My parents, John and Lois Scott, owned and operated a restaurant and filling station along K-96 in the small town of Haven, Kansas. Scott's Cafe and Service was in business from April of 1967 until January of 1978. And for you young "whipper snappers" out there who are trying to figure out what a filling station was, it's like "Kwik Shop" only with more personal service. It was back in the days when no one pumped their own gas (and by the way, gas was about 49 cents a gallon), your oil and air in the tires were checked without your asking, and so on. I know it's hard to imagine, but really, life USED to be like that.
From 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. at night, their business was open, 7 days a week and nearly 365 days a year. They always managed to close up on Thanksgiving and Christmas so we could have our family dinners there. But since we were there already, it wasn't uncommon for Dad to turn the gas pumps on and help people out who needed extra gas as they headed down the road. And if travelers would stop in looking for a place to eat, Mom always made sure that the over abundance of holiday food we had around was shared with anyone who wanted to eat with us. I can recall some holiday meals eating with total strangers at the table with us all. Nice thing was that after the meal, there were no strangers, only new friends. Mom and Dad were like that~always.
We younger kids out of the 7, Cindy, Dick, Sherry and I learned how to work for our parents at very early ages. I was waiting tables by the time I had turned 12 years old. My sisters were excellent cooks so they did their time in the kitchen. We all learned to wash dishes and it wasn't with one of those fancy schmansy dishwashers they have now. No siree-we did them the old-fashioned way, by hand.
It seemed like we worked every day there but probably we actually did get a day off periodically (once a month, LOL) and as Mom would be very quick to remind us, "Hard work never killed anyone." I must tell you, that sometimes I didn't think Mom knew what she was talking about. Seemed to me that some days I was pretty close to being DEAD tired when my long shift was done. But she's right, I'm still alive these many years later. Still working hard at it, by the way, Mom. :)
Although I'm sure I did my share of complaining, working in a restaurant for many, many years taught me a lot about life. The #1 character trait that I found there was the value of working hard. Little did I realize at the time as a teenager and young woman growing up, how important it was going to be for me, in the future, to be able to work hard all the time. That knowledge has carried me through a lot of tough spots in life. To my parents, I will always remain grateful~
I think I can speak for my siblings, when I say that working for our folks taught us a lot about being out in the public. We had to be able to communicate with our patrons, to take care of what they needed, to figure up their tickets and run the cash register with the ability to give back the proper change. And as a member of the "I Hate Math Club", I was forced by the situation at hand, to get better at my math skills and to not be afraid. Oh, and perhaps the most important thing, we learned how to provide great customer service, so those folks who exited out the front door when their meal was done would return again in the near future.
We learned to dress nicely and that included taking care of our long hair. You couldn't even dream of working for Mom in the restaurant, with long hair that wasn't pulled back in some way or another. No short skirts were allowed and heaven forbid if you would even consider asking about wearing slacks to work. It just didn't happen and Mom was a stickler on that one. We girls actually had nice uniforms to wear and once again, I don't know how to describe that concept to the young people of today. You don't see that much any more, yet if you came to the Scott house on washday, the line would be filled with them. It was just the way that the times were.
Working at Scott's Cafe provided the impetus for a lot of memory making. Remember how I said once that your family members don't have to be "blood relations"? Well I say to you that was true back in those days in Haven. Everyone that walked through the front door on a regular basis was really family. So many folks came in and out of our life but I do have fond memories of one of them in particular.
Russell Brown was a regular customer who would be waiting patiently at the BACK door for us to get there and open. One of the things I'll always remember about him was that he ordered the same thing every morning. One pancake and 1 egg over easy.... Sounds normal, right? Well if it would have just been that easy, yes that's normal. Russell had a different idea about how to eat his pancake. He always asked for mustard in order to squirt just that first bite of pancake with some of it. After many days of watching him do that, I asked him why he did so. His answer was simple,"It helps to wake me up in the morning." Ok Russell, if you say so...
There were plenty of other folks who became a part of our family. The City of Haven workers, the bus drivers, the semi-drivers (especially the Thies guys), the farmers and business people, the people from the different churches in town, and anyone else that was around made a lasting impression upon me as a kid growing up. The "regulars" and the not so regulars, all of these people played a role in the life of this "then" young girl ...and I am so much more the "better" because of it. To those people, I am forever indebted.
After being in business for over 10 years, Scott's Cafe closed its doors on the last day of the year in 1977. Mom and Dad had decided that maybe they'd done enough and it was time to slow down a bit. With sadness, they walked away on that last night, never to return to it again. Eventually the building was bulldozed down in order to build a Kwik Shop that now stands on the same site. The memories stayed with us forever and even though no "physical" reminder of its presence remains, those of us in the Scott family that are still living, hold that little town of Haven very close to our hearts. Everything that had to do with Scott's Cafe was now gone, or so we thought.....
What a nice surprise this week to learn that the original Scott's Cafe sign had been located, hidden inside the walls of a person's garage in Haven. Thanks to my nephew Christopher, connections were made and I was able to retrieve the sign and bring it back home. When I saw it today, for the first time in at least 40 years, it brought a tear to my eye, a lump in my throat. I thought about my parents and how happy they would be if only knew that somehow that sign made its way back into our hands. It may be only a huge sheet of plywood with big red letters on it to some, but to me it's part of my history and certainly a part of my living legacy. And my intention is to hang on to it with all that I have in me! Good Night friends! Sleep well!
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