Gallatin native begins and ends at McDonald’s

But she started her career at a whole different McDonalds — McDonald Tea Room in Gallatin — an equally famous place to eat in its day.

Tokey started working at the McDonald Tea Room when she was 11 years old. She bussed tables, did the dishes and cleaned the crystal chandeliers.

"Of course that was 51 years ago and there were no labor laws," said Tokey. "I worked there for five years at 30 cents an hour."

She said people came from everywhere to eat at the Tea Room.

"It was the place to eat," she recalled. "It had several write-ups over the years in the Kansas City Star and that helped spread the word. Whether you ate there or not — and it was expensive for us poor local people — it put Gallatin on the map."

She has very special memories of the Tea Room’s owner, Virginia McDonald.

"Ninety percent of the people in Gallatin will still remember her," she said. "She was a very unique woman. You never saw her without her makeup on and she always wore big hats. She had an air about her of a southern belle. When she walked into the room, you knew it. She was just somebody."

Virginia taught Tokey a work ethic that stayed with her all her life.

"Whether it was washing the fine china or sweeping the floor, there was only one way to do it and that was the correct way," said Tokey. "We’re missing a lot of that these days."

Tokey was heartbroken when she heard the Tea Room had burned down.

"I was absolutely crushed," she said. "It was almost like a death in the family. My sister and I drove through Gallatin and I had a hole in the pit of my stomach when I saw it was no longer there."

It’s fame lives on. Tokey said she still runs into people to this day who remember coming from the city to the Tea Room.

"Less than a week ago, I met a gentleman in a waiting room and he asked me where I was from. I told him Gallatin and he wanted to know if I remembered the Tea Room."

Tokey was born in Gallatin in the "birthing room" of a house that she remembers as being Adams Nursing Home at that time. She was called ‘Tokey’ after her dad’s nickname. Her dad couldn’t say cookie. He pronounced it "tokey."

Her father was in construction. Her mother stayed home and raised the three children.

The family moved from Gallatin to Altamont where Tokey went to school until consolidation. She graduated from Gallatin.

After the Tea Room, Tokey worked at Viking Truck Stop. She was married at the age of 27 to Ernie Gardner. She quit work and stayed home in Altamont to raise her two daughters, Mandy and Kimberlie.

"When the girls were six and four years old, I wanted them to take piano lessons," said Tokey. "My husband said he’d not buy a piano because the girls wouldn’t stick with it. I decided I’d get a job and buy a piano myself."

In 1981, there was a new McDonald’s opening in Cameron. Tokey got a job there.http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=376456The fast food and quick service of Cameron’s McDonald’s was quite a switch from the Gallatin McDonald Tea Room.

"It took some adjusting on my part," said Tokey. "It was amazing to me, how you could put out 36 sandwiches in four minutes."

Tokey worked there for three years and got the piano.

"My husband was absolutely right, the girls didn’t stick with it," she laughs.

In the mid 1980s Tokey and Ernie got divorced. A friend suggested she come to the city to work because she’d have a better chance of advancement. Tokey worked at Seville Square on the Plaza as a manger of a McDonald’s. The owner had seven stores and she worked at different ones until 1992.

In October 1992 her supervisor was building a McDonald’s in Richmond. He wanted her to come and be the store manager. So Tokey moved with the girls to Richmond. They opened on Dec. 23, 1992.

Tokey was there for the next 17 years. The turn-over rate for fast-food restaurants is around 300%. That statistic makes Tokey’s devotion pretty remarkable. Even a serious illness didn’t stop her from going to her job.

In June of 2009, Tokey found out she had a tumor in her jaw bone. They took bone out of her arm to replace it. She had 33 weeks of radiation at Kansas Statue University Medical Center. She continued to work part-time while she went to radiation. Her last treatment was on Oct. 31 of last year. She went back to work full-time the first of November.

Tokey lost both of her parents lately.

"After my parent’s death, I realized we don’t know how many years we have left. It doesn’t matter what you’ve got if you can’t enjoy it. There’s nothing to life except what you make of it.

So I was at home one night, thinking. I’m 62. They said I’m cancer-free. I think I’ll just retire."

Dec. 31 of last year was her last day of work.

Janice K Dunnington, who lives just south of Gallatin, is Tokey’s cousin. Janice suggested Tokey move back to Gallatin. Tokey moved her belongings and settled in Gallatin. Her oldest daughter works at Ma and Pa’s Kettle in Cameron. She recently divorced. Until she gets back on her feet she and four of her six children are living with Tokey. Jennifer and Jessica, 14, twins, are living in Richmond. Mattie is in fifth grade, J.J. is in second grade, McKinley is in first grade, and Taylor is one-year old. Tokey has three other grandchildren by her daughter in Excelsior Springs. They are Mariah, Steve and Mackinzee. (Tokey also has a yellow cat, named Kit-Kat, that she found out in the road.)

The children have given Tokey plenty to keep her busy. They’ve also made her aware of how fast the world is moving. She said the technology the kids know today is impressive.

"Something it would have taken us hours to research, they can do on a computer in five minutes," she said. "Though, I’m not always sure that’s a good thing. Kids these days seem to rush, rush, rush. They need to stop and smell the roses."

Tokey worries we’re teaching the children to put too much emphasis on money.

"My granddaughter wanted to know if I was poor when I was a child," she said. "I told her I didn’t know. I had enough to eat and I had clothes to wear and a roof over my head. I don’t remember if we had money or not. I got what I needed. Maybe not what I wanted, but what I needed."

Tokey laughs and adds: "My God, I’ve become my grandmother. What is the next generation coming too? That’s something she always said."

Tokey said she doesn’t just want to sit around the house in her retirement and she’d like to find part-time work. Though this winter was a good winter to stay inside with the icy roads and cold weather. Tokey is looking forward to spring and tending flowers and the yard.

All together, Tokey worked 28 years in the restaurant business. A people person, she took time to talk to her customers and get to know them.

"You can’t image the people you meet and work with," she said. "I’ve made some dear friends."

She gained a loyal following of satisfied customers. It wasn’t just the coffee that drew them to McDonald’s. It was just as much the friendly welcome and attention they received from Tokey. Her co-workers threatened to handcuff her to a chair before they’d see her go.

When she was in the hospital, Tokey got over 300 get-well cards.

"I don’t want to pat myself on the back, but I think that quite a compliment to me," she said.