Monday, May 18, 2020
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Kelly to meet with Trump Todd Brandon, left, of T.J’s BBQ in Humboldt and Carri and Mike Sailor of Rookie’s in Iola are once again seating customers. REGISTER/ERICK MITCHELL
Restaurants ready to serve By ERICK MITCHELL The Iola Register
Restaurants have begun opening their doors to the public since Gov. Laura Kelly’s three-phase plan to handle the COVID-19 pandemic allowed dine-in eating beginning May 4. It had been a long hiatus since customers could eat inside and restaurants have felt the rippling effects. Luckily, many small businesses were aided by the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) established in the CARES Act passed by Congress last
month. The money helped business keep employees on the payroll, and doors open. Rookies Bar & Grill’s Mike Sailor and Carri Campbell were able to keep all of their employees while dine-in hours were eliminated. With business slow, Sailor and Campbell along with their employees gave the restaurant a full face-lift during the downtime. Sailor says they dusted everything thoroughly, patched up some spots on the floor, and did everything they could to make Rookies feel ready for the post COVID-19 age.
Rookies postponed its opening a week to May 11 to finish the final details. “The PPP helped a lot,” Sailor said. “It was one of those things where we were not busy enough to have a whole staff, so I just brought people on to help organize and clean. We wanted to make sure that everything looked nice and clean, showing we were ready to be open.” During the time without their dine-in service, Rookies had to adapt. Business was already trending downward with the cancelation of the NCAA’s March Madness, and
essentially every other sport with it. “It is hard to be a sports bar without sports,” Sailor said. Campbell and Sailor added family meals designed to feed 8-10 to their menu as well as curbside and delivery. They plan to continue delivery even after the pandemic comes to a halt. “We knew right from the get-go that we needed to be creative, and needed to come with new specials and ideas,” Campbell said. “We had to become flexible with our busiSee DINE-IN | Page A2
TOPEKA – Kansas Governor Laura Kelly will visit the White House for a meeting with President Donald Trump We d n e s day. Laura Kelly The two leaders are scheduled to talk about a variety of c o r o n av i rus related topics, KSNW re- Donald Trump ported. In addition to discussing the state’s phased reopening and statewide testing strategy, topics of discussion will include protecting America’s food supply chain, supporting Kansas’ farmers, and partnering to ensure the See KELLY | Page A2
A home for Snow without winter Everything can change in a year, one falling of the snow. You can lose yourself while finding your home, though shrouded in purple and bruise-black thunderclouds, after the passage of hundreds of miles.
Trevor Hoag Just Prairie You can see something for the first time, despite seeing it a thousand times before. You can look in the mirror and find a stranger. I imagine that’s how Maj. George Catlin Snow would feel today were he to gaze upon his beloved “Rockland Home” tucked away in the southeastern corner of Neosho Falls. —The moment being akin to staring into the eyes of something alien, though nonetheless intensely alive. It was a place his daughter Florence, in her autobiography “Pictures on my Wall,” described as “a comfortable place for the family to live … comfortable by pioneer standards.” Florence herself was quite an accomplished writer, both of prose and poetry, and would later entertain such figures as Abraham Lincoln’s
The Snow family’s “Rockland Home” hides amidst a tangled jungle of trees and brush in the southeastern corner of Neosho Falls. REGISTER/TREVOR HOAG son, Todd, at the Snow’s second home across town called “Fair Havens.” While still young, she’d gleefully tear across the open prairies surrounding the Falls on her little pony “HowHow,” whom she’d received as a gift from native people grateful to her father. In the spirit of such gratitude, I dreamed of George Snow looking upon the faces of indigenous peoples he advocated for while serving as Indian Agent for the region, when he’d earned the nickname “Big Father.” Osages, Sac and Fox, Seminoles. Each with their own unique practices to navigate, to both respect and inevitably
misunderstand. I dreamed them coming up from their camps three miles south along the banks of the Neosho with its rich, dark waters, to visit with Snow at the house and at the mission built on-site prior to Rockland’s construction. In “Pictures” she also elaborates on “the curious squaws who came to the house on endless made-up errands.” “They proffered rather disconcerting jests in regard to [one] ‘Papoose,’ which happened to be myself, while five older children took things in their stride.” Throughout such exchangSee SNOW | Page A4
Cruisin’ Moran Marmaton Valley High School’s graduating seniors gathered for Cruise Night fun, with several decorating their cars. At top, Rachel Shafer, left, decorates classmate Alec Cochran’s back window. At lower left, Eric Stahl rides in the back of a Mustang convertible piloted by Scott and Elaine Stewart. At lower right, Bo Knavel drives a sleek Corvette as part of the procession. The caravan was delayed for the better part of 15 minutes because the students — many of whom hadn’t seen each other in person for two months — were busy catching up with each other instead of driving. The MVHS graduation is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, with another caravan planned from the city park to the high school. PHOTOS COURTESY OF HALIE LUKEN
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