A group of former McDonald’s employees returned to their old Missouri restaurant for a Class of 1975 reunion marking nearly 50 years of working together.
Nineteen former employees returned to the Hazelwood restaurant in eastern Missouri in March, some from Arkansas, Florida, Ohio and Tennessee, said Joan Elhoffer, one of the former McDonald’s employees who helped organize the meeting, told Business Insider via email.
“I was reminiscing with a few friends earlier this year how special it was that we had all stayed in touch for five decades – and decided we were in great need of a celebration,” Elhoffer said. “We had celebrated our 10-year reunion a long time ago and we did a 40-year reunion 10 years ago, but we wanted to do it even bigger for the 50th anniversary.”
Some attendees brought old photos and their McDonald’s softball jerseys, Elhoffer said. They ate together, spoke to current employees of the restaurant and even signed the directories they had made for the occasion.
Including those who work for franchises, McDonald’s is one of the largest employers in the United States and says one in eight Americans has worked at the chain. Its network of more than 40,000 corporate and franchised restaurants around the world has more than 2 million employees.
In October 2023, McDonald’s celebrated its claim that more than 12% of Americans worked for the fast food giant by throwing a lavish party and showcasing notable former crew members, like Michelin-starred chefs , astronauts and Peloton instructors.
Courtesy of McDonald’s
Elhoffer was 16 when she started working at the Hazelwood restaurant, she told BI. Most of the other former workers who attended the reunion were ages 16 to 19 when they started there, and many continued to work throughout high school and while attending college. local universities, she said.
“For almost all of us, it was our first job,” Elhoffer said.
They became close friends while working at the restaurant, Elhoffer said, and some of them played on the restaurant’s softball team. She said “several” of them – including herself – met their spouses while working at McDonald’s.
Courtesy of McDonald’s
“There is such a feeling of family and friends within this group,” Elhoffer told BI. “We went to our parents’ school dances, weddings and funerals. We raised our children together, celebrated holidays together, vacationed together and continued strong friendships for 50 years.”
Elhoffer said she began her career at McDonald’s managing the grill area. She was then promoted to second assistant manager in 1978. She then attended the University of Hamburg, the McDonald’s training school, and became a store manager.
Elhoffer said she bought her first restaurant in 1991. She now owns seven McDonald’s restaurants around St. Louis. Seven of the 19 people at the meeting became franchisees, while the rest pursued different career paths, such as becoming teachers or accountants, she said.
Courtesy of McDonald’s
The biggest change since she started working at McDonald’s was the introduction of the drive-thru, Elhoffer said. She added that when she started in the chain, orders had to be placed by hand and workers had to manually add taxes.
Are you a current or former McDonald’s employee or franchisee and have a story? Email this reporter at gdean@insider.com.
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