The rumors relate that there were some wild times in The Funnel Inn (later called Paradise Palms) on the main drag in Mark Center, Ohio. The tavern, opened from sometime in the 1950s until 1970, when it burnt down completely, had people visiting from all over the area, including Indiana. Numerous reports hit the papers of bartenders or waitresses serving minors 3.2 beer or mixed drinks. Several times the building itself was crashed into by inebriated drivers just trying to get out of the parking lot. And occasionally, fists flew and weapons were drawn.
In February and March of 1961, when the bar was owned by Kelly Hayes, burglars thought they could take advantage and relieve the business of some cash. Hayes, who lived across the street, had different ideas. On February 20, 1961, Hayes closed down the bar around 1 a.m. and then went to the Vagabond on Rt. 24 to grab a bite to eat. Upon returning home around 3 a.m., he spotted a car with two men driving by, and soon one of those men was busy breaking into the tavern.
"He (Hayes) grabbed his 12 gauge shotgun and the Luger pistol and ran into the street. When he saw a man pass a front window and approach a cigarette machine on the northeast side of the inn, Hayes fired three shotgun loads through a window. As the man ran toward the south side of the building, Hayes fired again through a door window and a fifth shotgun blast as the man broke a window on the south side and ran. Hayes then fired at him with the Luger. When the suspect's car sped away, Hayes pursued in his own auto."
Deputy Sheriff Doug Zeigler and his men found the burglers' abandoned car along route 24 with its blood stained handles. As it turned out, Sites' wife took him to St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne where Sites had to have his right eye removed via surgery. He also had two shotgun pellets imbedded in his forehead and a third in the right shoulder. Risley was the getaway car driver. They both spent some time in Mansfield Prison.
In July, 1961, the Funnel Inn was hit again, after Larry Wayne Fett tried to get into the inn around 3 a.m. in the morning. A neighbor, Mr. Miller, nabbed him.
Fett pleaded his innocence, but a sack containing $45 in change was found in his pocket, probably from the cigarette and shuffle board machines which he had taken earlier and dumped in the bushes.
And then there was the time that someone took a pretty terrifying ride on the hood of a car at 110 mph. In September, 1965, Deputy Norval L. Stairhime, Noel "Butch" Melia and Jerry Finn, posse members, were about to leave the Funnel Inn after checking on it when Clarence Powell, 23, ran up to them to report that a man had stolen a girl's purse.
"The man (Powell) then ran outside and jumped into the path of a car driven by James A. Harter, 23, Fort Wayne, attempting to flag it down, the deputy said. The car struck Powell, hurling him onto the hood to which he clung as the vehicle pulled out of the lot at a high rate of speed, turning north onto Farmer-Mark Road. The vehicle ran the State Route 18 stop sign at about 80 miles an hour and Powell was thrown onto the roof by the wind pressure, the officer said.
As the sheriff pursued the car north at speeds up to 110 miles an hour, Powell clung to the rain gutters, the force of the wind cutting both hands. The car was stopped and Harter and a passenger, Mike Conroy, 23, also of Fort Wayne, were taken into custody."
The car was stopped a half mile south of Farmer by a deputy sheriff and two posse members. The purse which had been stolen from Connie Mason, 22, Garrett, Ind. was found along the highway, thrown from the car. Some of its contents were also discovered in the car. The driver was under the influence of alcohol and charged, of course, and Powell, had a bump on the forehead and injury and cuts to both hands.
To be continued...
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