Lunch Tuesday 11/2 in Gower, MO

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JerryM100
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Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2008 10:01 pm
Location: Cypress (Houston), TX

Lunch Tuesday 11/2 in Gower, MO

Post by JerryM100 »

Guys,
Roger is going to do volunteer duty at the polls on Tuesday so he won’t be able to make the ride, so he asked me to make arrangements and announce the ride for him. So after consulting the maps, recent ride reports, “Vasilia,” the goddess of wind and journeys, and the entrails of some roadkill I have found that we should go north to the small town of Gower, MO, about 17 miles north of Smithville on highway 169.

It is a small café in a very small town but seems to be doing ok for the times. They open early and can seat about 60, so no problem handling 20 or so of us. From the Google Streetview it looks like they are on a city square with lots of parking in front. Note that the Streetview picture shows a small white brick building with red awnings, but they have moved down the block into a large brick building. So the street address is correct but the Streetview picture is not. Jackie is the owner but her mother, Georgia, answers the phone, and Brandi is one of the waitresses.

Once again we will meet for lunch at 11 am but if you are not there by 10:30 or so you will miss all the conversation, stories, and lies.

Harvest Moon Cafe Bar & Grill
318 Railroad Ave
Gower, MO 64454
(816) 424-3733

Jerry in KC

Here is the link to all the Romeo Rides this week:
http://tinyurl.com/Romeo-Rides-This-Week
Jerry M
I ride because it frees my mind from the tyranny of petty things.
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JerryM100
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Ride Report - 11/2 to Gower, MO

Post by JerryM100 »

It was kind of a brisk ride today up north to Gower but what a beautiful sunny day it turned into. We had 20 bikes show up at the cafe and had a great time talking and taking in the sun. Once inside it was a comfortable little cafe run by Jackie and her mother, Georgia (not there today). She had two young girls taking care of us who did a great job and were as cheerful and friendly as they were beautiful. The food was good and prices reasonable. Definitely a place we should go back to.

After lunch I thanked Jackie for taking care of us, and she said "No - THANK YOU!!" She explained that her place was broken into last week and she was robbed. I asked her if it was very bad, did they steal any property or do any damage? She said no, they climbed into an upstairs window and broke into her office and stole $1000. She said she didn't know what she was going to do when suddenly I called and said I was bringing 20 people in for lunch. She said sometimes things just work out! I got the impression that she probably was operating on a mostly cash basis for paying her girls and buying her supplies, and that $1000 was most of her salary and supplies money. So here is another instance of the good that we can bring to these small communities and most of the time we don't even know or appreciate how much it means to them. [I hope you all leave generous tips at these kinds of places.]

Anyway, I'm glad to be a part of it, and glad to know a bunch of good guys who like to ride as much as I do.


Jerry in KC
Jerry M
I ride because it frees my mind from the tyranny of petty things.
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Parkville Rider
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Re: Lunch Tuesday 11/2 in Gower, MO

Post by Parkville Rider »

That's terrible to find out they were burglarized. I know how hard it must be to keep a small business like this afloat, especially in these hard economic times. :idea: If we had known beforehand, perhaps we could have asked everyone for a voluntary donation? Maybe it's not too late? :?:

Gary
Gary D.
a.k.a. Romeo Map Genie
Parkville MO
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JerryM100
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Re: Lunch Tuesday 11/2 in Gower, MO

Post by JerryM100 »

While I am very sympathetic about her loss I am reluctant to ask our group for donations. We just don't have the structure or organization for something like that and most of our riders are retired and on fixed incomes. There are innumerable great causes for charities that we all give to (or have) so we try to keep our riding group just for riding and let people manage their charity individually. We are helping them just by patronizing their business and she expressed that very well.

But another idea that might be worth considering is if people wanted to go back up there in 3 or 4 weeks again just to give her the business. That would be kind of a charity ride. I will leave that to you all to discuss here and propose that to Roger who is the coordinator for the rides for the Kansas City group. Roger asks all the time for suggestions for places to go so if you all "suggest" that we go back to Gower then we might do that.


Jerry in KC
Jerry M
I ride because it frees my mind from the tyranny of petty things.
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