By MIKE CORN

mcorn@dailynews.net

RUSH CENTER -- She offers up a scrumptious hamburger, among other delightful foods.

But you'll have to take my word for it.

Effie Crowell won't be reopening Effie's until perhaps the first Monday in November, although she admits many loyal customers will be pleading with her to open a touch earlier.

That's because they want an Effie burger, or perhaps one of the homemade pies that are available on Mondays.

Effie's was named one of the 8 Wonders of Northwest Kansas Cuisine in a Hays Daily News contest.

"The customers let me know that," she said of being told that she was among the final eight.

Located just west of the U.S. Highway 183 and Kansas Highway 96 intersection, Effie's is a fixture in Rush Center. There's only a small limestone rock sign out front, but people just know how to get there, when it's open and what's on the menu, every day of the week.

But Crowell takes the summers off. She has for years and has no intention of changing now.

"I always take my summers off," she said. "I always go to the Hutchinson state fair for the full 10 days."

That was a practice she and her late husband, Jeff, started many years ago. In fact, she's missed only two years since 1946.

She has no intention of stopping her cooking duties either, even though she turned 85 on July 10.

She's told her children -- son Gary Crowell and daughter Linda Woods -- that if she gets too old to walk, they'll just have to push her around in a wheelchair.

Her only waitress, Shelly Kershner, would be too busy taking care of the customers to push her around.

"Shelly has worked for me over 35 years, " Crowell said. "She is very good help. I don't know what I'd do without her."

Crowell is a bit evasive when it comes to announcing a reopening date.

"It's going to be a long time," she said.

She's taken the summer off since her husband died 22 years ago, but it also gets quite hot at Effie's, especially at the grill where she spends her time. All of her time.

"Nobody else has ever fried hamburgers for me," she said.

Effie and Jefferson Crowell started Effie's on Feb. 1, 1965, she said, when he lost his job and daughter Linda was in grade school.

"It's been good to me," she said of the restaurant. "I can't complain."

Initially, they weren't able to purchase the building, owned by Ness City residents. So they paid $80 a month rent for it.

"It started as a place for men to come in and drink beer and play cards," Crowell said. "Then some of the men would say, 'Haven't you got anything to eat?' "

Soon, she was buying hamburgers and cooking them on a 12-by-12-inch grill.

The Crowells were able to buy the building in 1971, tore it down and built the building they're in now.

It was expanded in the 1990s, when her son wanted a place to make pizzas.

Eventually, her daughter took over pizza-making duties, and now operates Back Door Pizza, which is, as you might guess, around back from Effie's.

Effie's has specific hours, but they rarely are able to follow them.

Lunch hours are from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., she said, adding, "We never get closed at 2."

Supper hours are form 5 to 7 p.m.

"It's usually 7:30 or 8 when we get out," she added.

She's not open Thursdays and Fridays for supper, as that's when she fits in other needs, such as visiting a doctor or getting her hair done.

Her menu stays the same from week to week, with daily specials.

"They know that," she said of her customers. "That's what they're going to get when they come in."

During her summers, she attends to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, attending 4-H events and races in Hays and elsewhere.

"I've always got something to do," Crowell said.

It helps that both her children live close by.

"I have both my kids right here in Rush Center."