History of Warda Store Continued

This week we continue where we left off on the history of the old Warda Store.

Disaster struck Warda when Gene Vinson suddenly passed away on Christmas Day in 1992. Sylvia Vinson was told by her doctor that she needed to sell the Warda Store; it had just become too much for her to manage on her own. Local residents feared they would lose the store and post office. A local resident said, “A town without its own zip code is just not a town these days; to preserve the identity of Warda, the post office has to remain open.”

On June 1, 1993, a community meeting was held at the store and Pastor Boyce (known as the unofficial Mayor of Warda) and Billy Lange came up with the idea that if they could get enough investors, maybe they could buy it themselves and keep it local. They never imagined that the whole community would buy the store, but that’s exactly what happened. The residents pooled their money and bought the store that also held their post office. Shares were one thousand dollars each and sold out in 90 minutes. Some bought one share, others bought more. A newspaper article from that time says $100,000 was raised. There were 34 families that became the new owners and formed Warda Investors Inc.

At the time, Ann Bamsch said, “When they get it in their minds they’re going to do something around here, it’s going to be done.” Ann served as the store’s secretary/treasurer and also added, “Just like that, they came up with the money, and I wouldn’t describe people around here as frugal, I’d describe them as very frugal.” John Teinert was quoted, “This community sticks together; usually we’re a bunch of tight-fisted farmers, but we cut loose to save our store.” A grand re-opening was held on October 3, 1993, with music by The J & J Country Band. An evening meal of barbeque chicken, sausage and plenty of cold beer and soda water was served.

The store became more than just a store. In addition to the famous Warda Burger, it was the center of communication and social activities. The store served as the official weigh-in station for the local deer hunting contests each fall. It was also known as the site of some of the best domino games in this part of the world. Ralph Bamsch, one of the investors, recalls, “There was a group that met at the store every Wednesday afternoon to play dominoes. And of course, there was beer.”

Bill Lange, chairman of the Warda Investors group, was quoted at the time, “We felt we needed this. It’s our local newspaper: if someone gets sick or dies, we spread the word through this store. We’re surely the only community store owned by the community.” Another investor, Elmo Pietsch, was quoted, “Without it, Warda would have been a ghost town.” Robert Lehmann said at the time, “What in the world would we do without this 119-year tradition? There was a lot of thought that if we let the store go down, the whole community would go down. It would leave a big hole in the heart of this community.”

Housewives became cashiers, waitresses and bartenders; the men-folk handled the heavyduty cooking. Everyone helped with the scrubbing of dishes and floors. The tables were covered with green oilcloth tablecloths.

All of the able-bodied investors worked; several were older and couldn’t work. On Thursday nights (fried chicken night) and Friday nights (fried fish night), people would often be lined out the door. When the dining area was full, they would set up tables in the game room. They also expanded the menu to include fried and grilled steaks. While you could still purchase a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread, most of the shelves were moved to the walls to expand the eating area, and an additional room in the back was added to accommodate the Thursday- and Friday-night cooking. Lange noted in an earlier newspaper article that “before the cook room was added, we were cooking out under the oak trees in a wash pot.” Boyce noted that “there was a time when sheets of tin had to be brought in to keep the wind from blowing out the fires underneath the pot.”

An Austin American Statesman article lists six employees, two full-time and four part-time, but that it was volunteer labor that cooked the chicken and catfish on Thursday and Friday nights and watched over this town hall. It was noted in the article that shareholder Gladys Giese stopped by on a recent Sunday to see how things were going and ended up working. Giese was quoted, “I don’t mind, it’s my store.”

A steady parade of residents passed through the store each day, some coming in to pick up their mail and enjoy some conversation, others picking up a Warda Burger to go. A Dallas news article quotes Robert Lehmann saying, “It’s a place where you can always come in and share your troubles or your victories, and there’s people to listen to you.”

The July 4 weekends were busy in Warda. The store was the center of the Wardafest. One local resident recalls, “It was big. People came from all over for the big fish fry, music and beer.”

In April 1994, some of the investors again pooled their money and purchased three and three-fourths acres of land that adjoined the store. This included the site of Paul Lehmann’s Blacksmith Shop and Sawmill.

The investors owned the store for eight years and ran a good business, although one of the investors said, “it was a lot of work.” During this time, eight of the investors passed away.

In April 2001, the Warda Investors Group sold the Warda Store to Rose and Vince Stewart of Giddings. One shareholder said, “when we sold it to Rose, we walked out and she walked in; it never closed. It kept running.” Stewart and her husband operated the store until she was diagnosed with cancer.

On April 21, 2005, the post office that was inside the store moved to its current location across the street.

In September 2008, Stewart sold the store to Jonah Murchison. During this time, there was no activity at the store. It was reported that Murchison began some of the renovations in hopes to sell the store.

In March 2013, Murchison sold the store to Allen and Rebecca Pyburn. They made improvements to the store, inside and out.

In 2017, it was leased as a restaurant and Café 77 opened, which was open for one year. The mural painted on the side of the building you saw in last week’s column was done by Pastor Wolfram. It was painted over when the store was leased to Café 77.

In late 2019, the store was leased to Chris and Miranda Kimey and is currently the home of QueZeen BBQ.

So, what was in that $2 Warda Burger that made it so good? A Washington Post newspaper article asked Bill Lange that very question and his answer was, “It’s a souped-up burger and it has a reputation.”