Burke’s Book Store celebrated its 150th birthday with champagne, two sheet cakes, and a crowd of people that overflowed outside on the sidewalk and Cooper Street.
Store owners Corey and Cheryl Mesler, who bought Burke’s in 2000, welcomed guests, which included a throng of Burke family members, including Father Bill Burke, son of third-generation owner of the book store, William “Bill” Burke.
Cheryl says about 150 people, including 46 members of the extended Burke family “from all over the country,” celebrated.
Kole Oakes, Michala Little, Chloe Mesler, and Gino Pambianchi
Jason Murray, Nicole Yasinsky, Mandy Martin, and
Ryan Gauvin
May Eggleston, Betsy Kelly, and Elizabeth Eggleston
Also attending were Stephen Crump, son of one of the store’s former owners, Diana Crump, and his wife, Beth. Another guest was Meg Beeson Wallace, daughter of another former owner, Harriette Beeson, who sold the store to the Meslers.
Jordan Grooms and Ana Perez 
Donald Adams 
Marcelo Andino and Brittany Carpenter 
Meg Beeson Wallace and Mary Kenner 
Father Bill Burke 
Olivia Pletz and Rieves Wallace 
Beth and
Stephen Crump
Michael Finger and Mark Fleischer 
Pat, Oscar, Fitzpatrick, and Molly Brown 
Corey and Cheryl Mesler 
Matt Armstrong 
Nick Nellis
Fans jammed into the bookstore at 936 South Cooper Street — the fourth location over the years — to listen to speeches about Burke’s and to buy books.
The next day, Corey thanked everyone for the kind words and for the photos in a Facebook post. He ended it with, “We have been reenergized for the next 150.”
