Salami, swiss, and sliced onion on rye
The #8 at Chick and Ruth's Deli is the William Donald Schaefer - salami, swiss, and sliced onion on rye.
Ted Levitt, who now runs his father's storied Annapolis eatery, gathering spot, said that Schaefer eventually switched to another sandwich, a hot dog with cheese and bologna. But once a politician's name gets attached to a Chick and Ruth's sandwich, it tends to stick.
Levitt grew up in his parents' deli. He remembers Schaefer sometimes coming at five in the morning, ninety minutes before the deli opened, for a heart-to-heart chat with his father. They'd sit in the Governor's Office," the booth seen in this photograph, with Marvin Mandel and an assistant.
Always the phone would ring, and Ted would have to tell the Governor that the state troopers, his security detail, were looking for him again. "Are you here?" Ted would ask him. Schaefer would either shake his head "no," or shrug his shoulders, (meaning "yes"). Either way, Levitt said, the troopers would come rapping on the window a few minutes later. "Governor," they'd say, "you have to stop giving us the slip."
"He was a good guy," Levitt said, who said that he had last seen Schaefer about seven months ago when he came in with former governor, Marvin Mandel.
Levitt said customers are taking photographs of the Governor's Office this morning.
Baltimore Sun photo
Comments
I am very sorry to hear about Governor Schaefer's passing. I thought he was an outstanding Mayor. My wife and I met him once at Connely's, he was gracious, and a real gentleman. May he rest in peace.
Posted by: Jack Ziegler | April 19, 2011 5:19 PM
I'll echo Jack's thoughts on Willie Don. He was one of a kind, and he will be missed. No one loved Baltimore more, and Baltimore will be forever in his debt.
My appreciation for him was so great that as a lifelong Republican I switched to the Democrats so that I could vote for him in the primaries.
Posted by: RoCK | April 19, 2011 9:22 PM