Tommy’s North End Cafe was owned and operated by Tommy Pritchard and located next to the livestock sale barn. Tommy probably welcomed our little group as the farm economy waned. I cannot recall anything about this place that qualified as a “cafe.” There was a pool table, a couple of pen ball machines and one of the bowling machines that used real balls about the size of a grapefruit. It was at that very bowling machine that I first courted Barb Miltenberger.

Tommy was no absentee owner. In fact, his bedroom opened right off the main area of the bar. He often lay on his bed with the door open, jingling a huge key ring. It still sounds spooky.

It’s difficult to imagine anyone serving or eating food at Tommy’s but as you can see… RP insists this card came from Tommy Pritchard’s own wallet. People that grew up in Kennett, Missouri, all clearly understand that the two most important things in life are 5% beer and air conditioning.