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Dinger - her dad said she was a hum dinger when she was a kid and they called her Dinger
Ever since. As you will read she has definitely lived up to her name. I remember getting a coke out of one of these machines in the church basement in the late 50’s early 60’s for a nickel and a penny.
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| Jim Miller |
Dinger told me to go to the Donut shop to meet the locals and I was late but was able to meet the last one there and fortunately it was Jim. He began to open up little by little in a gently way. He ran the stockyard for 25 years in Coffeyville. He grew up here and went to train as a priest in Missouri and after 12 years decided that was not what he wanted to do. No further explanation. He married and has been so for over 50 years at 82. From 2007-2014 Amazon had a million square foot distribution center that they rented from Tulsa Properties. (Found this out from Morning University at the McDonald,s in Independence.)
They deserted Coffeyville and left for Kansas City where they could get a steady work force. People used to come from out of town at the Christmas rush and live in trailers. Jim said he met Jeff Bezos and he was peculiar. Why? His eyes kept shifting around. I surmised it was his looking around to see where he would spend his next million.
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Karl who drives in twice a week to get coffee and breakfast at Eggberts. He is was a blue collar worker in
wire factory. His first wife died after 21 years. The next after 7 years took him to the cleaners and he is still recovering. With all that his face lights up when talking about his children, grandchildren and SIX GRANDCHILDREN! |
Dinger’s family owned the hardware for 102 years. It is still named Islam’s Hardward after the family who ran it the first 50 years. She was the first person I met in Coffeyville and was vivacious and very welcoming, and I thought she was about 70 - non She 85 wrong 85 and still works everyday. She told the Dalton gang came into town in the light of day to their hometown to rob two banks. They never made it to the other because the townspeople heard after someone saw them ride up and a 23 year old was shot and later four others. Sone of the townspeople ran into the hardware store and grabbed guns and ammo. Four were killed including the most notorious and one brother, Emmitt, who went to California for jail and came back. Dinger’s father met him. She told me something I have not read in written accounts. The next day the town defenders brought back the weapons cleaned and paid for the ammo!
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| New bank is across the street. This is the only metal facade building in Kansas. |
The next day I was going to drive another 30 miles for a shower in a different place than the 30 to Elk City the day before. Seven miles out I spotted a campground not on the map. Billy, the owner, said he would let me take a shower for five dollars - cool - really cool he did not tell me there was no hot water. Brrr. The Park has shotgun cabins (haha) with cable TV and bed and kitchen and bathroom for 230 a month. Small world, Billy is playing Emmitt in the annual reenactment this weekend on Friday night and three times on Saturday. I made the 3 o’clock. (Day 21 - Oct `1)
Back to Dinger She showed me all around the store and gave me a pocketknife for a souvenir. There was the elevator for the horse buggy days they would drive in and be elavatored up to the second floor for repairs.
In the basement were ropes and chains of various sizes and they were fed up through the first floor. The were marks on the quarter round in feet up to 55.
There was a scoop scale that weights were placed on to go up to it seems like 80 pounds. Nails and screws were sold by the pound. She said babies and pets were brought in to be weighed. There is an Ace in town and another hardware and Walmart and none of her kids want it so she guesses she will sell it. If so another rich chapter of Coffeyville’s past will be ended.
University of Nebraska Omaha tennis team - stopping in a McDonald’s in Coffeyville from a Tulsa tournament weekend. Five hours to go to Omaha.
NOT PICTURED.
KEN is 75 and still farming 25 head of cattle. I saw him last night at Eggbert’s and again this morning at McDonald’s where I came to meet my new friends at the Morning University (see blog entry). He has never married and after three years in service in Germany with a 6 draft number (mine was 365 and I avoided the draft and went to college in 1972). After he became a grain inspector and did so for 35 years and retired at 60 twelve years ago. One of a lost breed who staying with the same company his whole career.
Grain inspecting involves taking a handful of wheat or soybeans and picking up each gratin or bean with special tweezers and looking for signs of mildew or disease. One is best with a clean coat. The worst is 5 and no one wants at all - sample grade. A gentle hard working guy who has never married but lives out each day working hard and seeming to love it.
CLAYTON walked into the Morning University yesterday after I had told them I was looking for a little land with or without a house. They told me of 30 acres with a house that I had passed on the way to my campsite. Clayton later told me they asked 155,000 and had three offers and finally settled on the cash offer for 130,000. That is they way it is with good deals - gone in a hurry. He too is 75 and been in real estate for 46 years. He does the showing and selling and his wife (who just had shoulder surgery where a bond spur severed the tendon. The spur had to be ground down and the tendon reconnected - six months recovery. He has been doing her job too - managing the business in. Interestingly he said he is not a realtor. Some asked him how long he had lived in Independence - all my life. He said you better be a transactional broker or you will have everyone in town mad at you. A broker just brings buyers and sellers together and does not share what each other says and sees if they can make a deal.
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