DECATUR — After 11-years, the Gallery Cafe is changing hands and
owner Denise Trammell is saying good-bye, not only to the business
that she has built but to the community she has grown to love.
Trammel has a serious illness, and doctors have told her she must
leave Arkansas' steamy summers and unpredictable changes in weath
er for a climate with low humidity and an even temperature.
She is selling the Gallery Cafe and moving to an area in Arizona that
has a very low average humidity and where the temperature rarely falls
below 50 degrees or climbs above 90. It's also near a major hospital that
has expertise in treating her condition.
"I want to tell everybody good-bye and tell them I'm going to miss
them," she said.
Trammell closed the cafe after lunch for a few weeks in June after
doctors gave her the news about her health problems. She re-opened
full swing in early July but working while on her medications is diffi
cult.
"For me to be working and not just resting is not good," she said.
For someone as hard working and self motivated as Trammell, taking
it easy doesn't come naturally. She also faces the stress of moving more
than 24 hours away. Trammell said she's going to miss the friends she
has made and the customers she sees every day the most.
"I love walking in there and giving people a hard time," she said.
Trammell said she had several offers on the Gallery Cafe but chose
to sell it to Stacy and Amy Brooks because they are from the Decatur
area. Trammell explained that it was very important to her to sell the
cafe to someone she could trust to take good care of her customers and
staff. The restaurant is scheduled to officially change hands on Sept. 1.
Over the past few weeks, she
has been working with Stacy
and helping him get familiar
with all aspects of managing
the restaurant. She has beentraining him in the kitchen and has taught him to bake cakes, pies and biscuits that rival her own.
"He loves it," she said.
"I know I have a gift of cooking. I love to make pies and make biscuits and see how they turn out. I taught Stacy how to make biscuits and hemakes biscuits as good as I do," Trammell said with a delighted laugh.
Trammell said she has many good friends in Arkansas with whom she will be staying in touch.
"I love the people in Decatur," she said. "It has been a blast."
News, Pages 1, 2 on 08/26/2009