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George Pyle: After the eclipse

A moment of darkness spotlights one of my family’s old haunts.

The Koch (pronounced "Cook") Motel, Sabetha, Kansas, enjoyed a moment in the spotlight, er, eclipse this morning.

This tweet was posted by a reporter for Kansas City public radio station KCUR this morning as he ventured into the wilds of Northeast Kansas  — Brown County, specifically — to scope out the total eclipse of the sun.

I stayed in this hotel several times when I was young, as my family traveled to the area to visit relatives.

One thing visitors should be aware of: At least when I was going there, the most recent time being probably 30 years ago, there was a sign at this hotel that said, ”Pool.”

It didn’t mean they had a swimming pool. It meant they had a pool table. A nice one. In an air-conditioned room.

And, if you are worried about that sort of thing, this hotel is no connection to the infamous Koch brothers from down Wichita way. The millionaires pronounce their name like ”Coke. ” The guy who used to run this motel pronounced it ”Cook.” And the former mayor of New York City, who I actually met once, long after he was out of office, was Ed ”Kotch.”

(Speaking of signs. It took me awhile to realize that this one says, ”Now Hiring,” rather than “No Whiring.” I guess that comes of becoming a full Utahn, where people worry about whirling disease in fish.)

Also, the Washington Post reported on its special follow the eclipse page that some enterprising fellows in nearby Hiawatha were marketing T-shirts that said, ”I blacked out in Brown County.”