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.
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.
The moose heads rests on the bar at Ye Olde Alpha.
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.
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.