We have come by different means and for different purposes. Ten of us by bicycle. Two by jet. The two from Birmingham, Alabama. The 10 from Liberty, Missouri. But here on a mid-January morning we sit for breakfast at JJ’s, 30 hilly and chilly miles by bike from Liberty. Across the street stands the Clinton County Courthouse and the statue of David Rice Atchinson, a former Missouri senator who for one day in 1848 was President of the United States.
We bikers come here every few weeks for breakfast. We were ten in number when we came on Christmas Eve. That’s when we met the Birmingham Two for the first time. Jennifer and Julie are sisters and owners of JJ’s. They eagerly agreed months ago when I asked if JJ’s would become a $1000.00 sponsor of our Greater Liberty Bike Ride for MS. Meaning that they would tell their customers about us and allow them to leave checks for us.
Jennifer moved here with her physician husband when he picked Plattsburg to set up practice. Julie and her husband came a short time later and bought a former drugstore on Main Street. With the two sisters in charge, this place acquired that Norman Rockwell Grant Wood ambiance that draws folks to small town cafes. Good food pleasantly served completes the package and assures the quick attainment of a loyal following, the 12 of us this morning being a prime example.
If truth be told, however, the Birmingham Two have not come for the food. Don and Vita Felin have come to see their grandchildren, Jennifer’s two sons and Julie’s daughter. They fly in for a long weekend every now and then, sandwiched between their jobs back home. By one of those delicious coincidences that wraps life in mystery, the Birmingham Two and the Greater Liberty 10 are here at JJ’s together for the second consecutive time.
The 10 of us riders are not all the same folks today as last time. We vary some from Saturday to Saturday. But everyone today is a regular. None is here at JJ’s for the first time. We all expect to be here several times before this just-beginning year has played itself out. When we were last here on Christmas Eve, Jennifer handed us $400.00 that customers had left for our Greater Liberty Ride. And before we left that morning, her parents came in, bringing Joseph and Jacob, their grandsons, with them. Jennifer introduced us.
We have not been here since. Freezing rain kept us home one Saturday. Once we rode to Sarah’s Table in Kearney. Once to Mill Inn in Excelsior Springs. Now back to JJs. “Here’s some more money to add to our total,” Jennifer says as she hands me a check and some bills. She’s gone before I look at the check. Wow! A hundred dollars! From her parents. Dated December 26. They wrote it just after we met.
Jennifer is soon back. “Jennifer! Please thank your parents for their wonderful generosity.” I say. “They will be here in a few minutes,” she says. “You can thank them in person.” A few minutes later they come. Flew in on Thursday. Fly home Tuesday.
Next Saturday we ride to Orrick and breakfast at Fubbler’s Cove. All of these good places serve the comfort food bikers crave in the ambiance we love. All signed on to become $1000.00 sponsors of our Greater Liberty Ride for MS. Our riding to these places follows no set pattern. We decide from week to week where next we go. So the Birmingham Two and the Greater Liberty 10 may not rendezvous at JJs again for a while. Maybe never.
I promise not to be disappointed if we don’t. But I must tell you I expect that we will. We’ll see.
Stay tuned.
HateBusters
Box 442
Liberty, MO 64069
Phone: 816-803-8371
e-mail: hatebuster@aol.com
No Boundaries On Our Soul!
