| 04/29/09 11:12 AM |
#484
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Bruce Evans
Hi all, I went to Nowata regularly, but only danced; I was so naive. My car was a '55 Chevy with a 396ci elephant block; it would scream. I bought it from Johnny Allen (One Stop Grocery), but John Johnson built it. I had the job at the Post Office our Jr & Sr years and missed all the football games & Friday nights. I would work 2 or 3 hours Mon thur Thursday, and all Friday night till 5 or 6 am Sat morning. It was big money, $3.11/hour, and I pumped it all back into the '55.
Johnny Allen was also instrumental in my buying the cafe that Steve had mentioned. It was called Sam's, at the time, but we all knew it as Holcomb's, next to The Center Theater. Johnny's, One Stop Grocery, we knew it as Jennette's, was next door to the Grand Cafe. Sam owned the Grand but also owned the old Holcomb's Cafe and wanted to sell. Johnny told me I should buy it. I had some money from my mother's passing and needed to do something before I spent it all and had to get a job. So, I approached Sam about buying the cafe. I went to 1st National Bank and opened an account; then applied for a loan. I offered for them to hold my money in escrow while I paid them back. Mr. Bob McSpadden was my banker and he told me everything looked good but he needed to run it by the Committee. A few days turned into a week and I finally forced an answer. He went over and whispered to someone (maybe it was Jan's dad) and came back, sat down and looked me in the eyes and said, "Bruce, we just don't think you can be successful there" and that was that. I was pissed off instantly, but just smiled and thanked him for consideration. I got up, walked over to the teller and withdrew all my cash and walked out to never look back. I was in tears as I hit the door because I really wanted to do something in Vinita. I put my money in Okla St Bank and forgot about the whole thing. I left town and went to Houston to visit my sister Martha; I was gone for over a week. When I got back Johnny told me Sam was looking for me and that Sam wanted me to take over his loan on the cafe. So, the deal was back on. This time I was determined to have more control. Through the grapevine I had heard that the real reason I was turned down was because my hair was too long (it was past my shoulders) and my clothes were too sloppy (patch work bell bottoms). Sam set up a meeting for me to meet his banker, Vern at OSB, about me taking over his loan. My trump card was Em Price, the president of the bank, had known me my whole life and his wife was my mother's best friend. The night before the meeting I went to Bob Shoulder's house and got a haircut from his wife. I called Em and set up my own meeting with him. I put on my best threads and marched in to see Em. I told him what I wanted and was frank with him about 1st Nat and how they thought my hair was too long, but I wanted him to help me 'go it alone' with my own new loan. He bit, hook line and sinker. He looked at me with sad eyes and said, "Bruce, your hair looks fine and we would love to do business with you. Check with Vern to write it up". And, The Talk of the Town Cafe was born on March 21, 1973; I was exactly 21 1/2 years old. I was hanging out in Johnny Allen's OSG that night and bought a submarine sandwich. The sandwich package label read "The Talk of the Town" and that sounded good to me, so that's what I called my cafe.
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