The Midway was a great place for young people to meet and socialize back in its day. Notice the giant ice cream on the front porch.
Cuba, Missouri: The Midway Restaurant on Route 66 was a great place to socialize and meet friends in its day. Some of the match-ups were fleeting and did not last. For others, lasting bonds were formed that stood the test of time.
The Midway Part II article that was recently published in the Cuba Free Press, dealt with four romances that began at the Midway and developed into lasting relationships.
The laughter is gone now, but the stories remain.
The Midway was a place for travelers, soldiers, family celebrations, and a hangout for Cuba’s young people where they could dance and socialize. And for one of the waitresses in the 1940s, it was a place where she would meet her husband.
The Browns
Helen Dickens worked at the Midway for four years in the 1940s. She worked there during the expansion years when plaster might come raining down on the customers. She was just a young teenager herself, but the owner Mrs. Earls hired her to work the day shift and grew to be her friend.
Then a young Cecil Brown from Leasburg who had just got out of the service in 1949 started coming to the Midway. He was a concrete finisher and had a good job in St. Louis. “At first, I just knew him as Gladys Brown’s brother. He came in with her,” stated Mrs. Brown. Soon, Cecil was coming in by himself, sitting over his order, and visiting with Helen. “He would leave a nice tip and would flirt a little.” Soon the two were dating, and Cecil asked Helen Dickens to become Helen Brown. Although Helen had quit working at Midway before she married and was working at the drug store, Mrs. Earls gave her a wedding shower. The Browns were married in 1950, and the marriage lasted 54 years before Cecil passed on, and now Mrs. Brown lives in her home north of Cuba and enjoys talking about her early days at Midway and the young veteran she met there who would change her life.
The Browns on their wedding day in 1950 as they stepped into a new future. Their marriage lasted 54 years.
The Bouses
Another local couple that found love in Midway is Ruby Martin and Tom Bouse, who connected at the Midway in the 1950s when Ruby was 16 and Tom was 20. “I knew who Tom was because all the Bouses played softball, but I had never really talked to him.” Ruby was at the Midway after a softball game with her sister Charlotte who was dating Tom’s brother Pete. Tom came over to the table, and he and Ruby made a connection, but when Tom asked Ruby out for the weekend, she said that she already had a date. He said, “Break it.” When she told him that she couldn’t do that, Tom said, “If I can convince him to wait for his date until the next week, will you go out with me this weekend?” Ruby said yes, and believe it or not, Tom did convince the other guy to wait, so he and Ruby could go out. The rest, as they say, is history. They went out, kept dating, and the other guy never got that date. After a couple of years of dating, they were married in 1959. The Bouses say that their deep faith has helped keep them together for 52 years.
The Bouses returned to Midway for their second anniversary and have a fond spot in their thoughts for the Midway and the fun that young people use to have there. Ruby said, “Allyne really respected the kids, but she didn’t take any guff.” Ruby remembers that the school buses from the opposing schools would stop at the Midway after games for the kids to enjoy themselves.
Recently, while Ruby was telling me about how Tom came in Midway that first night and came over to her table, Tom interrupted her and said, “Let me tell you what really happened.” According to Tom, when he walked in and saw Ruby, he thought, “Wow, wow, wow, that’s the one that I want.” Today he says, “We have been together 52 years, and the flames still haven’t gone out.” Wow, wow, wow.
Tom Bouse and Ruby Martin connected at the Midway in the 1950s after Tom’s softball game. Tom remembers thinking “Wow, Wow,Wow” and that Ruby was the girl for him. After 52 years of marriage, the “Wow” is still there.
