Jack Steiner knows a thing or two about Allen County sports history, and the athletes that put small towns like Iola, Yates Center and Humboldt on the map.
Steiner is originally from Yates Center and played against Iola several times through his youth. Steiner’s children also played in the area, feeding his many memories of games at area high schools and junior colleges.
He has preserved much of that history, converting his barber shop into a makeshift sports museum.
Steiner’s barbershop on West Street in downtown Iola proves two things: it’s easy to see how much of a sports guru he is and what the art really means to the man.
Pieced all along the walls are pictures and newspaper clippings of local sports figures and news which have shaped the area over the past century.
Even a picture of former NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain with some local Iola children can be seen on the wall.
“I saw Michael Jordan play when he was a high school senior,” said Steiner. Steiner was coaching at Wichita State’s summer camps which hosted the McDonald’s All-Star Game.
Other players included Greg Dreiling and Aubrey Charad, another first team All-American.
“I coached Ricky Ross, he was the best I ever saw,” Steiner said.
Dreiling went on to star at the University of Kansas before embarking on a successful 11-year professional basketball career, playing for the Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Steiner once had a baseball and football card collection so great it covered his room at home as well as his father’s store. He had to give up the cards eventually as a child but then started collecting even more sports memorabilia as an adult.
“When I was five years old, my dad owned this store,” Steiner explained. “I had a fantastic collection of baseball cards and football cards.
“In 1967 I got married and my mother told me to clean my closet out and I had just all kinds of cards and my mother threw them away. I’ve got a heck of a collection now but most of them are things that I’ve got since then.”
He keeps those artifacts in his own sports museum in Yates Center, featuring loads of different sports history, souvenirs and keepsakes he’s collected over the years. He hopes to keep it restored and available for anyone with a fascination for local sports.
“It’s only open when I turn the key,” Steiner joked.
