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ARMA —
The Pittsburg area lost a local icon and landmark this weekend. Scotty’s Classic Car Museum in Arma closed its doors and turned off its neon signs for the last time at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Phyllis Bitner, who owned the museum for 11 years with her husband, Scotty, said at least 300 people — including a large classic car club — had stopped by before noon to say good-bye for the last time. There were old friends who had watched the Bitners build their museum from the ground up, and people who said they had meant to visit previously but never got around to it. There were even visitors from Brazil. And almost to a person, they said it was a sad day.
John Arthur, a long-time friend of Scotty’s, said he wasn’t sure how to put his feelings to words.
“We’ve been buddies for 50 years or more and we pulled some pretty good stunts in our day,” Arthur said. “I don’t know what they’ll have here now.”
Phyllis said health issues forced them to close the museum, in which Scotty had restored countless pedal cars, vintage bicycles and automobiles.
“Otherwise we’d probably be here another 20 years,” she said.
The mood in the museum Saturday was bittersweet, with Phyllis snapping photos of Scotty and old friends who had stopped in, and saying good-bye to visitors as they left for the final time. Sue Adams, who was visiting with her husband, Larry, said the museum was a good tourist attraction for the area and that she was sad to see it go.
“Now it’s just one less thing in the area,” Sue said. “It would be nice for someone to just take it over.”
But the fate of the museum has already been decided. Most of the memorabilia, which the Bitners collected over the past 40 years while running Bitner Motors, has been sold. Its new home is at the Central Texas Museum of Automotive History in San Marcos, Texas.
“We’re sad to leave. It’s been really enjoyable for us,” Phyllis said. “Everybody had a connection to something in there. They’d say ‘Gee, my dad had one of those when I was a kid’.”
John Moore moved to Pittsburg from Wichita four years ago and was visiting the museum for the first and last time Saturday.
“I always wanted to stop in and see it,” Moore said. “Now that it’s closing I wanted to make sure I saw it. It’s kind of a landmark here.”
He said it’s a shame the Bitners had to give up their collection.
“But I’m glad someone will take care it,” he said.
Billie McCloud, Phyllis’ daughter, said she preferred to try to find some good in the museum’s closing.
“For almost 12 years people have had a chance to go back in time, but this is a lot of work,” McCloud said. “Now they can relax and enjoy life.”
The Pittsburg area lost a local icon and landmark this weekend. Scotty’s Classic Car Museum in Arma closed its doors and turned off its neon signs for the last time at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Phyllis Bitner, who owned the museum for 11 years with her husband, Scotty, said at least 300 people — including a large classic car club — had stopped by before noon to say good-bye for the last time. There were old friends who had watched the Bitners build their museum from the ground up, and people who said they had meant to visit previously but never got around to it. There were even visitors from Brazil. And almost to a person, they said it was a sad day.
John Arthur, a long-time friend of Scotty’s, said he wasn’t sure how to put his feelings to words.
“We’ve been buddies for 50 years or more and we pulled some pretty good stunts in our day,” Arthur said. “I don’t know what they’ll have here now.”
Phyllis said health issues forced them to close the museum, in which Scotty had restored countless pedal cars, vintage bicycles and automobiles.
“Otherwise we’d probably be here another 20 years,” she said.
The mood in the museum Saturday was bittersweet, with Phyllis snapping photos of Scotty and old friends who had stopped in, and saying good-bye to visitors as they left for the final time. Sue Adams, who was visiting with her husband, Larry, said the museum was a good tourist attraction for the area and that she was sad to see it go.
“Now it’s just one less thing in the area,” Sue said. “It would be nice for someone to just take it over.”
But the fate of the museum has already been decided. Most of the memorabilia, which the Bitners collected over the past 40 years while running Bitner Motors, has been sold. Its new home is at the Central Texas Museum of Automotive History in San Marcos, Texas.
“We’re sad to leave. It’s been really enjoyable for us,” Phyllis said. “Everybody had a connection to something in there. They’d say ‘Gee, my dad had one of those when I was a kid’.”
John Moore moved to Pittsburg from Wichita four years ago and was visiting the museum for the first and last time Saturday.
“I always wanted to stop in and see it,” Moore said. “Now that it’s closing I wanted to make sure I saw it. It’s kind of a landmark here.”
He said it’s a shame the Bitners had to give up their collection.
“But I’m glad someone will take care it,” he said.
Billie McCloud, Phyllis’ daughter, said she preferred to try to find some good in the museum’s closing.
“For almost 12 years people have had a chance to go back in time, but this is a lot of work,” McCloud said. “Now they can relax and enjoy life.”
