‘POPCORN LADY’ SOLD ICE CREAM, SNACKS AT THE CRIB FOR 43 YEARS
The Grand Rapids Press – MLive.com
July 17 2008
MI
Dorothy "Dottie" MyersGRAND HAVEN — Dorothy "Dottie" Myers, who ran
Grand Haven’s oldest ice cream and popcorn stand until she sold the
business in 1993, died Friday.
She was 83.
Mrs. Myers, known as "The Popcorn Lady" or "The Crib Lady," ran The
Crib at 38 Washington Ave. for 43 years.
She sold the building, which now houses Mr. Kozak’s Gyros, in 1993.
Mrs. Myers’ food career began in her Grand Rapids childhood, when her
father and mother, John and Stella Mahlebashian, operated a popcorn
stand out of a horse-drawn wagon and later a truck.
She graduated from Union High School in 1944.
Two years later, she married Carroll Myers, whom she met while he was
stationed at Grand Haven’s U.S. Coast Guard station. They settled in
Grand Haven.
She operated a popcorn wagon for one year near The Barn, a popular
waterfront roller-skating rink. She then bought a small parcel next
to the Dee Lite Restaurant and built The Corn Crib.
In 1970, she replaced the original wood building with a cement-block
structure, introduced ice cream and renamed the business The Crib.
Mrs. Myers was an institution along Washington Street and would scold
teenage litterbugs and help tourists with directions.
She kept a supply of wire hangers in case tourists locked keys in
their cars.
"I was almost like a small chamber of commerce," she said in 1993.
"People would ask me directions, where they could stay or whether I
knew of any jobs."
She was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church, where she was
involved in the Girls’ Friendly Society. She sang for 60 years with a
choir. She was also an avid jogger before being stricken with multiple
sclerosis. She took great pride in her Armenian heritage.
Her husband preceded her in death.
She is survived by a daughter, Robin, of Grand Haven; a son, Kevin,
of Grand Haven; her brother, Roger Mahlebashian of Detroit; and five
grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
A memorial service is at 11 a.m. today at St. John’s Episcopal Church,
524 Washington Ave, with the Rev. John Laycock officiating.
Donations can be made to the Dottie Myers Memorial Music Fund at
St. John’s.
VanZantwick-Bartels-Kammeraad Funeral Home of Grand Haven handled
funeral arrangements.