Before Alf’s there was Belveal’s, before that Trill’s

Ad, 5/16/1965 Sheridan, Oregon, Sun 

If you attended Linfield you may have had a meal or two at 1250 S Baker, also known as 1250 SW Baker.

Address not ring a bell? It’s a restaurant on 99W. To get there is an easy walk from campus. And, the answer is:

--Trill’s Ice Cream.

--Belveal’s Ice Cream.

--Alf’s Ice Cream & Burgers.

All three are correct. It depends on when you were a Linfield student.

In 1934 Trill’s went into business, says the 1984 McMinnville News-Register/N-R. No restaurant. 

A story in the June 26, 2018, N-R about a McMinnville High School Class of 1958 reunion quotes a class member who worked "scooping up 32 flavors of ice cream at Trill’s, the forerunner of Alf’s" during her junior and senior years, that would be fall 1956 to spring 1958.

Listing, 1956 Yamhill County City Directory.

Listing (see photo) for Trill's Ice Cream at 1250 S. Baker, phone number 1-0491, McMinnville, is included in the 1956 Yamhill County City Directory. 

The Feb. 28, 1958, Oregonian mentions that Mrs. Audrey Trill of McMinnville is vice president of the Northwest Retail Ice Cream Manufacturers Assn. 

Later, maybe in late 1950s or early 1960s, Lawrence & Audrey Trill sold and it became Belveal’s. Restaurant added.
In 1962 Albert Alfred “Pat” Alf Jr. and his wife, Grace, moved to McMinnville after buying Belveal’s and changed the business name. 

Ad, 1969 Linfield Oak Leaves yearbook.

After owning/operating Alf’s for many years, the Alfs sold in 1984.
Serving Linfield students must have been a highlight for the Alfs, now both deceased. But, a story in the Aug. 27, 1984, N-R quotes Pat as saying Alf’s being featured in the 1983 movie “Quarterback Princess” and on the KATU-TV Portland program “Faces and Places” were his most exciting memories while running Alf’s.

The movie stars Helen Hunt as a Canadian teenager living in McMinnville. She causes a stir when trying out for the McMinnville High football team. Actor Tim Robbins played Marvin Blaylock, one of her teammates.

An online site says the movie was “filmed (in 1982) primarily in McMinnville, Oregon. Because of legal issues, various signs were modified to say ‘Minnville.’ ”

POSTSCRIPTS:

-- Among firms responding to a vocational survey mailed July 1, 1964, was Belveal's Ice Cream of McMinnville. Perhaps those mailing the survey didn’t know Belveal’s had sold to the Alfs. And, perhaps the Alfs responded, not indicating on the survey that ownership and name of the business had changed?

-- Speaking of ice cream, the March 26, 1926, Oregonian newspaper mentions Kimball's Ice Cream of McMinnville. The May 25, 1958, edition of the same newspaper has a classified ad about McMinnville's Speed Freeze Drive-In being for sale.