ROGERS — This year, Wesner’s Grill celebrates its 66th year in business. To honor the occasion, the business committee members of Main Street Rogers presented Ken Croft, the owner of Wesner’s, a decorative plaque and birthday cake on Friday, Oct. 16. Also, John Hawkins, of Hawkins Silks, presented Ken with a beautiful floral arrangement for the occasion. Wesner’s is by far the oldest eating establishment in Rogers.

Harry Wesner, the founder of Wesner’s Grill, owned a shoe store and several restaurants including the Snack Shack in the 1950s and 1960s at 111 S. Second St. The Snack Shack was a small building that was removed about 1970, and today the site is occupied by Romeo’s Pipe & Tobacco Co.

It is reported that Harry Wesner bought the Traveler’s Hotel and adjacent property at the northeast corner of Walnut and Third Street in 1925. In 1955, Harry Wesner built a new restaurant next door at 221 W. Walnut and did business there until he sold the business to Gene Parish in 1964. Parish operated Wesner’s Grill for about two years, and sold to Jim and Lucille Bronson about 1966. They operated Wesner’s until they were forced to move by the expansion of First National Bank (now Arvest) in 1978.

In 1978, the Bronson’s moved Wesner’s Grill to its present location at 117 W.

Chestnut. In 2006, Ken Croft bought the restaurant and became the sixth owner of the famous and historic business.

He and his wife, Tracy, own the buildings on Chestnut from Second Street east to the alley.

The section of West Chestnut now occupied by Wesner’s Grill and Jack’s Java and Cakes, (also owned by the Crofts) has an interesting and varied history. On the corner in the 1930s, the Church of Christ had a little white frame church where one of our more prominentcitizens, Jack Garner, was baptized. The church moved out in 1939 and the building became a chicken hatchery.

In 1950, Carroll Strong built the building now occupied by Wesner’s. It was divided into three different sections, with the center part occupied by Strong’s Venetian Blinds, and the eastern section by Strong’s Body Shop. In the late 1950s, the building housed Jack White’s Broiler and Chicken Hatchery and the Silver Electric Co.

About 1960, Selmer Treat bought the whole building and remodeled it for his business, Rogers Radio and Electric, formerly at 215 W. Walnut (now Stevette’s Fine Fashions). When Treat bought the building, the inside was open to the rafters and decorated with chicken feathers. Rogers Radio and Electric was in business here for almost two decades.

Later, Selmer Treat had a recreation parlor, DynamoFats, in the building until the late 1970s. He sold the building to Jim and Lucille Bronson in 1978 when they moved Wesner’s from Walnut Street.

The owners of Wesner’s have changed through the years, but the good food, reasonable prices, great service and wonderful atmosphere remain the same. The grill is more than a restaurant; it is an institution in downtown Rogers. The customers consist of every profession from doctors and lawyers to ditch diggers, and everyone knows each other. Many of the wonderful staff like Annette Denney, Ginger Mattox and Ricky Griggs have worked at Wesner’s for years and know the names of their customers, their likes and dislikes, their children and grandchildren, and everything that goes on in Rogers, Arkansas.

Ken Croft was a wholesale food salesman who serviced Wesner’s, when it came up for sale in 2004. He bought the business in June 2004, and kept the winning formula for the restaurant with few changes. I did notice that he added some motorcycle decorations to the predominant Coke memorabilia that has adorned every availablespace in the restaurant for many years.

To answer requests, Ken started a side catering business in the spring of 2007.

That business has been very successful, and since he catered two of the Hales’ family reunions, I can attest that you get more than your money’s worth of food and service.

A year ago, in October of 2008, Ken and Tracy opened Jack’s Java and Cakes next door at 115 W. Chestnut. It is a coffee shop and bakery, and offers all types of coffee drinks, gourmet pastries and custom cakes. Jack’s Java also hosts an informal informational meeting every Wednesday of the downtown merchants with Kerry Jenson, the director of Main Street Rogers.

Wesner’s Grill is a real asset to downtown Rogers, and we hope that it continues to serve food, conversation, and friendship for another 66 years.

James Hales is a retired homebuilder and historian who has written two books about the history of Rogers.

His latest book, The Fabulous 1960s in Rogers, Arkansas, chronicles the exciting changes that occurred in the decade of the 1960s.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/28/2009

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