EL DORADO COUNTY, California, Cris Alarcon. (October 22, 2023) – Elaida Smith owned and operated “Deb’s Frosty” The “cornerstone” of Diamond Springs located at 460 Pleasant Valley Road [Hwy 49] and Faith Lane.
I first went there in the 1970s when Elaida Smith owned and operated it. She was a fearsome person who some called the “Mayor of Diamond Springs.” Some people loved her and some people were afraid of her, but all in all, she made great burgers and joysome Frosties for hot summer days. She was very good to a whole lot of folks and their kids. However, if you were on her wrong side, you probably earned it……..
She was known to pack a gun and sometimes to be as mean as a snake so if you crosses her once and she lit into you, it was doubtful you would dear to cross her again.
In 1978 I had a delicious burger and fries with a cold drink. I ate up and left but before I made it 10 feet out the door before she came running out mad as Hell yelling at me. She stuck out her hand palm up and she held two shiny pennies I had left on the table from the change she had given me from paying for my order. I had left it on the table by accident not noticing I had. She scowled dawn ot me and said, “Do you know what this means?” [expecting no answer and went on, “It means you think I am a whore!” I was dumbfounded and before I could even form any words she had stormed back in to make food for others. Let me tell you, for over 50 years and thousands of ordered meals, I have never left two pennies on a restaurant table! I lever a good TIP, a little TIP, or no TIP depending on service, but NEVER, EVER a two cent TIP!
In the ’70s Deb’s was THE PLACE to eat. She had great food and Pinball machines! It was an old fashion place that you had to go outside and around the back to enter the single seat bathroom. Later she expanded by extending that side of the building so she had more storage, the bathrooms could be accessed from inside, and there was a new POOL TABLE added! It was teenage nirvana. If you ever hit the balls too hard on her pool table, Elida Smith chased you out. Many kids were threatened with their lives if the hitting the pool balls recklessly hard and off the table. You learned to appreciate whatever you got from her. She was generous with great food, great entertainment, and even a generous patron to many people. But justified respect was expected.
One summer I had finished my food and my buddy Adma Parker and I had left on our bikes. Out of the parking lot and left. Adam was on a motocross bike and I was on my sister’s 10-speed bike behind him. I herd him yell out and looked up to see a pickup truck over the line and baring down on me. I swerved as fast as I could but he hit me in the thigh just missing my knee. I went flying ass over teakettle landing in the ditch. But I had saved my coke bottle I had bought at Deb’s. A kid has his priorities and I was not going to waste a bottle of coke I had just bought at Deb’s. I got a ticket for riding my bike and the drunk driver, a teacher at “the university behind Raleys” got a ticket for DUI. I never let go of my coke. No wat was I going back for another coke after a wreck just 20 yards up the street!
To do justice to Elaida Smith, it takes other people’s experiences.
“She was a strong, independent woman who took no crap and helped countless people over the years. I’m sure there was pain behind that tough exterior, but she was a wonderful part of the community. It seems fitting that she is buried on the hillside just across the road, where she can keep an eye on things.”
“Loved her. She was very good to a whole lot of folks and their kids. However, if you were on her wrong side, you probably earned it…….. She loved El Dorado and Diamond Springs.”
“I worked for her in 1980-1981 she was the best. A lot of people just didn’t get her. She was tough for a reason. Mostly people talking crap about her when she was young” -Fred Buhlert.
“Elida was tough but if You were lucky enough to have Her like You she was hiding a heart of gold. She hid it well believe me. She had a 65 GTO and about a 68 Jeep and when I Got My driver’s license at 16 she let me drive either of those vehicles any time I wanted. She parked them right out in front of the Frosty and she would just hand me the keys. She was a good friend. Not all would agree.”
“did she still like you after the incident over the pool table?” -Fred Buhlert
“Yes. And I cannot remember what caused all that ruckus. I just remember Freddy chasing me around the pool table with a butcher knife.” -Dan DeWolf
“Deb’s mom (Virginia Santiff), co-owner of the frosty, was my Cub Scout den mother” -Dean Garrison
“I coached a girls softball for Elida in the 70s, the team had very little talent, to be blunt they were real bad. We did get one win and Elida gave me a $50.00 bill for the win. She was a great person if she liked you.” -Tom Shinn
“She quite often would come out of the kitchen, turn on the music to the Hokey Pokey and try to get the kids to join in the dance with her.” -Linda Clemenger
“She also worked at aerojet she commuted with my dad’s carpool……you just didn’t want to piss her off” -Sandi Cann
“She used to have a cot in the back she took naps on! Best food!” -Marguerite Cortez
“She was a mean old lady.” – Theresa Adkiss
“I worked for her for 20 minutes. Wonderful head strong lady” -Ellen Sattler
“She use to be a logger with her husband and she smoked cigars” -McCleary Paul
“Don’t forget about the 45 Gun she kept under the counter” -Valorie ShieldsFloyd
“I heard she walked home “packing” every night. She trained a lot kids in their first job. Quite a character. -Gary Swasey
“She would be carried a lot of money for those days and no street lights either and there was a family lived near her known trouble makers” -Valorie ShieldsFloyd
“My first job was there” -Paul Bott
“Loved her feared her lol” -Jamie Bartley
“I worked for Elida Smith for a couple years. By far the best boss I ever had!” -Jennifer Hoff
“bought smokes out of the Debs Frosty Cigarette machine and didnt get caught” -Ryan McVeigh
“chased out of Deb’s Frosty when Elida Smith owned it, cuz you said a cuss word as a kid!” – Patricia Carland Nicolls
“She had the Best Oranges”
“Elida would rent a trailer from us 3 or 4 times a year to go pick up oranges to donate in her last few years. She was such a cool lady. I always enjoyed talking with her, so interesting” -Judy Olson
“I re-opened Deb’s Frosty in 2001 and rented the building from Elida. I sold the business just a few weeks before she died (2006).” -Nina Fisher Sarette
“I used to go to Placerville Christian School right there on Missouri Flat. She always donated to the school. A lot of people said she was mean. But she was always sweet to us.” -Karen Guest-Wooten
“I worked for her. My first job. I was saving for a car. She often have me a ride home after work. Mean af but a heart of gold!” -Donna Larson
