OZARK, MO — Things can get heated up at local hot spots.
On Saturday, February 1, 2025, the aroma of coffee, bacon, eggs and pancakes fills the air. Conversations burst forth at certain tables. Others quietly await breakfast at Sands Cafe.
A tall, gray-stubbly faced man with deep set eyes, in cowboy boots and hat, checkered shirt and vest, circulates about, greeting guests with a discount card to Papa John’s Pizza. He has his own discount code ROOSTER30, which gives anyone a 30% discount online. (Feel free to use it yourself!)
He also has another objective. Promote Eddie Campbell, Ozark mayor candidate. Eddie, pictured above and below, also wears a cowboy hat and boots, but he’s shorter and more experienced in life than Johnny, who is NOT pictured. Election Day is April 8, and Johnny Rooster is stumping for Campbell as Campbell’s campaign manager.
“Eddie’s on city council now,” Rooster tells this table and that. “He’ll be a great mayor. He catches things other city leaders miss. Stuff that’s important and could cost the city time and money if they don’t figure it out. Meanwhile, the current mayor follows what his cronies say.”
The practice is common during election campaign season at diners where locals gather.
Rooster approaches a corner table with three working class men, hands them each a discount card, and continues his friendly banter. One of the men interrupts him. Cold. Prickly. “You can leave right now.”
Startled, Rooster looks down at the seated man in a dark green hoodie. “What’s the problem?”
“You. I’m tired of you runnin’ your mouth. So, you can just move on away from our table.”
Rooster, not one to be pushed, counters, “And what if I don’t?”
It’s the seated man’s turn to be startled. His eyes widen in surprise and disbelief. As the two stare one another down, a sassy smirk crosses his face. He snorts in disgust. “You really are something, aren’t you? I’ve never met you, but I’ve heard all about you.”
The man goes on to decry the Christian County Trumpet, a local news and entertainment blog published by yours truly, Johnny Rooster. He believes the publication is, well, a slang word for excrement.
“How so?” Rooster continues, not budging an inch. The other men at the table watch with growing intrigue.
The flustered man again orders Rooster to leave.
“Why are you so scared of me? What have I done to you?” Rooster asks.
“I’m not scared of you! Now leave!” the man barks.
“What’s your name?” Rooster asks.
“I’m not giving you my name.”
Rooster turns to one of the others, none other than the son of Bob Estep. “What’s his name?”
Estep doesn’t answer, waiting to see what’ll shake down.
“I’m not telling you my name,” the other man insists.
“I’ll find out your name,” Rooster retorts and spins away toward Eddie Campbell’s table in the opposite corner. Rooster points out the man in the dark green hoodie, and Campbell and those at his table don’t know him. The angry man crosses over to pay for his meal. Campbell approaches him to be friendly, but the man brushes him off.
Carrie Sands, owner of the cafe, later summoned Rooster and politely requested he not approach any more tables. “We’ve had complaints,” she told him. “I know it’s that time of year (for campaigning) and I don’t like confrontation. So please, stop.”
Rooster thanked her and said he understood.
I apologize to Carrie Sands and the man in the dark green hoodie for any offense. Please forgive me. I’m a stubborn and strong-willed person.
After thinking about the situation, I, Johnny Rooster, believe the angry man in the situation is likely connected to former Sparta Mayor Jenni Davis. Davis filed four counts of harassment against me because she didn’t like my bringing up anything to do with her use of federal covid money to buy an old bank building. I pointed out in the CCT the money could have been better used and the public should have had more input in the purchase. The building now sits for sale by the city because of monthly expenses. There is no practical city use for the old building. (I told you so!)
Read about the Jenni Davis lawsuit here.
NOTE: Bob Estep, a now 78-year-old Sparta farmer, was tasered 10 years ago by Sparta police. The case went to federal court and the FBI got involved. Read about that here. An unrelated taser tragedy occurred with excessive use of force in Missouri where the officer was charged. Read about that here.
Bob Estep himself was at Eddie Campbell’s table later that Saturday morning at Sands Cafe. It’s ironic how he and I were both pursued by Sparta police. We have that in common. He’s a nut and a whiner, and I’m an arrogant jerk. But hey, we both vote for conservatives and we both want good, conservative, constitution minded leaders, like Eddie Campbell. Neither I nor Bob Estep live in Eddie Campbell’s district, but we would surely vote for him if we did.