By Victoria Stone-Meadows
More than 120 people attended the final official event at the much loved Clover Cottage in Berwick on Saturday 14 January.
The Inner Wheel Club of Narre Warren celebrated the 20th Anniversary Dinner for International Women’s Day as a last hoorah for the popular venue.
In November Clover Cottage announced it would be closing its doors for the last time after the property was sold to a private investor.
The restaurant held its final dining night that was open to the public on New Year’s Eve.
Owner John Chipperfield said it was a great way to mark the venue’s 38 years.
“New Year’s Eve was brilliant. It really was a red letter night,” he said.
“There were so many people we knew in the restaurant and we had wait lists of hundreds and hundreds of people.”
“New Year’s Eve is always our best function each year with the whole place is decorated with helium balloons everywhere and it takes a couple of days to get it together.
“It’s a bit sad, though, and we want to thank everybody.
“We’ve received dozens and dozens of cards and we published a final post on our Facebook page and by midnight it had about 9000 views and by the morning about 90,000 people had viewed it.
“It’s incredibly humbling.”
The evening included Australian soprano Suzanne Shakespeare and proceeds were donated to the cancer council.
“The Inner Wheel members have very much appreciated the support received from many local businesses and the support of numerous people each year,” said Margaret Sansom from the Inner Wheel Club of Narre Warren.
The Rotary Club of Berwick also showed its appreciation for the work Clover Cottage had done for it with a surprise award of Paul Harris Fellowships to Trevor Burr and John Chipperfield by President Mark Caulfield.
The evening was topped off by Shakespeare singing Time to Say Goodbye followed by Auld Lang Syne.
While Mr Chipperfield said he was sad to see the end of Clover Cottage, he will always have fond memories.
“We just knew that it’s time. Our bones have told us to quit while we’re ahead,” he said.
