When Martin “Sully” Sullivan and Lynsey “Tilly” Brown crossed the Atlantic Ocean to attend the wedding of Lynsey’s son, Cameron Simpson, they never dreamed they’d become permanent residents, but thanks to COVID-19 and the charm of rural Kansas, they’ve decided to make Iola home.
It all began last year when Simpson was recruited to play soccer for Allen Community College.
He’d only talked with coaches and seen pictures on the internet, he said, but decided to take the leap and accept ACC’s offer.
Simpson journeyed to the U.S. from Ledbury, Herefordshire, and since then has not only excelled on the soccer team but also earned straight A’s.
Along the way, he met Patricia Outlan of Moran, a fellow ACC student. The couple fell in love, and not long after decided to get married.
They held their ceremony on March 12, just before the COVID-19 pandemic really began to take hold in the U.S., and so when Sullivan and Brown flew out to join them for the wedding, in Brown’s words, they thought they’d simply be celebrating and thereafter enjoying “two weeks of peace and quiet.”
Sullivan and Brown were originally planning to stay only 10 days, but when their flight back to England was canceled, and there were no return flights scheduled until May, the couple decided they might need another plan.
Sullivan and Brown had already been to the Iola area once before, when Cameron had first moved in at ACC, and while here, they really enjoyed their stay.
The two had gone fishing at Bourbon State Lake, shopped at local thrift stores and stayed in the Iola downtown lofts.
Sullivan and Brown own and manage a restaurant in Ledbury called Market House Cafe, which employs 24, and like other businesses around the world, has been deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fortunately, the English government is helping them to stay afloat, despite the restaurant not being able to reopen until at least September.
Also helpful, laughed Sullivan, is that the restaurant is run by a “brilliant manager,” by whom he meant Brown.
But since Sullivan and Brown cannot return to England for quite some time, and because Simpson and Outlan needed a place to live, especially because ACC has had to close its campus, they decided to buy “a fixer-upper” on South Washington Street, and set to work making repairs right away.
They’ve also hired Jason Outlan, Patricia’s father, to help with making their vision for the home into a reality.
The first goal involves transforming the old house’s downstairs into an apartment for Simpson and Outlan, and the second is revamping the rest of the house so that it can serve as home-away-from-home for Sullivan and Brown.
Brown’s other two sons have also expressed interest in eventually attending ACC as well.
