By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
On this historic day for downtown Salina, Steve Howard was filled with gratitude.
As Howard's Cozy Inn celebrated its 100th anniversary Saturday, Howard did a little bit of everything. He greeted people. He checked on orders. He delivered bags of burgers to hungry customers waiting outside. A large part of his day, however, was spent thanking people for being customers and for participating in the little downtown burger joint's 100th anniversary celebration.
The festivities kicked off about 8:30 a.m. as Hurts Donut of Wichita made an appearance with its Emergency Donut Vehicle.
"We love Cozy Inn! We love the people, the atmosphere, and especially the food! We make sure we stop every time we are in the area. Over the past few years we have gotten to know Steve and his family. We have shared several laughs by their grill while talking business. We were honored to be apart of their 100th birthday," Jenni Courtney of Hurts Donut told Salina Post.
Courtney, her husband, Aaron, and her son, Judah, made the truck run from Wichita to Cozy Inn. She said they sold 120 dozen donuts, 100 bacon bars, and 75 apple fritters.
Even as the donuts were being sold, the aroma of onions cooking on the Cozy Inn's historic grill wafted through the air as Cozy Inn staff prepared to begin selling burgers at 9 a.m. Burger sales were scheduled to run until 9 p.m. Saturday.
At about 6 p.m., Howard said that Cozy Inn had started the day with 300 pounds of hamburger. At that point, they had 75 pounds left. A Cozy Inn employee noted that thousands of burgers had already been sold.
From the time donut sales began, hundreds of people flocked to the Cozy Inn to be part of the 100th anniversary celebration. Many were locals, but a number had come from out of town to participate in the festivities.
People took selfies in front of the 100th anniversary sign or under one of the Cozy Inn sign. Some even requested photos with Howard.
At noon, the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce conducted a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Eric Brown, chamber president and CEO, told those assembled that 100 years ago "the population of Salina was 25,000. Warren G. Harding was president. The price of gas was 26 cents a gallon. You could get a sedan for $1,400. A loaf of bread was five cents. A Cozy burger was five cents."
"If you take away a thousand days, give or take, for weekends, the Cozy Inn has been open about 27,500 days," Brown continued. "And if you averaged simply a thousand burgers a day, which they do, easily, that's over 27.5 million Cozy sliders the last 100 years!"
"And keep in mind, that's the same grill from day one, seasoned to perfection," Brown added.
Brown then thanked Cozy Inn and all of its owners, current and past, for what they have done to help put Salina on the map.
Howard said the celebration was "pretty overwhelming."
"Great turnout. The weather's awesome. A little chilly this morning, but it will warm up. I just thank everybody for their patience and being part of this celebration," Howard told Salina Post at lunchtime.
After the ribbon cutting, the celebration continued with prizes, a bouncy house for the kids, and, of course, Cozy burgers. Special 100th anniversary T-shirts also were for sale.
As the sun began to set on Salina Saturday evening, people were still lining up at the carryout window to place or pickup orders or were sitting on one of the six stools inside. Business was still brisk enough at 6 p.m. that there was an approximate 45-minute wait on burger orders. Nonetheless, people waited and continued to place orders.
After all, Salinans do love their Cozy burgers!