They knew how to work. They learned it as kids, working in the beet fields of Morrill County, Nebraska. Theodore Bill “Ted” Vassos and LaVera Gustin “Vera” Vassos grew up near Bayard and Bridgeport, Nebraska. They survived the Great Depression as children and were married on May 15, 1953, in Bridgeport.
They went into partnership with Ted’s brother, John, and his wife, Alma, opening a Texaco Station in Bridgeport.
On April 1, 1955, they opened the Sunset Drive-in Theater in Bridgeport. That first night, they showed “Against All Flags” starring Maureen O’Hara and Errol Flynn.
They had a good run, but closed the theater in July 1963.
John and Alma reopened the theater on May 7, 1965, and began showing films four days a week.
Ted and Vera had other plans.
They loaded up their twin daughters, Irene and Ilene, and drove west on Interstate 80 to Rock Springs, Wyoming.
The couple tragically lost another daughter, Demitra Ann, on July 18, 1958; she was only seven months old.
They arrived in Rock Springs in 1964 and opened the first Coast to Coast Store in Sweetwater County. Rock Springs was booming with mining, and oil and gas production. Their business did well, but they decided to move north in 1971.
While in Rock Springs, Vera earned a GED and then a two-year business degree at Western Wyoming College. Sometime during their seven years in Rock Springs, Ted and Vera ate at an Arctic Circle Drive-In in Utah. It made a big impression.
In 1950, in Salt Lake City, Don Carlos Edwards opened the first Arctic Circle Drive-In. He introduced “fry sauce,” a pink-colored combination of ketchup, mayonnaise, and some spices. It was a big hit, and he soon franchised the Arctic Circle throughout Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. Today, 71 Arctic Circle Drive-Ins remain in operation.
Vera’s work ethic, combined with a business degree, was the ticket to a pair of iconic businesses that anchored the east end of Main Street in Riverton for over two decades.
The story of their success on the southeast corner of Main and Federal is a tribute to riding the economic waves of Wyoming’s fickle economy, combined with the dedication and hard work of a pair of tremendous people.
The corner lot was owned by Joe Vincent. He claimed the spot back in 1906 as one of Riverton’s first homesteaders, building his home there with a farm extending to the west and south.
In the 1950s, Spence Connell built a Mobil Service Station on the corner, and the house was moved.
This was an ideal location for a drive-in. Ted and Vera rented the property from the Vincent family for the duration of their business.
“My mom worked at Arctic Circle when I was in kindergarten for Ted and Vera,” Stacie Sifuentes Muehler said. “We lived at Sand Draw. The bus driver stopped at Arctic Circle every Thursday, and we’d get an ice cream cone. They’d put a little monkey or elephant on the cone, it was such a treat, I loved it.”
Stacie loved it well enough that she went to work for Ted and Vera in high school. Stacie graduated from Riverton in 1991.
In the years between her Thursday stops at the Arctic Circle in kindergarten, Ted and Vera ended their Arctic Circle franchise and relabeled the business, the “Mad Greek.”
Ted had Greek ancestry, and they were members of the Greek Orthodox Church in Casper, renewing their wedding vows there in their later years.
The “Mad” in Mad Greek was likely a tongue-in-cheek comment on their relationship at times in the business.
Kim Auty Stewart began working at the Arctic Circle soon after it opened. She was 14 in 1972.
“One morning I came in early,” Kim said. “Ted and Vera didn’t mince words with each other. I walked in the back door, and they were yelling at each other, cursing and having it out. I tiptoed out the back door and waited for other kids to get there. Tempers like you can’t believe, I thought they were Italian the way they fought.”
Though it was many years later when Stacie worked at the Mad Greek, the Vassos’ were still at it.
“She and Ted had their daily screaming matches and pounding,” Stacie said. “I got to the point where I would just laugh it off.”
The inner workings of the business were just for Ted and Vera and their employees. What the public saw was an incredibly popular restaurant with easy access to Riverton’s two busiest streets.
In the 1970s through the 1990s, the era of the Arctic Circle and Mad Greek, the favorite pastime of teenagers was “Dragging Main.” Sometimes they took the route further, going north on Federal.
Anchoring the west end of Main Street was the Dash in Drive-In and the West Drive-In Movie Theater. To the north, the Covered Wagon with its iconic wagon wheels was another destination. In between the two, Ted and Vera had a booming business.
The location was so good that Taco Time was built right next door, and for a few years in the 1970s, Paisan’s Pizza was just a few dozen yards to the west.
Kim lived east of Federal on a 25-acre farm her parents owned, located between City Park and East Monroe.
“My best friend Kristi Weber and I lived near city park,” Kim said. “We decided we wanted to work together. Vera hired us, but we never got to work together. We were so disappointed.”
A theme comes through with anyone who ever worked for Vera Vassos.
“They taught you to work and work right,” Kim said. “Their twin daughters worked in the kitchen; they had to work hard, too.”
Kim earned $1.15 per hour in 1972, working as a cashier.
“We took orders, there was a drive-through window,” Kim said. “I worked the front counter, putting orders together and took their money.”
Like the teenagers and many adults in Fremont County, people loved the food at the Arctic Circle.
“I loved the Arctic Circle fry sauce,” Kim said. “We sold burgers and fries a lot. We made dip cones, and it was hard to keep the ice cream from falling off. If you made a mistake, you got to keep it and bring it home, banana splits, sundaes.”
A couple from Washakie County had a Paisan’s Pizza in Worland. They brought the franchise to Riverton, bringing an 18-year-old as the manager.
