Bonnie’s owner will hang up apron come fall

GAS — A community landmark for nearly 30 years may close this fall.
Bonnie Steward, owner of Bonnie’s Corner Cafe in Gas, told the Register this week that she plans to retire in October, nearly 30 years to the day after she opened the restaurant along U.S. 54 in Gas.
“It’s time,” she said. “I need to catch up on about 30 years of housework.”
Steward made the announcement because rumors already had begun to spread about the restaurant’s fate, she said.
“It’s mainly to let people know that it will be business as usual until October,” she said. “We will still have the full menu of items, and we will still keep the same hours.”
Steward is assisted at the restaurant by her daughters, Nancy Maley, Debbie Sager and Teresa Weatherbie and Jackie Woolery on a part-time basis, and son, Tracy.
“None of my children are in a position to take it over, so they’ll have to retire from this, too.”
Some inquiries have been made about buying Bonnie’s, Steward said, “but nothing serious. I’d be happy to listen.”
The building’s owners, neither of whom live in Allen County, have had the building for sale for more than a year, Steward noted.
“We finally asked to take down the ‘for sale’ sign,” she said. “We didn’t want to discourage travelers from stopping by because they knew it was for sale.”
Bonnie’s opened its doors on Oct. 11, 1981, amid a bit more chaos than Steward sees today.
“We could only use one fryer at a time, because we kept blowing fuses,” she said.
“Plus, she had four employees who never did this before,” Weatherbie added with a laugh. “I had no idea what I was doing.”
“I bet we had one gentleman who drank four cups of coffee while he was waiting,” Steward recalled. “It was a wonder that we got anybody to come back.”
But they did.
A stream of regular patrons still come by on a weekly basis.
She will miss their patronage, and other memories will come about as October draws nearer.
“This restaurant has been the life my children and grandchildren know,” she said, “It’s going to be a change. We get people passing through town on vacation who would tell us, ‘We’ll see you next year.’ That’s the best advertising you can receive.”