After 34 years in business, Sutton-Kolman sold their business to Marcus Allen Ford. The operation was started by Bob Kolman and Ray Sutton and was estimated to have sold a car to three generations of Tonganoxie residents. Barbara Kolman, who took over the business six years ago when her husband Bob Kolman passed away, will remain on staff as Marcus Allen’s office manager at the dealership.

Cook’s Bar-B-Que, at Third Street and U.S. Highway 24-40, Tonganoxie, held a Wednesday, July 17, get-together — planned by the Black faculty and staff at the University of Kansas — for all those who wished to show their support for the restaurant.

In light of the June 16 vandalism — which included the spray painting of various racial slurs across the business exterior — and the recent fire in the Cook’s outdoor cooker, which has been turned over to the Kansas Fire Marshall and labeled as suspicious, Muriel Cook continued in her support of the community.

“There are good people in this community,” Cook stated, “I know because they’ve come in to eat barbecue.” She added that the damage to their outdoor cooker had changed their cooking schedule. They expect to announce new hours soon.

50 years ago: July 15, 1971

The Linwood Pioneer festival June 24-25 was front-page news touting its “Gunsmoke Days” theme based on the popular TV show.

There was actually a picketer at the Southwestern Bell office in Tonganoxie, a first-time event for a labor strike.

Fourth of July fell on a Sunday this year allowing for a Monday observation of the holiday and a three day long weekend. This was also the first year that Congress agreed to move four holidays to standard Monday holidays (Columbus, Veteran’s, Washington, and Memorial Day).

75 years ago: July 18, 1946

From the Humor Column – “America: The land where in one generation a family can rise from a plain cabin to a cabin plane!” How very true.

We need another good rain around here due to temperatures hovering near the 100-degree mark and the growing corn is in the tasseling stage.  

And another amazing invention of modern times — Lt. Wilson Myers stationed in Rome called his wife long distance on the telephone. The operator believed it might take up to three to four hours to connect but they were talking within thirty minutes!

Some advice to our farmers is to plow your field in July immediately after harvest to take the first step in controlling the Hessian Fly. Infestation occurs in the volunteer wheat, early wheat and early sown wheat.

And with that news, there is a brand new way to control flies in beef and cattle pens by using D.D.T, a very safe and effective insecticide for both animals and humans. It takes less than one hour to spray the stock and barns on the average farm, at a very reasonable cost. Spray your farms, hog and chicken houses and get rid of flies, mosquitoes and grain beetles for a very long time.

The fairgrounds will host an all-contest rodeo open to everyone at the end of the month with H.O. Bowen and His Educated Horse, Flookie, and Cow Girls Wild Cow Milching, which is actually the proper term for keeping a cow to milk. So, load up your cars and get down to the fairgrounds and fancy ropers, bull fighters and cowboy clowns.

And a great show at the Royal Theatre is “The Harvey Girls” starring Judy Garland of “The Wizard of Oz” fame.

100 years ago: July 21, 1921

Work on paving the Fort to Fort road in Reno township still maintained its slow progress last week. About two full days of work were done during the week. The rain should not have checked this work more than a day. The contractor who has the paving to do on the first section out of Lawrence west, will work two gangs to get as much work accomplished this season as possible.

Lawrence and Douglas counties have taken the preliminary steps to pave the gap between the city paving and the end of the road already laid to the city limits on the north. There is about half a mile of street to pave.

The substantial character of the work done on the bridges on the Fort to Fort Road may be seen by watching the construction of the bridge across Tonganoxie creek east of town. Numerous piles have been driven in the bottom of the excavations for the abutments and pier on which the concrete will rest. The west abutment and the pier are done, and the forms are in for the first span of the bridge. A few days ago, the workmen were expecting the bridge to be finished this month. After finishing the Tonganoxie creek bridge the workmen will resume construction on the Stranger bridge that was closed Saturday, so that the graders could excavate a wider channel for the creek underneath the new bridge.

125 years ago: July 23, 1896

Maginnis school house, 6 miles northeast, has a number of fine lamps. Last week, one was stolen, but no trace of the perpetrators of the theft could be found.

Sunday evening, William Leak, a member of the school board, observed some campers adjoining the school and concluded to keep a watch. Early Monday morning, he went to the school house and found the campers gone. Another fine lamp had also disappeared. He hunted up Matt Gray, another member of the board, and they followed the campers. They only had a short distance to go, for the outfit had been halted by the high waters of a creek. The outfit consisted of a white woman, a black man and a white boy. The woman did the talking and denied taking the lamp but refused to have the wagon searched. Mr. Leak stood watch and Mr. Gray went off for a constable, but when the woman saw that a search would be made, she fished out the lamp and begged not to be arrested.