The Gibbes
Judy Dodd and Jim Gibbs also met at Midway. If you gave their love story a title, it might be “love delayed.” Judy Dodd, who lived at Fanning, was visiting a friend who lived close to Midway. On New Year’s 1965, the two girls walked to Midway to meet friends and visit as it was still a place for young people to socialize. Judy’s friend introduced her to Jim Gibbs, who had finished his National Guard Training and was back working on the family farm in Davisville. There was only one problem. Judy was 15, and Jim was 21. Judy says Jim was afraid that Judy’s dad would run him off because of the age difference if he asked her out. “We would see each other from time to time, but he didn’t ask me out until April, 1966 when I was 17.” Judy then laughs and says, “I told him that I was 18. My mom did have a problem with the age difference until she got to know Jim.” They began dating and married in February, 1967. They have been married for 44 years.
The Bransons
Diane Cooksey of Cherryville met her husband Leo Branson of Cuba at the Midway in February,1968. Ironically, Diane is Ruby Bouse’s cousin and their moms are twins. She was 19, and Leo was 21 and just home from Vietnam. “I had been working as a police department administrative assistant in St. Louis and came home to visit my mom. My girlfriend and I went to the Midway to get something to eat, and Leo and his friend came in. I kind of knew the other guy, and we spoke when we were in Midway.” According to Diane, “When we all left Midway, we went out by two different doors, but they were parked next to us, and we spoke again in the Midway parking lot.” Diane and her friend started driving around town, and Leo and his friend were behind them. “Because it was rainy and wet, every time that we came to a stop sign, my car would die. After a little bit, it would start again, and we would go on. The guys were still behind us.” Well, after the third time of the car dying, Leo and his friend got out to talk to the girls. The weather didn’t put a damper on their getting to know each other. Leo and Diane realized that they were both living in Fenton. Leo asked Diane for her phone number, and they started dating. They married in May of 1969. After living in St. Louis County, they have both retired and have built a house at Jakes Prairie. They have been married for 42 years.
Diane Cooksey and Leo Branson’s Midway connection has led to a marriage of 42 years.
The above stories show that Midway was not only a restaurant and hotel but also a place where young people could meet and form lasting relationships that would span the decades.
Many people, who aren’t familiar with the Midway’s past, don’t really “get” how important the run down old building is to the community. Hopefully, these stories about the Midway and its importance in people’s lives can give a little more insight into what Midway has meant to the community. If you have a Midway story to tell, write it in a Letter to the Editor or online in the comment section to this story.
As long as the stories go on, the Midway lives.
For Part I of the Midway history, read here.
Thank you for this article. Although I have lived in Michigan for the past 40 plus years, Cuba is MY HOME TOWN. I even bought a house in Cuba on Enloe Rd. These stories are great ones. I am so glad that this has been researched and provided in this forum. My late husband and I, Carl Mallison spent a great deal of time in the Midway, before we got married and he was shipped off to France. We spent our honeymoon night at the Wagon Wheel, and it remains in my heart as one of the most beautiful places. We still stay there when we come HOME! Thanks
We love hearing all the Midway, Wagon Wheel, and stories that people have about growing up in Cuba. The people make a town. We are glad that Cuba loves its history and is still thriving.
Thanks for sharing this! My parents(The Gibbses) told me that story through the years…going on 42 years now!
It was a great story. I wish they would have given us their photo. If you can coax one out of them, I can still add it to the blog.
Jane, this is another Midway Matchup.
My sister, Dolores, was a waitress there in the summer of 1946. Mrs Earl had recruited her from Eads Cafe, raising her salary from $12 to the princely sum of $15 a week. Bill Jones, a WWII veteran from Steelville, was operating the White House Service Station, along with his brother, Johnny. The White House was on the western side of Cuba, on Route 66. Bill, and a friend Bob Decker, would come by daily for lunch. And along with the order, would be a request for a date. Dolores was not too interested, since she was dating a boy from Rolla. Bill was not discouraged and continued his plea, when he, alone, began to come back each evening for supper. Finally in late August, Dolores relented.
And now in October 2013, this couple will be celebrating 67 years of marriage.
All part of that Midway Magic and one more Midway Matchup.