By Susan Edmonston, Editor Emeritus
Bumper to Bumper, in Protection, has a new store manager – Mike McMoran of Coldwater.
He recently replaced Jeff Heath who managed the Protection location since April 15, 2011. Heath is now employed by the Comanche County Road and Bridge Department as the noxious weed director.
McMoran is in the store from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.
Plans are to have an open house later this year.
Bumper to Bumper is a well-stocked business for agricultural, automotive and industrial supplies and repairs. If the store doesn’t have what customers need, the Jobbers Automotive warehouse in Wichita is contacted and it is possible that the overnight delivery truck will have it for customers the next morning.
Incidentally, when that truck shows up in Protection, Mark Houghton, longtime resident of Protection, meets the driver, picks up supplies in his own Jobbers Warehouse truck and leaves town around 11 p.m.to make maybe a dozen stops between Protection and Walsh, Colo., before returning to Protection by 10 a.m.
More on McMoran
McMoran celebrated a birthday on July 14 and is now 46. He enjoys riding his motorcycle and also has a dirt bike. He and his brothers Ed and Cam used to go to Great Bend and occasionally participate in drag racing events. Another hobby is hunting, and he participates in the coyote calling contests. McMoran also has an interest in old vehicles.
He grew up on a farm 14 miles south and 17 miles east of Coldwater with his parents Ray “Mac” and Diane McMoran and siblings Ed, Cam and Angela. His companion nowadays is his 2.5-year-old German Shepherd.
McMoran graduated from Coldwater High School in 1999, the final year before the Protection and Coldwater schools combined and was renamed South Central.
He attended the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson, graduating in 2001 as a deputy for Comanche County. He served as undersheriff from 2003 to 2009, and as sheriff from 2009 to 2017. He then worked for the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission as an enforcement agent, stationed at the Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City.
He became a truck driver for Milk River Trucking, in Hugoton and later hauled fertilizer for Alliance Ag and Grain from Woodward, Okla., to Greensburg. Between trucking jobs, he was employed by Sally Selzer, working a couple of years in her Worship Woodworks building on North Main in Coldwater.
New Employee
Deuce Monroe, 20, of Protection, who works at Bumper to Bumper Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., does delivery and sales.
His parents are John and Kristine Monroe, who moved to Protection 18 months ago and remodeled the building that had Don’s Place cafe. The building is now used as Round One sports bar. The upstairs of the building was remodeled also and now has a boxing gym. Tae Kwondo classes are held for youngsters age four and up. Adults, too, can sign up for exercise.
Monroe’s grandparents are Sondra “Sonie” (Filson) and the late Bill Monroe. His great-grandparents are Gary and Charlotte Filson, of Protection.
He has a younger brother, Michael “Mikey,” who will be a seventh grader this year at South Central Middle School, in Protection.
When John Kearnes Monroe II was in middle school he picked up the nickname “Deuce.” He graduated from MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas – a suburb of Dallas – and then attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University, in Alva, Okla., taking classes toward a business administration degree.
He is a fan of the Dallas Cowboys and Dallas Mavericks. He enjoys boxing, golf, running, and he competes in amateur boxing tournaments. Monroe was a youth summer camp counselor in golf. Some of his golfing travels have been to California, Las Vegas, New Mexico and Florida.
An interesting fact about Monroe is he knows a lot about basketball stats as far back as 50 years ago, and has an extensive basketball card collection with a few football cards added to the mix.
Some of his favorite memories are spending Christmas with his grandparents, Bill and Sonie Monroe and taking family trips to a RV park in Texas.
Monroe also has a summer birthday. It was June 23. His future plans are to live on his own. Working at Bumper to Bumper, in Protection, is helping him get acquainted with local and area residents.
