Published: June 13, 2008 11:22 pm         

Water tank keeps business open

Hymera — It takes more than flash flooding and a loss of running water to put Blondie’s Eagle Inn in Hymera out of business.

When water service to the small Sullivan County town was lost after last weekend’s flooding, tavern owner Sharon Russell hauled hundreds of gallons of drinking water to her business to keep the doors open.

“We had to do something,” Russell said. “I could have ended up closed for a week.”

Russell decided to buy a 425-gallon water tank, a pump and hundreds of gallons of drinking water from nearby towns where water service was still available, she said.

After a quick hookup by Larry “Scrooge” Pinkston, Blondie’s Eagle Inn on Indiana 48 was back in business.

“This is hooked up exactly like we have water [service],” Russell said of her water tank, which is on Pinkston’s pickup truck bed parked behind her business. A drinking water hose connects the tank to her plumbing and a small pump provides the water pressure needed.

“You’ve got to improvise,” Russell said. “Anybody could do this in 15 minutes.”

Running water was available Friday in Hymera, but the town remained under a boil order. Boiling water at Blondie’s is not practical, Russell said, so she plans to keep buying water for use at her business for the next two weeks.

“I’m still leery of that,” Russell said. “I’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Russell, who bought Blondie’s Eagle Inn about four years ago after longtime owner Ernestine “Blondie” Wilkins died, didn’t miss a beat after last weekend’s flooding. She had her water tank operating shortly after the rain stopped, Pinkston said. “You can’t run a place like this without water,” he said.

Being one of the few businesses in a large area with clean running water has attracted new customers to Blondie’s, Russell said. “We’re getting customers from all over,” she said.

This is not the first time Russell has triumphed over adversity. Last winter, Hymera and the surrounding area was without power on the night of a big sports event, she said. Russell, whose business has a six-foot-screen TV, found a generator and was soon operating as normal, she said. “This place was packed,” she said.

Russell next wants to buy her own generator for future power failures. And she plans to keep her water tank, pump and other materials just in case their needed. “If the water goes out [again], we’re set.”

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.