Advertising Index continued...
Kiwanis Club of Tecumseh....................... Tecumseh....................... 10 Lavender & Honey................................... 56 Lavender and Grace. Grace................................ 24 Lenawee Fuels........................................ Fuels........................................ 64 Lev's Bakery. Bakery........................................... 29 Lloyd's Repair Service............................. 60 Lone Oak Properties. Properties............................... 32 Macon Grocery........................................ 15 Mammoth Distilling. Distilling............................. 49,68 Manchester Chicken Broil. Broil........................ 12 Manchester Fair...................................... Fair...................................... 13 Manitou Beach Marina............................ Marina............................ 57 Mark Prielipp Greenhouse. Greenhouse....................... 26 Martin's Home Center............................. Center............................. 15 Masterpeace Counseling......................... Counseling......................... 21 Meckley's .......................................... 17,48 Musgrove & Company........................... 5,47 Nellie's on the Lake................................ Lake................................ 57 Newburg Meadows. Meadows.....................................7 ................................... 7 Next Generation Automotive. Automotive.................... 51 North Shore Pontoon Center. Center.............. 51,57 Pentamere Winery. Winery......................................5 .................................... 5 Poppa's Place. Place......................................... 57 Premier Bank. Bank.......................................... 43 Probility Physical Therapy....................... Therapy....................... 27 ProMedica.............................................. ProMedica .............................................. 67 Quality Roofing....................................... Roofing....................................... 15 Raisin Valley Golf .................................... 59 Rob's Rentals/Paula's Poop Deck. Deck............ 57 Saline Community Fair............................. Fair............................. 13 Sal's Pizzeria.......................................... Pizzeria.......................................... 49 Salsaria's................................................. 49 Salsaria's Sandbar Cafe.......................................... Cafe.......................................... 57 SASS Gift Shop........................................ Shop........................................ 15 Sauder Village. Village......................................... 18 Schmidt & Sons Pharmacy...................... Pharmacy...................... 66 Second Chance Boutique......................... 50 Sieler's Water Systems............................ Systems............................ 43 State Farm - Lisa Wain............................ Wain............................ 50 State Farm - Scott Campbell. Campbell.................... 66 Stone Mountain Mini Golf ........................ 53 Suburban Lithia....................................... 16 Sunderland Insurance................................ Insurance................................44 Tecumseh Bread and Pastry................... Pastry................... 66 Tecumseh Camera. Camera................................... 28 Tecumseh DDA........................................ DDA........................................ 20 Tecumseh District Library. Library........................ 25 Tecumseh Golf Club. Club......................... 9,47,59 Tecumseh Insurance............................... Insurance............................... 42 Tecumseh Paddling Co............................ Co............................ 53 Tecumseh Plywood. Plywood.................................. 52 Tecumseh Pool. Pool........................................ 31 Tecumseh Veterinary Hospital................. Hospital................. 21 The Apothecary Kitchen.......................... Kitchen.......................... 49 The August Co Suite. Suite................................ 65 The Boulevard Market............................ Market............................ 48 The Brokerage House............................. House............................. 36 The Buzz Cafe......................................... 48 The Clinton Inn................................... 49,65 The Copper Nail...................................... Nail...................................... 53 The Dog House....................................... House....................................... 48 The Greenleaf Mansion........................... Mansion........................... 65 The Legacy Golf ...................................... 59 The Riggle Team..................................... Team..................................... 57 The Tecumseh Herald.............................. 61 The Tecumseh Inn. Inn................................... 65 Todd's Garden........................................ Garden........................................ 21 Top Soils of Clinton................................. Clinton................................. 26 Trends Salon. Salon........................................... 57 Tuckey's Big Boy. Boy..................................... 47 Union Block Collection. Collection............................. 65 Vintage Boulevard Suite. Suite.......................... 65 Willow Pediatric Dentistry........................... Dentistry...........................44 Wolf Creek Golf Club................................ 59 Zilke Farms. Farms............................................. 13
