On the Grill for 59 Years!

This summer we stopped in at Webers!

Webers Charcoal Barbecued Hamburgers is a famous and historic stop on Highway 11, 100 miles north of Toronto Ontario. Positioned alongside the busiest road traveling north from Toronto, Webers most frequently has a line of people out the door and into the driveway waiting to order. During the peak summer season, more than 9,000 burgers a day hit the grill.

I ate my first Webers burger over 50 years ago and we stopped in for lunch while traveling in northern Ontario. When we walked inside the building, there he was, flipping burgers!

Mike McParland, now 75 and with the name badge “Key Man”, has been working at Webers since he was 16. He embodies Webers, where high schoolers cut their teeth on their first jobs (including each of his five children) singing along to pop and classics while flipping burgers, scooping fries, and filling drinks.

Now a retired school-teacher, Mike worked summers during high school, college, and teaching, and continues with a regular shift at the age of 75.

What keeps a guy on the grill for 59 years?

A fun environment…in a hot, smokey, small room!

He is making people’s day!

The energy of high school and college students rubs off on him!

People notice his work!

What would it take for you to be ‘on the grill’ into your 70’s?