“We try not to get too upset about it and do just the day-to-day things serving our customers,” Oelker said, but she is worried about whether a new owner will want to keep a restaurant in the building.
“We’ve joked about putting a jar up on the counter and help save the (Gathering Place) just like they did the Christmas tree and try to make light of it, but it’s not really a subject to make light of,” she said.
The Tri-County Community Action Commission halted services in early 2014 after the board discovered it was more than $1 million dollars in the red.
The non-profit organization’s liabilities have exceeded $1.6 million, according to Tri-County board of directors president Al Evans, and the former CAC director has been accused of mismanaging money.
The CAC provided many community programs in Champaign, Logan and Shelby counties — including a meal delivery program that for three years was headquartered at the Gathering Place, Oelker said.
“It’s been a real struggle,” she added, talking about the situation her business has faced since the closure of the non-profit.
CAC owns the building Oelker rents, but it stopped paying utilities and did not respond to broken or faulty equipment or other issues in the building, she said.
The former CAC Patterson Avenue headquarters in Bellefontaine and the Gathering Place building will be offered at sheriff’s sale on Dec. 16, according to an order from the Logan County Common Pleas Court.
“She had the rug pulled out from underneath of her,” said Jerry Jones, who lives in West Liberty and visits the restaurant almost daily with his wife.
He and others do not want to see the eatery — which they say serves more as a community room and social meeting place for the town — have to shut its doors.
“It’s be a shame to lose Cindy and the Gathering in West Liberty — a shame because it leaves no place to go,” said Rick Eaton, a patron.
A restaurant has been in place in the building on the main stretch of town since the 1940s Oelker said, and although she is thinking about retiring, some of her current employees have expressed interest in carrying on the business.
“So the long term of the business is great, it’s the ‘what are we going to do about the property?’ ” the owner said.
The North Detroit Street building was appraised at was appraised at $90,000 and must be sold for at least $60,000, according to the sheriff’s sale publication.
About the Author