‘Meet Me at the Midway’

A couple weeks back I saved this snippet from a “Hal Linker” note — since there’ve been about 97 since then, I can’t remember which one — because it’s about a place that comes up frequently: The Midway.

Celebrated in Kem Nunn’s novel “Pomona Queen,” the Midway was a bar on Foothill Boulevard between Claremont and Upland in the 1960s and 1970s. Various readers have told me about it over the years, calling the place a dive, but in a fond way. Here’s what “Hal” had to say:

“It was somewhere between Central and Monte Vista on the south side of the road. It was at the approximate location of some current tattoo, piercing and massage businesses.

“The Midway was a rock structure building with at least one, maybe two, fireplace(s), sawdust on the floor, a couple of pool tables, pinball machine and a damn fine jukebox selection. The parking lot was dirt and large rocks — as nature intended.

“It was a college / biker hangout when I was around. They served minors without much fear since they were outside of any city’s limits. After a new owner took over, there was a fire sometime in the late 1970s and the place went kaput.

“They used to have bumper stickers which read ‘Meet Me at the Midway.’ Anybody got one?”

And anybody want to share Midway memories?

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