By Kathy Cleveland | Nashua Telegraph | Sept. 27, 2008

Manchester, NH
Manchester's landmark Red Arrow Diner will open a nearly identical 24-hour eatery on the Oval in the old Milford Diner.

The location will be the Red Arrow's second diner and it will bigger than the Manchester one, said Dawn Foote, daughter of Red Arrow owner Carol L. Sheehan.

The low-slung Manchester eatery, a well-known campaign stop during presidential primaries, is squeezed into a narrow strip of land on Lowell Street and is often bursting with customers.

Milford residents seemed happy with the news that the old Milford Diner location will open again. It has been closed since July when co-owner Gordon Maynard was killed in a car accident.

Karen Walker, owner of Karen's Kollectibles, across the street from the Milford Diner, said she is excited.

"People come in here and ask where can I get a soda or a cold drink," she said, because there is nowhere to go after 2 p.m. "Between (the new diner) and the good Chinese restaurant" nearby, it's good news for Milford, Walker said, referring to the China Golden, across from her shop.

Selectman Kathy Bauer said the diner will "be good for downtown. A lot of people in Milford work the night shift. It fits in with our way of life."

The Milford Diner has been a downtown fixture since the early 1900s. In recent years it has had several incarnations, including the notorious Toro restaurant a few years ago. Toro's owners wound up taking water from the Souhegan River with a bucket they lowered out the window after the utilities were shut off for non-payment. The couple left town and abandoned the property owing employees back wages.

When Maynard and Debbie Flerra, who own the Milford Fish Market, opened a diner in 2007, they received acclaim for the retro-50s style furnishings. Flerra could not be reached for comment.

Milford's town history, "The Granite Town," says the town's first diner was a streetcar owned by Sidney Baker, who would park it on Middle Street during the day then bring it to the north end of the Oval to open for business at night.

The Red Arrow opened in 1922 and at one point there were five Red Arrows throughout the city, according to the diner's Web page.

In 1998, the diner, which has only five booths and 16 stools, went smoke-free, which caused unhappy patrons to picket the place. That same year, it was voted one of the top 10 diners in the country by USA Today.

The real estate closing was scheduled for Sept. 24, said Foote.

Originally published online here: http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080927/BUSINESS/309279993