This past month I had a book signing at Murphy's Mercantile & Cafe in Stark, KS. It was a day of celebration as PBS of Topeka, KS was there filming for their Sunflower Journeys program.
Production crew members, Bill Shaffer and Jim Kelly, were there to film an episode that would focus on businesses that help save small towns. Rick and Portia Murphy opened Murphy's Mercantile and Cafe in 2007. The program will air sometime this fall.
Pictured below is music teacher and Stark resident, Nancy Richwine who provided entertainment at the cafe during the filming. 
I met Portia a few months ago when I first visited her cafe as part of some research I was doing on my current work in progress -- Blades of Autumn. This book is the third book in the Seasons of the Tallgrass series and focuses on Clara Lambert, the owner of Clara's Cafe. Seasons of the Tallgrass readers will recognize Clara from the first book in the series, as Mattie's best friend.
Pictured below are cafe staff with Portia. 
*Black and white photos provided by Joe Capolino from The Erie Record newspaper
