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Gathering expands coffee service to
Jonesville
By Nicole Stanley
Collegian Reporter
By the time students return to campus next
fall, Dottie Branson, owner of The Gathering coffeehouse, plans
to open another coffeehouse in Jonesville.
Located directly across from the Chicago Water
Grill restaurant on the corner of Water and Chicago streets,
the coffeehouse will also be called The Gathering but will include
many additions.
With more than twice the square footage space
of the current Gathering, the new coffeehouse will have two
dining rooms and an enclosed room that can be reserved for meetings
and social activities.
Branson said she hopes later hours, free Internet
access and an extended menu, which will include grilled panini
sandwiches and other dinner items, will entice students to Jonesville.
The new coffeehouse will also host a number
of new activities, such as theater afterglows and the British
tradition of high tea.
"The high teas will be great for bridal
showers, women's clubs, sororities and even little girls' birthday
parties," she said. "We're going to have antique tea
cups and linen table cloths, and of course you have to come
dressed up for high tea."
Branson said she hopes to stay with her theme
of the early 20th century. The new building has a red brick
exterior and tin interior walls and ceiling, which is consistent
with that era. Branson said she wants to return to the original
look of the building, which has served many purposes over the
years.
"We have a lot of work left to do this
summer if we want to be open by the time school starts,"
she said. "I like to think of it as, she's just a grand
old lady, and she's so excited we've come to fix her up."
In addition to the renovation, Branson will
be juggling 10 clients from her other business, a coffeehouse
consulting firm, Branson & Associates, to pay for the new
expense.
To help with the projects, her husband, Millard,
is retiring after 20 years as the pastor of Hillsdale's First
Baptist Church.
"I have always felt that the reason the
Lord gave me The Gathering, and now this new coffeehouse, was
for the college," she said. "It serves as somewhere
for students to study and socialize as well as an opportunity
for me to work with and get to know students over the years.
We really see it as a ministry opportunity."
Sophomore Liz Anderson has worked at The Gathering
for a year and said the experience has been rewarding.
"It was fun because you get to be off
campus, but still see people from school," she said. "The
regulars and the townspeople are also really fun."
Branson said she hopes students will work
the later hours at the new Gathering and will be accepting applications
for next fall.
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