Post #329655 by TabooDan on Sun, Sep 2, 2007 12:32 AM

Okay, here's a bit more to my story. Grab another drink!!
So after finding the ad's and finally getting the right address, I needed more!! I went to the local archives but was unable to find out anything about it in there files or in some of there books. However, I did at the last minute, do a quick business license check and sure enough there it was for year 1987 the name of the owner.

Perfect!! Now all I have to do is track down this person and see if they're still around. I figured they would be getting on in age since I found out that the restaurant opened in 1969. I did a name search and made a phone call. I took a gamble that it would be the same person because there home address was in Surrey where the restaurant was located. I had a potential list of about 6 people in this province and a few more spread out across the neighboring provinces.

Lucky for me on the first call I had the right number! A lady answered and she informed me I did have the right person as her father was one of the owners and managed the Tropic Isle Restaurant. I was ecstatic when I talked to her but tried to keep my cool and my mind straight. I told her that I was doing research on local Tiki/Polynesian themed Restaurants and I wanted to get information from them to put on our website and also to update other existing sites (Like here on TC) where people were actually interested in these things. Her name was Pat and as I spoke to her she informed me that she even used to work there as a hostess. Pat's brother, who lives out of province, had also worked in the Restaurant as a dishwasher and later a delivery driver. This was great!! My first phone call and I found the whole family that ran the Restaurant!!

When I told Pat that I would love to speak to her father about the Restaurant and that I would like to meet with them, she said that she would take my information and get back to me as her father was sick at this time and was quite tired and unable to talk right now. She said I should call back or they would get back to me. Well, this was at a time where I was quite busy with our business and recently buying a new house and moving so the days passed by. Knowing I had made the connection, I figured I would be able to meet with them soon enough.

Well, this was in the beginning of March of this year(07). Time went by and on about April 10th or so I received a phone call from Pat. I was very happy to hear from her but she informed me that her father had passed away on April 1st.

It was quite sad for me as I was looking forward to speaking and meeting with him as he sounded like a very nice man and was always willing to help others. I also felt sad for what Pat was dealing with and for the loss of her father. I told Pat that I was very sorry for her loss and I would understand if she did not want to talk about or discuss anything to do with the Restaurant. Her father had just passed away and I did feel a bit uncomfortable. Pat said that it would not be a problem discussing anything to do with the Restaurant and that is what her father would have wanted. He was proud of the restaurant and was happy that someone wanted to find out about it.

The main reason for Pat's phone call to me was that they were cleaning out their Dad's home and there was some things from the Restaurant that I may be interested in. What.....me......interested in Tiki.......AAAAALLLLLOOOOOHHHHHAAAAAA!!!!! I said that I would love to meet with them and pick their brains about the Restaurant and check out the items. I did not know what they had or what it consisted of at all. About a week later I met with them at their fathers home in Surrey. It was a home that he built in the 1970's and where he lived since. It was actually a five minute walk from the Tropic Isle Restaurant.

When I got to the house they walked me into the backyard where they had the picnic table with a few things on it. I could see a few mugs and things and was invited to check it out. Well, I had no clue to the amount of items that they had. It wasn't like it was tons of stuff but the father kept an instant archive of items and information! They had about 6 different mugs on the table where 4 of them were specifically marked and from the Tropic Isle (2 of them I had never seen before), one was a unmarked copy of a Orchids of Hawaii R91 and the other was a R91 Orchid mug. When I saw the Tropic Isle mugs, I knew that these were from the local mold maker that we deal with and that these were the mugs that he had done.

On the table was also a very rare (I've never seen it before) table top candle lamp which was in the shape of a stylized Moai figure and had a white glass shade. This piece was exciting to see as I had never seen it before or have ever seen this style of lamp anywhere. It seems to be specifically made for the Tropic Isle but it was not marked with the Restaurant's name. There was also a postcard of the Restaurant which perfectly shows the Tropic Isle in all it's splendor! I was totally excited to see this as now I finally got to see what it originally looked like outside and inside! Pat also had (along with the mugs) the original architecture sketch of what the Restaurant looked like before it was built, bar tool set, papers with Tropic Isle letterheads, oriental designed ceiling tiles which seemed to be from the Ming Room, candle sticks, original box with glass shades for lamps, original box with full Hawaiian Coconut Snow spray for drinks and a few other bits and pieces. One of the main things that she had was her Dad's old scrapbook from the Restaurant along with a photo album. The scrapbook was full of article's and ad's from mostly the early years of the Restaurant.

Below is a picture of when I was looking in the garage. You can see boxes on the floor which had the mugs and other items. I had to take a picture just to capture them in their space where they had been sitting for all these years! You can imagine my excitement!!

After discussing with Pat and her brother what they wanted to do with the items, we came up with an agreement and I was able to save these items from certain separation and possibly even destruction of alot of it. They were getting rid of alot of stuff to buyers who just come in and took everything and I didn't want someone who didn't appreciate the history with what they had and to just get rid of it.

Below is another picture of some of the items once I had placed them in my garage.

I will post more photos of the items shortly. Hope everyone is not bored of this story! If, at least, there will be some kind of documentation of these mugs and other items where you can at least know where they came from if you happen to have any of these.
]I guess it also gives you something to hunt for as this was definitely a place worthy to be known as a Tiki Temple! It is hard to get the story out there and make sure this is a half interesting read!! I guess if you don't like reading you can just look at the pictures. Hope you like it and sorry if this is too long. Mahalo!! TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2009-05-02 11:46 ]