THE STATION

from 2021 Summer Homefront Magazine

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Kiwanis Club of Tecumseh ...................... 10 Lavender & Honey.................................. 56 Lavender and Grace............................... 24 Lenawee Fuels ....................................... 64 Lev's Bakery.......................................... 29 Lloyd's Repair Service............................ 60 Lone Oak Properties.............................. 32 Macon Grocery....................................... 15 Mammoth Distilling............................ 49,68 Manchester Chicken Broil....................... 12 Manchester Fair ..................................... 13 Manitou Beach Marina ........................... 57 Mark Prielipp Greenhouse ...................... 26 Martin's Home Center ............................ 15 Masterpeace Counseling ........................ 21 Meckley's ......................................... 17,48 Musgrove & Company.......................... 5,47 Nellie's on the Lake ............................... 57 Newburg Meadows ....................................7 Next Generation Automotive................... 51 North Shore Pontoon Center............. 51,57 Pentamere Winery.....................................5 Poppa's Place........................................ 57 Premier Bank......................................... 43 Probility Physical Therapy ...................... 27 ProMedica ............................................. 67 Quality Roofing....................................... 15 Raisin Valley Golf ................................... 59 Rob's Rentals/Paula's Poop Deck........... 57 Saline Community Fair ............................ 13 Sal's Pizzeria ......................................... 49 Salsaria's............................................... 49 Sandbar Cafe ......................................... 57 SASS Gift Shop ....................................... 15 Sauder Village........................................ 18 Schmidt & Sons Pharmacy...................... 66 Second Chance Boutique........................ 50 Sieler's Water Systems ........................... 43 State Farm - Lisa Wain ........................... 50 State Farm - Scott Campbell................... 66 Stone Mountain Mini Golf ....................... 53 Suburban Lithia...................................... 16 Sunderland Insurance ...............................4 Tecumseh Bread and Pastry................... 66 Tecumseh Camera .................................. 28 Tecumseh DDA ....................................... 20 Tecumseh District Library....................... 25 Tecumseh Golf Club........................ 9,47,59 Tecumseh Insurance .............................. 42 Tecumseh Paddling Co. .......................... 53 Tecumseh Plywood ................................. 52 Tecumseh Pool....................................... 31 Tecumseh Veterinary Hospital ................ 21 The Apothecary Kitchen ......................... 49 The August Co Suite............................... 65 The Boulevard Market............................ 48 The Brokerage House ............................ 36 The Buzz Cafe........................................ 48 The Clinton Inn.................................. 49,65 The Copper Nail ..................................... 53 The Dog House ...................................... 48 The Greenleaf Mansion .......................... 65 The Legacy Golf ..................................... 59 The Riggle Team .................................... 57 The Tecumseh Herald............................. 61 The Tecumseh Inn .................................. 65 Todd's Garden ....................................... 21 Top Soils of Clinton ................................ 26 Trends Salon.......................................... 57 Tuckey's Big Boy.................................... 47 Union Block Collection............................ 65 Vintage Boulevard Suite......................... 65 Willow Pediatric Dentistry ..........................4 Wolf Creek Golf Club............................... 59 Zilke Farms ............................................ 13

Susan and Dick Johnson

The Story by Sara Hilton | Photo by Jim Lincoln Station couples had wed over the years. “But at with it. We had to close, and then at that we could do was to sell.” the time I point, the had peace only thing The historic building once again sat vacant and hollow, just as it had 20 years earlier when Dick had looked at the EVAN’S STREET STATION vacant firehouse and decided into something new and fresh. to save it, decided to turn it Now, a for sale sign waved and REINVENTS ITSELF creaked in the However, wind the like a final goodbye goodbye. never came in the way they expected. The building didn’t sell. “It was my wife who said to We sat at a lone table near the fireplace among the final me, ‘I think we are going to have to reopen,’” said Johnson. frays of remodeling. Gone were the tablecloths and fine dining “She was 100 percent correct. We did have to reopen. If we place settings of the beloved Evans Street Station. So much of didn’t reopen, it wasn’t going to get better.” what it used to be was no longer there. Yet sitting at the lone Yet things had changed. The world had changed. table with it’s owners and staff, it was evident that what mattered Tecumseh had changed. They had changed. Johnson knew that still remained. The heart of the restaurant was the same. the restaurant had to change as well. So he and his wife, Susan, On July 3, 2020, after trying to stay afloat amid pandemic sat down and penned a mission statement: closures and regulations, Tecumseh’s Evans Street Station closed. Our goal is to help Tecumseh bounce back from the year The news of the closing spread like a sorrowful wave through ofthepandemicandsave our historicbuilding.Weare casual Tecumseh. Everyone had lost something during 2020. Yet for and welcoming. Our food is popular fare and moderately many, the closing of Evans Street Station was another reddening priced, but still a cut about the rest. Our atmosphere is slap of reality. The things we lost weren’t coming back. These friendly and easy going. Come as you are. Welcome to the losses were permanent. Evans Street Station was gone. Station! In the early months of 2020, Evans Street Station was having “We are not the Evans Street Station that was here before,” a banner year. In a well thought out plan, they had merged their said Kennedy. “The first time around at the restaurant, we were restaurant and catering businesses. “We were set up for success,” really trying to help put Tecumseh on the map as a destination,” said co-owner Beth Kennedy. “We never thought in our wildest she said. “Whereas, with this new incarnation of the restaurant, dreams we’d be smacked with a global pandemic. It demolished it’s really designed for all of our neighbors in order to best serve our catering business for the foreseeable future.” They quickly our Lenawee community and beyond.” The Station will offer tried to adjust to the shutdown. They created family packs and more affordable fare in a far more casual environment. “We set up curbside and contactless delivery. “We stayed busy, and want this to be a happy place for our community,” she said. we were grateful for the support,” said Kennedy. “But it felt like “We want to be your home away from home.” we were working harder than we had ever worked, and yet it just The Station will be open this summer, and in many ways it wasn’t making it.” stands as a metaphor for what has happened over the last year “We were really blessed to have clients that came to us night and-a-half. Just as the restaurant won’t be the same, we not the after night after night,” added owner Dick Johnson. “We knew same. There have been many permanent losses. Yet alongside they were only here to support us and trying to keep us open.” the loss, we also have a depth of understanding who we are and Yet, despite the best efforts of both the staff and the community, what is important. We discovered what had meaning when we Evans Street Station was slowly losing money. They had to close. lost it. The Station doesn’t look the same, but keeps the heart However, because they owned the building, closing didn’t mean of what really mattered all along, and this summer, its doors will an end to the bills, to the mortgage, or to the utilities. So they open like a hug to the community they have always cherished liquidated their catering business and sold off most of their and loved. equipment. “I married two of my kids standing in front of the Evans Street Station | 110 S Evans St, Tecumseh | 517.424.5555 fireplace,” said Johnson of the well known hearth where so many Note: The Station will still honor all Evans Street Stationgift certificates

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