."
Kirkpatrick said Wheaties planned to
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"He's just like a Teddy Bear. He's the type
of person everyone likes to adopt, said
Lenora Graybeal, a good friend of Wheaties.
Graybeal described Wheaties as an
intelligent man, 'in fact, brilliant as far as
I'm concerned. You'll never know when he'll
come up with something."
To illustrate her points Graybeal
recounted an incident involving a Schlitz
clock that previously hung on a wall of the
Shack.
"When the Shack closed, Wheaties
promised that I had dibbs on the Schlitz
clock. Sunday night was closing night and I
was entering the hospital on Monday
evening for an operation. When I came out
of surgery on Tuesday morning, that Schlitz
clock was hanging on my hospital wall."
Graybeal contended that wherever
Wheaties was, he was taking a well-deserved
vacation, having worked for the past eight
years "from 1 1 in the morning until 2 the
next morning."
" 1
V.i
11
This Chapel Hill institution soon to be only a memory
Another friend, Clarence Gray, said
Wheaties had taken a bus to Atlanta to visit
some friends. -
Dawn Yowell agreed that Wheaties was
visiting friends in Atlanta, but guessed he
had probably already left and was headed to
San Francisco. She said Wheaties had
planned to travel west for some time, even
before the Shack closed down. She added he
had told her he would see her at the first
UNC football game.
"1 think whatever he does, he will do it in
Chapel Hill. I'd be surprised if he settles
anywhere else."
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Thursday, fay 24. 1979 The Slimmer Tar Heel . 9