“Paisan’s Pizza was stealing employees from Ted and Vera,” Kim said. “They paid $1.25. I quit Arctic Circle and went to Paisan’s.
Leaving an 18-year-old in charge wasn’t the best idea.
“Too much here’s a free pizza, I’m going on a run that I’m really not going on, and under-the-table deals. Sometimes I’d get a 25-cent tip at the table.”
Though she left for that extra 10 cents an hour, Kim had great respect for how Ted and Vera ran their restaurant.
“It was probably the cleanest establishment you’d ever eat at. Vera never let you sit around,” Kim said. “Everything was spic and span. It was one of the few places on our end of town.
Most everybody she hired was very young, now you can’t hire 14-year-olds. They taught you how to work, work hard, and be honest. We had to count change back on our register. Vera was always on deck; Ted was back in the kitchen. They were hands-on full-time. Vera did not like it when I gave her notice that I was going to Paisan’s. She didn’t offer to match it, she just said, ‘Hit the road.’”
Ted got crossways with the franchise operation.
“The franchise raised its fees,” Ted’s friend Lonnie Woodard said. “Ted didn’t like it. He battled to cut the franchise connection, and he won.”
Little things annoyed the couple as they spent 12 or more hours a day together at the restaurant.
“Lonnie Woodard and Don Longtine were regulars,” Stacie said. “The regulars would come in and talk with Ted for hours. It made Vera mad.”
Vera and Ted were meticulous, and a lot of teenagers didn’t last long working for them.
“A lot of people didn’t like working for her; she was hard, she made us listen to customers, and learn to work hard,” Stacie said. “Everything was handwritten. You had to note the prices and have them memorized. I made $3.15 an hour. She was a tough boss; not everyone lasted.”
While her exterior was hard and demanding, Vera had a softer side that she saved just for a few employees, her friends, and people in need.
“I started at 14 or 15, she knew me because she knew my mom,” Stacie said. “She was very good to people, if you were on her good side, she was good to you. She carried a box of IOUs for people she knew couldn’t pay but would pay later. She really cared about people. Aggie Alley, and Peggy Martin were lifetime employees.”
Stacie was in a unique position to know the differences between the Arctic Circle and the Mad Greek menus.
“They kept the ranch burger, fry sauce, and white sauce from the Arctic Circle menu, the fries and corn dogs,” Stacie said. “
The Mad Greek featured gyros, taco salads, Greek salads, softshell tacos, and burritos.
“They ran a special one of the days for cheap cheeseburgers, drive-through line selling just cheeseburgers, I think they were 79 cents, and the cars backed up,” Staci said. “Every day of the week was a special. There were three booths and a table, and it was always packed. Always busy, it was a blast working there. There were times when my mom would fill in.”
The workday started at 9 am and the restaurant opened at 10, they stayed open until 9 pm, unless it was a cold night.
In the early 90s, they opened TJs in Shoshoni, but it never took off.
“They tried to do a chain, a small crew of Riverton workers went over to run it,” Stacie said. “Taco Time was right next to us. We’d have both crews busy; that was fun. I was bummed when they moved. Vera had jalapeno poppers, tacos; she added a lot of random things.”
Stacie’s late husband, Jason Muehler, was a frequent guest at the Mad Greek.
“Jason would come for his lunch break, and she always had a jalapeno popper for him,” Stacie said. “Vera loved people, she had a heart for kids, but most of them didn’t give her a chance because she wanted things done a certain way. When she trained people, she was very particular. She loved Day in the Park because she knew we’d always be busy. I’d beg her to let me cook, but she’d say no, I need your face out front so you can train these kids.”
Around 1995/96, Ted and Vera closed the Mad Greek.
“She came to me and asked if I was interested in buying it,” Stacie said. “I wish I would have said yes. Now I wish it had, I would have kept it the same and my kids could have worked there. It was the best food.”
Vera’s demanding standards have Stacie looking down on many fast-food places.
“I’ll go to drive-throughs today and say, ‘ Would you please listen to my order before you interrupt me?’” Stacie said. “These guys need to be trained by Vera.”
Ted and Vera retired to Casper. Ted spent his final years writing songs, fishing, and hunting with Vera.
Ted passed in 2016, Vera in 2017.
“They sold it, the girl turned it into Liquid Sunshine, and it went downhill,” Stacie said.
Ted’s friend Lonnie purchased the building for his business, Western States Propane, and it remains inside the original Arctic Circle Today.
Aging teenagers recalled the Arctic Circle and the Mad Greek:
William Tenlen – “I remember back in 1974 when it was Arctic Circle, I got my tonsils removed, and when I got out of the hospital, I had a ranch burger immediately because back then growing up in Dubois, you didn’t have fast food places.”
Jeremy Hill – “The fry sauce dreams are made of!”
Sean Joseph Mefferd – “I remember the mushroom Swiss burgers that had to be like triple wrapped cause they were loaded.”
Dennis Gustin – “Mad Greek had the best Taco Salads!”
Migizii-Ikwe Johns – “I loved the Mad Greek.”
John Long –“Arctic Circle sponsored our little league baseball team.”
Tracee Griffin Francway – “Arctic Circle, 3 hard shell tacos for $1.00!”
Cec Humphries – “Loved Arctic Circle !!”
Lisa Rousseau – “Best mushroom burgers, fries, and fry sauce.”
Marcel Webb Johnson – “Fry sauce and fries after a day of swimming at the outdoor pool.”