Tony & Alba’s goes the Second Mile

Order & Pickup Change Helps Customers Confined to Wheelchairs

By Noel Smith

Dave Terwilliger has been owner of Tony & Alba’s in Scotts Valley and Santa Cruz for the past ten years. He purchase the restaurants from the Salciccia family while making the same commitment to excellence that Tony & Alba made when opening their first pizza restaurant in 1982, over 34 years ago.

At Tony & Alba’s the customer normally orders and picks up at the counter, but until recently the counters were too high for those in a wheel chair. One of the Scotts Valley regulars, Robert (Bob) White, is on the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) Committee for the city of Scotts Valley. Bob and Dave came to a solution that made life easier for both the restaurant and the customer. They lowered the height of a section of the counter allowing Bob in his wheel chair to be served the same as any customer. ADA regulations didn’t require the change but Dave thought it was the right thing to do.

Bob White’s story shows that any of us can suddenly find ourselves living another unexpected life temporarily or even permanently.

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“I was born in Bozeman Montana,” he starts. “My father was on the GI bill at Montana State University. My mother was working for the Montana state border patrol. Dad was hired by IBM and transferred to Portland Oregon. (IBM was short for ‘I’ve Been Moved.’)

“I grew up in Portland Oregon and New York. He (my dad) was then transferred to San Jose. I met and married my high school sweet heart 50 years ago, started my family there where I began working for Sears. We then moved to the Santa Cruz area when Sears opened in Capitola.

“I got interested in sailing and continued to race sailing boats and became General manager for Jack O’ Neill and Associates. I then became sales manager for Larsen Sails …until my retirement in 2006.

“I had my first stroke in November 2011. I was told that it was caused by a brain bleed birth defect. I had also as a hobby raced motorcycles for many years. I personally think the cause of my stroke was from layered concussions. My second stroke happened in 2010. It was triggered by getting my heart rate too high while riding my stationary bike.

“Over time, lots of hard work and much help from my lovely wife, friends and family, I have become fairly self sufficient.”

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Bob encourages family and friends of those who are in similar situations to look for ways to make life less difficult for those with disabilities. Even simple things can make a difference in the quality of life.

By the way, Dave told us that they recently lost their Tony & Alba’s Capitola location and are looking for a replacement site. He said, “We really miss our mid-county friends and customers.”

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Santa Cruz Store 831-425-8669 • Scotts Valley Store 831-439-9999 • Corporate Office 831-438-6561 • Email: davet@tonyandalbas.com Hours Daily 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.