The Kozy Korner Restaurant
Shoo-fly pie Shoo-fly pie The location was superb for a restaurant. The first building North of Market on the East side on Main Street housed the United States Post Office until 1964 and a restaurant once known as the Kozy Korner Konfectionery--now simply shortened to the "Kozy Korner." In the early days of the Kozy Korner Konfectionery, back in 1925, for example, ice cream was a popular commodity, "Made in Sight by Men in White." If you were to casually ask for the location of the restaurant, a "native" would tell you it is on the "square" in Benton. Benton doesn't have an open, four-sided area planted with grass and trees and used as a park, which is what most think of when they think of a "square." We are really talking about the intersection of Main and Market Streets, bounded by the Kozy Korner restaurant and the Classic Grill, Jay's Sports Center, the coin shop, and the Columbia County Farmers National Bank. The Kozy Korner is on the south side of a double commercial building. Jay's Sporting Goods is on the north side. Scores of school students have tried to play frozen instruments in the "square" for the lighting of the Christmas tree and for Halloween parades. The "square" started life as a "T" when Second Street (now called Main Street) terminated at Market and then veered west and up the Distillery Hill or veered east to go by the Presbyterian Church and across the covered bridge. The major commerce of the town has nevertheless been conducted in the area known as the "square." We don't know the derivation of this usage of the word in the Borough, so lets just assume that it means that area is properly arranged and in good order, a place to get a "square deal" from the "square shooters" in the area. Or perhaps the name came from the square dances held after the Halloween parade with H. Keller doing the calling. Dr. Biddle, who after his retirement from the restaurant business, lived South of New Albany, was probably the first to own the Kozy Korner. Roy McHenry was one of the early owners of the restaurant. Diane Laubach's aunt, Thelma Deiter Johnson (sister of Helen Harvey) was a latter-day waitress who worked for Roy McHenry. John Herbert Laubach remembers that "One of our favorite sports during the Roy McHenry years was to call him on the telephone and ask if he had Prince Albert in a can. When he confirmed the item, we asked Roy why he didn't let him out." John remembers that "The Kozy Korner was a great browsing place for comic book enthusiasts. I bought my share of Captain Marvel items, along with Mr. Goodbars, as bedtime treats. In 1939. other local eateries included the Yost Dining Room (now the Hoboken Sub Shop) and the "Casey Restaurant, Albert Casey, Prop." The brave old boys! The wise old boys! With steel gray hair and wrinkles With shaky legs and double chins And bodies full of crinkles. They know it all, from cradle to grave, Worldly wise, from student to teacher, They've traveled life's highways, And often educated the Preacher! |
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An early picture of the Kozy Korner Confectionery, one of the longer versions of the name of the restaurant.The picture is taken from the south looking north on Main Street.The year of the picture is unknown. |
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A break in the years of service as a restaurant came when Joe McHenry, now an Arizona resident, teamed with Bill Arter to run Bill & Joe's Appliances from approximately 1949 until 1953 following the death of Roy McHenry. The move from the old store location to the new location had one unique episode. A safe was rolled down Main Street by pushing it with a truck! The store was an appliance, radio and RV store, selling the Frigidaire, Crosly and Motorola lines. After Joe Fullmer closed his radio repair shop, he did radio repairing at Bill and Joe's shop for a couple of years. In 1951, Joe McHenry was drafted into the Army during the Korean War and Bill ran the store during Joe's absence. Bill and Joe later moved their electronics business to Berwick when UHF television stations broadcasting started in Wilkes-Barre. Berwick was a straight shot down the Susquehanna River for the line-of-sight signal as television became popular. The move to Berwick was prompted by the poor television reception in the Benton area, a fact that has not changed a lot over the years.
Dick McHenry, from the Class of 1955, remembers after a hard day at soccer practice at the high school, he, Wayne Laidacker and Wayne Hess would stop at Kozy's for a cold frosted mug of root beer before heading for Maple Grove, Stillwater and Zaners. Wayne Laidacker drove with his lime-green Buick convertible that had four bald tires and 3 or 4 more bald ones in the trunk. Richard said, "we needed that frosted mug of root beer to helps us as we changed tires on the way home." Bruce and Celia Crawford ran the "Kozy Korner Restaurant" for four years when the Crawfords purchased the business about 1961. A large part of their trade came from school children who ran from the school to the restaurant to eat things like "pigs in the blanket" and other daily specials and from women on their 30-minute lunch hour from the John Dockey shirt factory. Virginia Yorks owned the Kozy Korner for thirty years. She was the daughter of Donavon Bender who farmed the former J.B. Sutliff farm and former wife of J. Wayne Yorks, now deceased, a former County Commissioner and member of the Fish Commission and the Fish and Boat Commission from 1980 until 1997. Commissioner Yorks served as president of the Fish and Boat Commission in 1982-83 and again in 1992-93. Virginia added a second bathroom to the restaurant, and removed the pin-ball machines and the juke box. They have their arthritis so bad! The fire of July 4, 1910, destroyed the building that formerly occupied the present location of the Kozy Korner. That building was owned by John G. McHenry.
