John and Evelyn North moved their family from Eugene to Medford in 1959. They first opened North’s Chuck Wagon in Eugene in 1957 but sold when their new North’s Chuck Wagon was relocated to 1016 N. Riverside Avenue in Medford.

It didn’t take long for John North to get involved with Medford sports enthusiasts. In 1960, a group of Medford businessmen, including John, held impromptu get-togethers at Wally Watkin’s TOWER BROILER, formulat­ing plans for a Medford Linebacker organization. In 1961, the official Linebackers club started holding regular meetings at NORTH’S CHUCK WAGON and are still holding their meetings there to this date. Many pre-game meals were served, by John and Evelyn, to athletic teams in those early years.

John North’s sons, John Jr. and Jim became the principals in the business upon the retirement of their father and they literally “filled their father’s shoes”, both as restaurateurs and contributors to athletics.

In 1985, a major face-lift took place on North Riverside and NORTH’S CHUCK WAGON took on the new name, J.J. NORTH’S GRAND BUFFET. The same year as this changeover, the committee for the newly cre­ated Medford Sports Hall of Fame was looking for a permanent HOME to display Hall of Fame memorabilia. The J.J. NORTH’S volunteered their newly remodeled lobby as the official home of our Medford Sports Hall of Fame.