The Derail Bar and Grill

The Derail Bar and Grill has historically been the site for some of the best parties ever thrown in McCook and last Saturday was no exception. Of course, the Derail isn't a bar and grill at all, it's a garage next to Tim and Barb Shannon's house across the street from the Chief Hotel. He named it the Derail because Tim is a retired railroader and I added on the bar and grill moniker myself.

Two or three times a year, they throw a Nebraska watch party and that's what happened last Saturday. Tim invited around 40 of McCook's "in-crowd" and most of them showed up because this is an invitation coveted by most. When Tim and Barb throw a party, they do it right. He had 200 fresh oysters flown in from the East Coast, Barb cooked up some of the thickest, juiciest ribs I've ever tasted and there were all kinds of other tasty temptations on the buffet line. You could choose either oysters on the half-shell or oysters Rockefeller, prepared by Kent Kilpatrick, or you could go to the back yard and eat fresh crawfish.

With little offense to speak of this year, watching a Husker game is a challenge for all true Nebraska fans because the outcome seems to always be in doubt and this game was no exception. When Kansas took a 17-16 lead in the second half, people came pouring out of the garage into the back yard in disgust, thinking another game was about to slip away but, as we all now know, the Huskers rallied in the 4th quarter for the win. Maybe Tim and Barb should throw more watch parties because I've never been to one when Nebraska actually lost the game.

Tim's garage is unlike most garages in McCook. Instead of housing vehicles or all the stuff you no longer want in the house, it has a big screen television, a refrigerator, a pool table, a buffet line on party days and enough room for 40 or 50 people to mill around and socialize in while they're watching the game. And socializing is exactly what we do while we're eating and drinking because everybody knows everybody else, even though sometimes the only times we see each other in a social setting is when Tim throws a party. Tim tells all his friends that if the garage door is open, the party is on.

I've known Tim for most of the time I've lived in McCook and a true friend like him is hard to find because, unlike so many people, he's not a fair-weather friend. He's not only there for the good times, he's there by your side for the tough times too and that's the kind of friend everybody needs. We've backed each other up through some scrapes each of us has encountered through the years and will continue to do so. As the old saying goes, "a friend in need is a friend indeed" and Tim fits that definition to a T.

And nobody has fun like Tim does so if you're ever driving down West 7th and you see cars and trucks lined up on both sides of the street, you'll know that the party is on.