6
Susan and Dick Johnson
The
Story by Sara Hilton | Photo by Jim Lincoln
Station EVAN’S STREET STATION REINVENTS ITSELF We sat at a lone table near the fireplace among the final frays of remodeling. Gone were the tablecloths and fine dining place settings of the beloved Evans Street Station. So much of what it used to be was no longer there. Yet sitting at the lone table with it’s owners and staff, it was evident that what mattered still remained. The heart of the restaurant was the same. On July 3, 2020, after trying to stay afloat amid pandemic closures and regulations, Tecumseh’s Evans Street Station closed. The news of the closing spread like a sorrowful wave through Tecumseh. Everyone had lost something during 2020. Yet for many, the closing of Evans Street Station was another reddening slap of reality. The things we lost weren’t coming back. These losses were permanent. Evans Street Station was gone. In the early months of 2020, Evans Street Station was having a banner year. In a well thought out plan, they had merged their restaurant and catering businesses. “We were set up for success,” said co-owner Beth Kennedy. “We never thought in our wildest dreams we’d be smacked with a global pandemic. It demolished our catering business for the foreseeable future.” They quickly tried to adjust to the shutdown. They created family packs and set up curbside and contactless delivery. “We stayed busy, and we were grateful for the support,” said Kennedy. “But it felt like we were working harder than we had ever worked, and yet it just wasn’t making it.” “We were really blessed to have clients that came to us night after night after night,” added owner Dick Johnson. “We knew they were only here to support us and trying to keep us open.” Yet, despite the best efforts of both the staff and the community, Evans Street Station was slowly losing money. They had to close. However, because they owned the building, closing didn’t mean an end to the bills, to the mortgage, or to the utilities. So they liquidated their catering business and sold off most of their equipment. “I married two of my kids standing in front of the fireplace,” said Johnson of the well known hearth where so many
couples had wed over the years. “But at the time I had peace with it. We had to close, and then at that point, the only thing we could do was to sell.” The historic building once again sat vacant and hollow, just as it had 20 years earlier when Dick had looked at the vacant firehouse and decided to save it, decided to turn it into something new and fresh. Now, a for sale sign waved and creaked in the wind like a final goodbye. However, the goodbye never came in the way they expected. The building didn’t sell. “It was my wife who said to me, ‘I think we are going to have to reopen,’” said Johnson. “She was 100 percent correct. We did have to reopen. If we didn’t reopen, it wasn’t going to get better.” Yet things had changed. The world had changed. Tecumseh had changed. They had changed. Johnson knew that the restaurant had to change as well. So he and his wife, Susan, sat down and penned a mission statement: Our goal is to help Tecumseh bounce back from the year of the pandemic and save our historic building. We are casual and welcoming. Our food is popular fare and moderately priced, but still a cut about the rest. Our atmosphere is friendly and easy going. Come as you are. Welcome to the Station! “We are not the Evans Street Station that was here before,” said Kennedy. “The first time around at the restaurant, we were really trying to help put Tecumseh on the map as a destination,” she said. “Whereas, with this new incarnation of the restaurant, it’s really designed for all of our neighbors in order to best serve our Lenawee community and beyond.” The Station will offer more affordable fare in a far more casual environment. “We want this to be a happy place for our community,” she said. “We want to be your home away from home.” The Station will be open this summer, and in many ways it stands as a metaphor for what has happened over the last yearand-a-half. Just as the restaurant won’t be the same, we not the same. There have been many permanent losses. Yet alongside the loss, we also have a depth of understanding who we are and what is important. We discovered what had meaning when we lost it. The Station doesn’t look the same, but keeps the heart of what really mattered all along, and this summer, its doors will open like a hug to the community they have always cherished and loved. Evans Street Station | 110 S Evans St, Tecumseh | 517.424.5555 Note: The Station will still honor all Evans Street Station gift certificates