The present building was built after that fire, with John G. McHenry the owner. John and Naomi McHenry sold the building to Gaza and Frank Mika about the time that the post office moved to its new location on Third Street. For a period of about ten years, the former post office became the "Mika Furniture Warehouse #1." Some may remember that the old post office interior was moved by Joe Savage, who worked for J. Paul Laubach at the time, to Tioga County where it formed the interior for the Roaring Branch post office, zip 17765, at that time a tenant in the Willard Holmes store outside of Canton. The location of that post office has now changed "from across the tracks," and it appears that we'll have to drive to the Canton area to determine whether the Benton post office interior is still in service or not. Jim, a postal employee from Roaring Branch, attempted to describe the interior to us over the telephone, but we suspect it has been retired. Frank Mika sold the building to Wayne and Virginia Yorks. Jay Yorks purchased the building after his uncle, Wayne, passed away. Jay has been "on the square" with his sports shop for the past thirty years. The area around the Kozy Korner has had its share of excitement. During the winter of 1937-1938, David Shaeffer, a murderer who had escaped from the state prison, skidded on ice as he zipped past the Kozy Korner and when he had come to a stop he had slammed into the bridge over Fishingcreek. Bruce Sutliff got the driver's door open and discovered that the driver was unconscious and that there was a revolver on the floor. Bruce then got to the passenger's identification and learned that he had the escaped convict. Doctor Confair was contacted and the captive was given an injection to keep him subdued until the authorities arrived. We remember the story of brother Dayne walking to the Kozy Korner when he was young. He noticed a strangely large number of men "milling" around behind the restaurant. When he came out of the restaurant after he had his VMP (vanilla, marshmallow and peanuts), the men were gone and in their place were an equal number and build of men all wearing the unmistakable Klan robe and hood. Beatrice (Hess) Roberts and Clark Sellers used to stop in "Kozys" together and sip a cherry or chocolate coke or pour a bag of peanuts in a regular coke. Their VMPs were the best, followed closely by their CMPs made with chocolate ice cream. A personal favorite was the vanilla coke, just the right blend of sweetness. Over the years, their "flying saucers," sort of a hoagie on a hamburg bun with Lebanon bologna, salami, lettuce and tomato, became legendary.
We remember when Father would finish carrying mail to postal patrons on R.D. 3, and would "be done" with his "chores" on the farm, and would head for the Kozy Korner for a cup of coffee. Father would always put on a white shirt and tie when he came to town for the cup of coffee "with the boys." The restaurant has also been used at night on occasions, like when the Benton Area Schools class of 1971 held their 30th class reunion there, or when Phil and Jackie spread the white tablecloths and held their rehearsal dinner there preliminary to becoming Mr. and Mrs. Phil Malhoyt. To make a good chowder and have it quite nice We remember when Hap Potter, Cambridge, Nebraska, would wander into the Kozy Korner. In his later years, Hap had suffered a stroke and his speech patterns were severely disrupted. He often had difficulty thinking of the right words to string together to make a sentence. For reasons we don't completely understand, Hap had no problem remembering the words, "Good deal!" Often when the former college administrator came to the Kozy Korner for his daily coffee, conversations would be spirited, but one-sided. Hap would agree with a comment we would make with a punctuated "Good deal!" He would try to tell others of something that interested him, but after an awkward delay, he would often shrug his shoulders and in a very resigned voice simply say "Good deal!" His many friends miss Hap and the conversations we all so dearly loved with this remarkable man where words didn't quite flow, while still treating the conversations with the deepest of respect.
A typical topic of conversation around the Kozy Korner starts off "the biggest bear I ever saw," or "the best coon dog I ever owned." It is necessary to sometimes read between the lines. An animal that was "treed" may never have left the ground. It might just have "holed" up somewhere like a cave or a hollow tree. References to a "painter" could be to a mountain lion that someone thought he saw the previous day, even though the Game Commission swears we don't have any. Other birds and animals come up in conversation, too. The expression "inta'flock" probably means 20 or so turkeys in one location at one time. When something is "up'ere" it means that it isn't down there and when it is "in'ere" it means it isn't out there. If the conversation doesn't start off talking about coon dogs or hunting, chances are it will start off with a simple "Hey!" Leon Robbins often begins a conversation with a simple, "Well, how are you boys takin' it today?" Ah! Dear old boys! We'll miss you when Upon your life's horizon Death's gloomy shadow falls The words of gratitude arising. And if in Heaven we find you not, with locks of silver shining, Where are the boys? The dear old boys? We'll ask with sad repining! The Kozy Korner is now owned by Starla Grassley, 28, who has operated the restaurant since she was 21. The restaurant is generally open from 6 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, although they close at 12:30 on Saturday. Starla's mother, Romaine Grassley, does all the waitressing of the restaurant by herself, just as Starla does all the cooking and baking of pies and cakes by herself.
A newcomer usually asks for the menu, while a "regular" simply knows to take the special and not ask a lot of questions. The story is told about the customer who once saw the word "fish" on the "special" board. He asked the waitress what the "catch of the day" was. Her immediate response: "fish sticks." As we mature, we dust less and read more, we spend quality time with our family and our friends and take on new interests involving cards and television and good food. We worry less about things undone. We concentrate more on sharing the good in our lives, the stories of our family, the mementoes that have come down through the generations, the little things that aren't taught in high school or trade school or college. We tend to try to look as though the world has treated us well. We are not like Father was twenty years ago, when he donned a white shirt and tie to go to Kozy Korner for a cup of coffee, but we tend to avoid the tattered jeans and flannel shirts that we once wore regularly. Looking prosperous seems to make paying $42 for a fill up at the gas station seem more acceptable. We use the terms "around to it" and "someday" a lot less, because if it is important to do sometime it is important to do it now. We see too many of the things that can only happen to other people happening to us, and we are starting to think that maybe we won't buy green bananas, either. And so we'll quit now and head over to Kozys for a cup of coffee. We have to buy some nongrade and someone there will know if we should get #2 or #1 nongrade. |
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Wednesday, January 11, 2006 6:56 AM