The Rock Wall

Just got off the phone with two fine young businessmen – Mike Burns and Kevin McCollough. Mike is the president and owner of Auburn Pharmacy which bought out the Wilkinson Pharmacy chain Aug. 1, 2017.

The name AuBurn Pharmacy is a compilation of his last name and the last name of his partner in the early days who they lost tragically. My first question to Mike was whether he is an Auburn fan. Nope. Didn’t even watch them destroy the No. 1 ranked team, Georgia, the other day. But, as he traveled to some of his 30 pharmacies, some in the South, someone would say something behind him then be looking the other way when Mike turned around.

Finally, Mike figured it out. They were saying, “Roll Tide,” a common expletive of Alabama fans.

Mike told me that when he purchased the eight Wilkinson Pharmacy locations, he knew what he had to do with the El Dorado Springs store. He contacted Kevin McCollough, who he already knew and respected, about combining his operations with Kevin’s at Evans Drugs. He insisted that I immediately call Kevin, which I did.

Mike said he knew it would be better for El Dorado Springs for Evans Drugs to be a strong business so Kevin could continue offer the extra services to the community. Mike mentioned a small town of 3,800 in Kansas that has two newspapers. He said it would be better if there were one strong newspaper that could offer extra services to the community. Do tell.

Anyway, next Tuesday is the last day for Wilkinson Pharmacy. That night they will electronically transfer its pharmacy records to Evans. Kevin hopes it will be seamless for pharmacy customers at Evans on Wednesday and will work to make it so.

In the meanwhile, all gift items at Wilkinson’s are on sale for 75% off.

– We’re going to put our grandson trip on hold for awhile. Dr. Casey has diagnosed my terrible cough as a yeast infection which masqueraded as pneumonia. I’m getting better fast on the drug Dr. Casey prescribed, but when I’m ready for another test, it will take three days to grow a culture, sometime past Thanksgiving. Van’s doctor wants me to have clear lungs when I see him. I agree.

Van doesn’t have any patience when he wants Mamma to feed him, but he is in no hurry to see Grandma and Grandpa. We’ll get there.

– Adrian now has a tiny V necklace. Her mother-in-law, Jennifer, asked her son, Cain, if he got Adrian a push necklace. Those Southern gals can think of more ways to get hardware.

– Amy Ford had a big day on Saturday, Nov. 18. In the afternoon, she was crowned Miss Merry Christmas for the El Dorado Springs Christmas parade. Then that night, she was crowned queen of the El Dorado Springs FFA Barnwarming which was held in Bob Floyd’s barn. First time we’ve heard of that happening. Since Bob is the assistant fire chief, they kept the heat down on Barnwarmin’ to a low roar. KL