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SUPPLEMENT TO THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, APRIL 30, 1986
AD GOOD 4-30-86 THRU 5-6-86 AT FOOD BARN IN LAWRENCE, KANSAS
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FOOD BARN DECLARES
University Life
**Photos by Brian Greene/KANANAGE Above — John Wooden, owner of the Wagon Wheel Cale. 507 W. 14th St, says the Wheel had changed since the 1960s; it was a fixture for KU Right — Students from all walks of campus life can be found at the Wheel on Friday and Saturday nights.**
Wagon Wheel Cafe more than a bar, part of KU tradition
Rv Abbie Jones
Not much has worried Leona Alumbaugh in her 28 years as the Wheel's cook. Except for the time the fire extinguisher exploded in her
Kansan Magazine writer
"I was white from my head to my toe," she said recently.
Alburnough has become as much of a tradition as the card games, burger and walls of graffiti at the Wyndham Wheel Café. 507 W.14th St.
toe, she said recently. Former Wheel owner Jim Large told her she looked like Frosty the Snowman.
the Wagon Wheel car, Mrs.
Present owner John Wooden says
she's a woman with clout.
"Whatever she says goes." Wooden said. "I have a rule that employees can be replaced, but she can't."
The bright red and blue shack known by most as the Wheel, remains a haven for Friday afternoon beer drinkers, alumni, Greeks and athletes. The Fighting Jayhawk song remains on the jukebox and the tavern has a night dedicated to people from Hutchinson.
Students can sit atop the Wheel's wooden booths while others recline under a tree in the beer garden. They even may be chimpanzee patrons, who spend time in business known to cater to those plucked with drunken munchies at midnight.
"It's an institution," said Roger Smith, Overland Park junior, who sits and plays cards with other
employees. "This has been continually popular."
ly popular.
Smith looks up and shakes his
head.
head.
"I'm no better at cards than when I started here," he said.
Wooden, who bought half the bar in 1965 and the rest in 1966, has watched generations of students talk, drink beer, eat and watch baseball games.
A short man with gray hair and a big smile, he kicks his feet up on a booth and chats about one of his favorite topics.
quotes.
"Kids are the greatest things in the world," said Wooden, also known as "Woo."
"I have a young mind, but an old body," he said.
Wooden prizes his 12-company son,
whom he affectionately calls his
"boys."
They have a say in almost everything, he said, and if they don't like someone Wooden has just thred, the person won't be working there for them.
"They're a different breed of cats," he said. "They are the greatest. They drive me nuts."
His boys also have a knack for encouraging women customers to come to the tavern. The boy treats customers with a masculine atmosphere of the bar, he said.
"They always treat ladies right cause they'll bring in the male customers." Wooden said. "Every day is ladies' day at the Wheel."
day is kinder day than The staff works on a theory of honesty.
"We just have a good rapport," he said. "They are honest with me and I'm honest with them. I just treat them equal."
Smith said he liked the crowd and getting paid for having a good time.
"When people are drunk they are at their finest," Smith said. "What's a better job than helping people at their fines and getting paid for it?"
"Hutch Trash Night," usually at the end of April, is an annual event that started when three guys from Hutchinson introduced an all-out drinking frenzy in honor of their hometown.
pioneer. John Hinshaw, Hutchinson sophomore, said the night was wild. He moved in, said "him."
sophomore, said the night was wild. "It's just a big beer bight." Hindsay pointed at the shirt ripped up and there is about an inch of beer on the floor."
Wooden chooses to stay out of the festivities.
Kansan Magazine
One year a woman had written four cheeks for beer, but she never got to drink anything because she kept throwing it on somebody, he said.
"I just put up with it," he said. "I stayed out on the porch that night. It's the wildest night of the year."
Kids weren't always so fond of the bar scene, Wooden said. In the late 1960s the times and the kids were different.
"Everybody just hid in their apartments and smoked grass," he said. Many times KU alumni walk in for
10
Wednesday, April 30; 1986
1.2
FOOD BARN FRONT FOR UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN — 4/30/86