By Trish Svoboda

Last Friday, Becky and Bobby Shomper signed paperwork becoming the new owners of Java Junkies in Clay Center, KS.

Bobby is retired from the military, and runs the Clay County Highway Department,. Becky has been in child care for around 18 years, and runs Little Sunflower Childcare in Clay Center. Both will continue their current jobs as well as run Java Junkies.

The decision to purchase the coffee shop comes from when Bobby was stationed with his battle buddy, Eddie LaVasseur, in Afghanistan and they would talk about what they would do when they got out of the military, and both agreed on the idea of a coffee shop. When Eddie passed away a few months ago, Bobby decided it was time to make the plunge.

Bobby says there aren’t going to be many major changes, but there will be some. In the next three to four months, they want to extend the hours and be open 6:30-4:00, they will bring in 20-ounce cups, and make online ordering available. They hope sometime in the future they will start doing deliveries.

Bobby added that hopefully the community will continue to support Java Junkies the way they have been and that they serve as good of food and coffee as the community is expecting.