Cloverleaf Village R.I.P.

Our friend Jimmy was on leave from the Navy this week and visited us in Bloomsburg. We thought we would show him around the Bloomsburg area and enjoy a beautiful Spring day. Part of our tour included deciding on a place to eat dinner, and we decided to go to Danville to the Stables Eatery (aka Cloverleaf Village), just off of I-80 at the Danville exit. I brought the guitar along just in case something was happening.

It has been about a year since I was there. While I had heard the owner was having some issues with the place, I was not prepared for what I found when we stopped by.

The place was desolate. There's a realtor’s “For Sale” sign near the entrance. Further investigation shows that the door to the restaurant has been smashed (broken glass all over) and there are signs of fire and people squatting there. I was heartbroken. Mary Hermann and several other folks had some really good roots jams there once upon a time, and now it looks like the place is gone. Some of our jams had a full house (when Bodó Band played, it was standing room only) and the place was one of the only non-smoking venues with a great vibe in this area for miles (until Brews N Bytes came along). The unique, rustic character of the restaurant was part wood stove, part old timber, and part frontier. The food was great too.

We've lost a jewel. The last time I felt like this was when I found out that the apple tree from my childhood was chopped down. So sad.

We could have stopped at BnB afterward, but after seeing Cloverleaf, I wasn't even in the mood to play. We came back to Bloom and went for Indian and to meet with Mushtaq to go over some plans for Bengali New Year.

It’s amazing how things change. This experience really drove home the point that we all need to support local businesses if we want to continue to have special places. Another place to close (more recently in Bloomsburg) was Authentic Gyro. There’s hope that another Greek place may open across the street - that may in fact be why “Gyro” closed anyway. Fans of food and music will also recall Magnolia, the Southern cuisine restaurant near Harry’s, that closed not too long ago as well.

For a glimpse of why I will miss Cloverleaf so much, check out these pictures taken at some jams. Great music, great friends, and great memories.

http://www.mindspeak.com/artsoc/roots.htm