Maid-Rite Diner, Ferguson, Missouri

Maid-Rite Diner - Special Events!

Family Game Night

every Wednesday!

"board games, puzzles, cards, kid games, and more!"

Hope you enjoyed our

Special Book Signing

Sat., Dec. 20, NOON – 2:00 pm, Maid Rite Diner, Ferguson, Mo.

New Book Features North St. Louis County

Several years ago, two North St. Louis County natives decided to capture a slice of their youth before it was too late, and have now authored a new book, Cruizin’ North County, a pictorial scrapbook of this quintessential American suburb.

Cruizin’ North County: Remembering Our ‘Happy Days’ in a St. Louis Suburb, is a collection of fond memories about growing up in north St. Louis county in the 1950s to 1970s. It is the first-ever book to capture the spirit of that time and place. Authors Craig Kaintz and Bill Kasalko have spent years gathering photographs of their favorite hangouts, from the Chain of Rocks amusement park to Chuck-A-Burger, from the diners to the drive-ins, from Bob Kuban to Ike & Tina Turner.

In addition to the diners, drive-ins and amusement parks, the book also provides pictures and information about schools and historic sites in North County. Both authors attended Our Lady of Good Counsel, a Catholic parochial grade school, and the book has photos of high schools no longer open, including St. Thomas Aquinas, Laboure and Rosary. Historic sites include the Mississippi River “castles,” the miniature-mansion-like buildings built atop water intake towers near the Chain of Rocks Bridge. Also included is Fort Bellefontaine, the General Daniel Bissell House, and North County’s version of Shaw’s Garden — the lily ponds on Riverview Drive.

The book is written in a folksy, informative style, as if the two authors were reminiscing over dinner. “Were our North County homes like Ward and June’s? Not exactly, but our fathers worked, our mothers stayed home and we all had a friend or two like Eddie Haskell. It was new and it was ‘kool,’” the authors write in the introduction.

Whether you’re from North County or not, you’ll enjoy this pictorial “time machine” of a quintessential American suburb. Cruizin’ North County retails for $19.95 and is available in local bookstores, Amazon.com or STL-Books.com. It is published by Virginia Publishing, a St. Louis company.

The authors have scheduled a special book signing:

Sat., Dec. 20, NOON – 2:00 pm, Maid Rite Diner, Ferguson, Mo.