But long-time Ye Olde Alpha cooks Trevor Kropp and Dan Dokes, who were tasked with the job, succeeded.
Getting most of the three dozen or more creatures — deer, fox, turkey, owl, bear, pheasant, marlin, shark, elk, jackalope (what’s a jackalope?!!) — was easy. It was just a matter of picking them up and carrying them to the awaiting truck in the parking lot at 50 Carmel Road.
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But, those giant moose heads that were resting on the bar gave them pause.
They measured, they maneuvered, they manhandled. They looked at them from every possible angle. There just wasn’t a door or a window big enough for them to squeeze through.
Eventually, Trevor and Dan removed the heads from the mounting boards and … success!
And after decades of reigning over the bar at Ye Olde Alpha, the heads rolled out into the Fleet truck and landed in a South Wheeling storage facility.
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Ye Olde Alpha owner Charlie Schlegel said he plans is to bring the beloved animal heads out of hibernation when he opens the NEW Ye Olde Alpha on May 1 at Stratford Springs on W.Va. 88.
The former home to the jackalope, moose and friends was purchased at auction last month. Businessman Anthony “Herk” Sparachane paid $380,000 for the building and property. He has said another restaurant will open next month after renovations are completed at 50 Carmel Road.
• Having spent nearly 38 years as reporter, bureau chief, lifestyles editor and managing editor at The Times Leader, and design editor at The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register, Phyllis Sigal now serves as Weelunk’s managing editor. She lives in Wheeling with her husband Bruce Wheeler. Along with their two children, son-in-law and two grandchildren, food, wine, travel, theater and music are close to their hearts.