The Cottage Cafe to Reopen for Halloween
By Donnelly Clare
After more than a year and a half of renovations and missed deadlines- and a constant stream of inquires from anxious Facebook followers- the Cottage Café finally has an opening date.
The restaurant, located at 2900 Post Road in Plover, is well-known to local history buffs and ghost hunters alike. The building’s history is spotted with stories of ghostly activity, supposedly by the original Sherman Family, whose religious patriarch Eugene was angered by the serving of alcohol on the property over subsequent years. Local legend has it the ghostly activity that has frightened past owners out.Lisa Bishop and Chris Scharrer, the business partner sisters who also run a local paranormal group, bought the building in March of 2012. It had been sitting empty for about a decade, and the two say the previous owner left everything behind.
“It was like they just locked op one night and decided to not come back,” Scharrer said in an interview shortly after closing on the property. Scharrer said the former owners had left paperwork, computers, dishes- even employee nametags.
“We have no clue why they left everything,” said Sharrer. “A couple of tables were actually still set the first day we came in here.”
The pair originally wanted to open the building as a bed and breakfast but weren’t prepared for the licensing and code issues that came along with that designation, and over the past year and a half settled on a home- style café setting.
But it took the pair, along with the help of family and friends, over a year to be ready for a trial opening, which they’ve set for October 26-27.
The event will run 2-9 PM both days. Regular business hours, and the restaurant’s menu, have not yet been announced.
The opening will feature a limited menu with bakery items, a paranormal panel and stories of local ghost legends as well as the history of the house itself. Psychics will also be on hand for the event, and attendees are invited to get a tattoo in a “registered haunted house” by local business Invictus Tattoo. Cost is $5 at the door.
The event will also feature two Saturday night paranormal investigations in the house, with room for ten in each group. Those investigations are at 9:30 and midnight. You must be 18 to participate and the cost is $15.
For more information, or to reserve your spot on the Saturday night investigation, email [email protected].