DISHING IT OUT FOR MORE THAN 40 YEARS.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
After 50,000 steak dinners and 20,000 martinis, Sally Muha is still hefting trays of food and drinks at the Sherman Room in Van Nuys. She says she's 85, but no one believes it. Her steady customers swear swear v. 1) to declare under oath that one will tell the truth (sometimes "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth"). Failure to tell the truth, and do so knowingly, is the crime of perjury. the feisty waitress isn't a day over 39, which means she was working at the popular restaurant a year before she was born. ``Yeah, it's been 40 years - can you believe it?'' Sally said recently as she got ready for another shift. ``It was a bar back then, and the owners were adding a restaurant, so they asked me to come over for a day to help them out. ``I told them, if you like me, I'll stay. Forty years later, I'm still here and they're gone.'' Virginia Virginia, state, United States Virginia, state of the south-central United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), North Carolina and Tennessee (S), Kentucky and West Virginia (W), and Maryland and the District of Columbia (N and NE). and Tom Greene, the owners for the last 15 years, know they have a gold mine of good will and loyalty in Sally. ``People will wait an hour just to sit in her section,'' Virginia says. ``I'd sooner have 10 Sallys than any of the younger ones. She's amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. . ``You should see the loot she walks out of here with on her birthday every year. The customers love her.'' The only concession Sally's made to Father Time is cutting back to one shift - 5 to 10 p.m. - on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. ``I used to work both shifts when the young ones (waitresses) wanted to go to the beach or something,'' Sally says. ``They'd call grandma to fill in for them.'' Grandma - it's a term of endearment en·dear·ment n. 1. The act of endearing. 2. An expression of affection, such as a caress. endearment Noun an affectionate word or phrase Noun 1. all her steady customers use when they slide into one of Sally's booths. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. of anyone who doesn't call her Grandma out of love and respect,'' says Dan Schlick of North Hills, who's been eating here weekly with his wife, Jean, for 20 years. Charles and Norma Hamilton Hamilton, city, Bermuda Hamilton, city (1990 est. pop. 3,100), capital of Bermuda, on Bermuda Island. It is a port at the head of Great Sound, a huge lagoon and deepwater harbor protected by coral reefs. have been sitting in one of Sally's booths every Friday night for the last 25 years. They don't even bother to order anymore. Sally knows what they want. ``When we can't make it, we call,'' Charles says. ``We don't want her worrying that something's happened to us.'' The customer concern and loyalty go a long way in explaining why Sally is still hefting heavy trays of food three nights a week when most people her age are already in bed. She stays in shape by working out with a trainer three mornings a week at the senior citizen center at Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks Park, and has sworn off all diets. ``The Sherman Room is my life,'' Sally says. ``All my friends and neighbors have passed away. I don't have anybody to go on cruises with anymore. This is where I want to be, with these people.'' Not that she won't prompt even her most loyal customers to go home as closing time approaches so she can carry on with a nightly night·ly adj. 1. Of or occurring during the night; nocturnal: the cat's nightly prowl. 2. Happening or done every night: the physician's nightly rounds. tradition that's kept her in good stead stead n. 1. The place, position, or function properly or customarily occupied by another. 2. Advantage; service; purpose: "His personal relationship with the electorate stands in good stead" . ``I'll tell 'em it's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to get the hell out of here because I want to go home and have my glass of wine before bed.'' She credits her Polish heritage - growing up in a tough mill town outside of Pittsburgh - for keeping her active and vital at 85. ``I came from a poor but strong family where no one was afraid of work,'' says the former Sally Peplowski. ``When you've grown up seeing so many people lose their jobs as the steel mills closed down, you never lose your appreciation for having a job, no matter how old you get.'' She met her late husband, Bernie Muha, during a jitterbug jitterbug Dance variation of the two-step in which couples swing, balance, and twirl in standardized patterns to syncopated music in ⁴⁄₄ time. It originated in the U.S. in the mid 1930s and became internationally popular in the 1940s. contest in 1945, and they wound up dancing together out to California in 1946 to start a family and new life. Bernie was a bartender at the Smoke House in Toluca Lake for 25 years before he passed away in 1984. Sally took the job at the Sherman Room in 1964, after their two children were old enough not to need her around the house anymore. Forty years later, she's still at it. ``You know there aren't many people as lucky as I am,'' she says, waving to a couple of her regulars, sliding into one of her booths. ``Porterhouse steak, medium rare. Potatoes, heavy on the butter. Two martinis, dry,'' Grandma says, smiling. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) Sally Muha, 85, carries a tray of drinks at her longtime long·time adj. Having existed or persisted for a long time: a longtime friend; a longtime resident of Detroit. longtime Adjective workplace, the Sherman Room, at left. When she's not waiting tables, above, Sally stays in shape by exercising at a senior citizen center in the Valley. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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