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By Wayne Woodruff

After the hardware store came Cable Implement, taking up the whole corner where Highway 166 turned east. Cables sold Ford automobiles and some farm implement and had a thriving auto-machine repair shop. They were nice people. The big garage door entrance to the shop was on the west side off the highway, and then there was another entrance directly across the shop that opened out onto the alley which led up to the high school and the Post Office. For the kids of the area, it was much easier to cut through Cable's Implement than to walk all the way around the block, so there was more kid traffic through there than they probably wanted. But Charley Cable was nice and tolerant, and did not run us off as he probably felt like. Mr. Cable was another good friend of my dad's and they spent a lot of time visiting about important things. Dad and Charlie Cable and Andy Early were all short men, so I guess they enjoyed talking to each other because they didn't have to look up to visit.??

Across the highway was the Maple Hotel. I don't know much about the history of the old building that housed the hotel, but there was always someone living there. ??????

Across the street from the hotel on the south was a filling station. I am very fuzzy about this, but I think it was run by Jess Foster in my early years, but then by one of the Marshall brothers later on. It is interesting, but I was in CV recently and could only find one filling station, up on the highway coming into town from the east. In 1950, there were nine stations. One was the Farmers Co-op run by Pete Napier and later by Bob Bailey, I believe. At one time, three stations were run by Marshall brothers.,???? Another by Jess Foster and his boys. There were also gas pumps at the Williams Garage and at Mr. Patteson's store up across from the high school softball area. Nine total.

Back across the street going east was Carter's John Deere Implement store, competing with Cable Implement which sold Farmall tractors and implements.?? Frank Carter, owner and his daughter, Juanell, a real beauty.

Still going east we come to the gas station run by Fosters. Later on I am told, they added a grocery to the business. Jess and Dorothy Foster were great people and their children were all outstanding athletes, even their daughter.

Next, on the corner, sometime later the Cedar Vale Motel was built, has since closed.

Still going east, across the street was the Skelley filling station owned by Wilkersons. And right back of the station was Grant Utt's feed store. We use to take eggs in to sell there and he had a neat little box with a light in it to "candle" the eggs to be sure they were OK. Grant was a big man, loved to play and talk baseball, so there were always men and boys sitting around getting and giving bits of baseball lore.

Beside the Skelley station there was a barber shop, I believe was owned by Twid Martin. It was also a place for the men to congregate and gossip just like women.

Next was the Cedar Vale Café, and was a nice place to eat for very little money. Food was good and you could get a complete chicken fried steak meal with dessert and drink for $.99.

It seems that there was another business beside the Café, maybe a beauty parlor, maybe an insurance agency.??? I need help there, also.

Then came the Williams Chevrolet. They sold cars, gasoline and had excellent mechanics. I bought my first used car from them in1956. It was a 1951 Chevy coupe that had been owned by a couple from Wichita that were traveling down to the Ozarks, and blew the engine close to Cedar Vale. So Kale Williams traded their broken down coupe for a new car (plus a little cash, I presume) and they drove off to the mountains. The mechanics rebuilt the engine and I had a car of my own. I kept it for several years, driving it back and forth to school.

Above the Williams Garage was my most un-favorite place in town, Herb Stones Dental torture shop. I and my fluoride deficient teeth spent many miserable hours sitting in the dental chair with that old low speed drill humming away. He did not use any anesthetic of any kind, but he took his time, gave the patient time to recover between drillings and we all survived. He must have been an excellent dentist, because I still have some of the inlays that he made and put in 55 years ago. He loved to talk high school sports, so he and I had informative conversations between drilling, while the other patients sat in the waiting room, patiently, I am sure.