Chapter 2 The World of Molly Grace Iron Mike’s Irish Pub

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Lucky walked into Iron Mike’s Pub where he was greeted by the owner Iron Mike Murphy. Iron

Mike earned the name Iron Mike when he was in college. He was on the football team and played offensive tackle.

He was known for stopping opponents who were much larger than he was. He held the all-time college record for bench pressing. He managed to bench press over eight hundred pounds before he graduated college.

He was amazed that the record had since been surpassed and was currently held by Gene Rychlak Jr. with 965 pounds. One asset of being six foot five and over three hundred pounds is that very few people stepped out of line in Iron Mike’s Pub. For the most part it was a peaceful place.


Overall, the clientele of Iron Mike’s were peaceful anyway. There was Roger Nimmons, who was a mechanic down the street. Roger was the best diesel mechanic in the state. Truckers would drive hundreds of miles out of their way to get Roger to work on their trucks.

Roger was sitting in the corner booth talking with Tim Hunnicutt. Tim was a very rough looking biker who had found Jesus and was now a biking preacher. He would spend time in bars and pubs and witness to anyone who would listen. He was able to share the Word of God with many bar patrons because he looked like he was still one of them. He was six foot seven inches tall and had long hair that came to his belt. He had a long, scraggly beard and piercing eyes.


In spite of the fact that this group of people was often regarded as rough and outcasts, they had their place in the community. Whenever money was needed for a charity or cause, Iron Mike’s was the first place people turned.

Usually this group would get out amongst their friends and raise countless dollars for the cause. Several years back the Craft Attic burned. The owner, Beth Wilson, was injured in the blaze and could not work. She had medical expenses she could not pay and needed to make repairs to the building and replace stock. No one knew where the envelope that contained over $200,000 in it came from, but everyone was sure that the patrons at Iron Mike’s Pub had a hand in it.


Back about five years ago, Farmer Rainey (as far as anyone knows his given name is Farmer) became ill just before time to plant his corn crop. He was sick a long time. He shared with his devoted wife, Mary, every day how they would lose the farm since they could not get a crop out that year.

Mary slept by his hospital bed every night for weeks. As he started to recover, she would drive home at night and return every morning. She could not bear to look towards the fields as she passed by them. She knew she could not look at the empty fields knowing that this season would be their last.


One day Walt Garrison, who owned the local hardware store and grain elevator, came by Farmer’s hospital room and gave Farmer a check. The check was in payment for corn and sorghum that had been brought to the elevator early that morning and left outside the gates.

The harvest was in trailers and trucks belonging to Farmer and Mary. Walt explained that as the day progressed different farmers from the area would stop by and offer to return the now empty trucks and trailers to Farmer’s farm since it was on their way.

The check was the largest check Farmer and Mary had ever received for their crops. Walt swore he had no idea who had planted the crops nor who harvested them and brought them to the elevator. Regardless, the check was enough to pay off all the crop loans and provide a little living money for the year. There wasn’t enough to cover the ever growing hospital bill. By now it exceeded $150,000.


Farmer and Mary prayed every night for God to help them budget their money so that they could pay the bill. When Farmer checked out, the hospital informed them that the bill was paid in full. How could this be?

The woman in the business office at Pigeon Hole Memorial Hospital said that this happens all the time. Sometimes a cashier’s check will arrive with no remitter on it.

People from the town will go to the People’s Bank of Pigeon Hole and donate money to special accounts set up to cover a certain person’s medical expense and then someone would send a cashier’s check to cover the bill. In this case, there was a good bit of money left over that the bank would be sending Farmer and Mary a check for soon.

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