HOWELL — Uptown Coffeehouse wasn’t just a place to grab a brew. From first dates and prom-posals to engagements and weddings, it was the backdrop of more than a few life-changing moments.
When owner Lorna Brennan announced she would close the shop at 102 E. Grand River Ave. and sell the building to local beanery Good Sense Coffee, a shockwave was felt through town. In its wake, the shop’s closure generated an outpouring of love from those who made memories there.
Of all the special moments people experienced at Uptown Coffeehouse during its 21-year run, the first to come to Brennan’s mind was the time a young man asked his date to prom.
“We were in on a prom-posal,” she said. “He wrote it on our chalk board on the sign outside, and then when they went to the prom, they came here and took pictures.”
“I went through all my pictures, all the stuff,” she said. “Going down memory lane was really important to me. It was helpful to start that process before it closed.”
In the end, she feels she said “my proper goodbyes” to the business, staff and customers.
The shop’s last day was a busy one. Regulars and former staff dropped in, and first-time customers were in town for Balloonfest. Brennan’s family surprised her with a bottle of champagne. They toasted and clapped.
“I asked family and friends and staff to come back at the end because I wanted it to be special,” Brennan said.
Why the closure? Brennan was “ready to have more freedom.”
“I wanted to travel. My kids, one graduated this year and the other is in high school. I’ve had a lot of responsibility for a long time. I’ve had a building to take care of, which is relatively high maintenance with two apartments and a business,” she said. “I was needing to wind down.”
Lindsay Lavich was 14 when, in 2011, her family moved into a loft apartment across the street.
“My friends and I made a tradition of walking downtown together on Fridays, and Uptown Coffee was always our first stop. The uptown mocha and vanilla latte, frozen with whipped cream, were my favorites and they’ve been my go-to orders ever since,” Lavich wrote in an email to The Daily.
“In the apartment, my bedroom was closest to Grand River, so I could see the front door of Uptown from my window,” she said. “The windowsill quickly became my favorite spot to sit and gaze out onto the streets below.”
“On days that I happened to wake up early, unable to fall asleep again, I’d sit there on my windowsill and watch the street come to life. … I knew from experience that Uptown Coffee was a favorite gathering place amongst my peers, but observing through my window, it seemed to be that for many others, as well.”
Christine Lashley’s husband, Skyler, proposed marriage in 2014 at Uptown. He handed her a comic book he’d drawn for her. It showed them at the coffeeshop on their first date and the time he asked her to be his girlfriend during the Howell Melon Festival.
“The last section was us sitting there together with the ring,” she said. “I could kind of tell after reading it that it was about to happen.”
They were married that December and moved to Wyoming.
“We would always, when we would visit Michigan, go to the coffeeshop, every time,” she said. Their daughter, who was born in February, got to go “in my belly when I was pregnant last summer.”
Wedding officiant and retired Howell firefighter Bill Fenton guesses he married upwards of 500 couples at the coffeehouse. Most were brief “simple ceremonies” at a table where they would sign their license. On Valentine’s Day, couples got married for free in front of the fireplace, which Brennan and staff would decorate for the occasion.
“A lot of people just want to do the legal part. They don’t want to invest in a wedding, or are doing it for insurance,” Fenton, owner of “I Do’s Your Way” and a candidate for supervisor of Marion Township, said.
“Most want to be discrete. Some don’t have time to wrangle up witnesses, so I used staff. When they got there, it was more private than they thought.”
He said couples were usually dressed in street clothes, and customers in the shop often didn’t realize people were getting married right next to them. Occasionally, they would show up with a group “dressed to the nines.”
“They were happy there. It was comfortable,” he said.
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Good Sense Coffee Co. is already on its way, as renovations begin inside.
“Our goal is to be open within a few weeks to give the community a space to meet/gather and enjoy Good Sense Coffee every day of the week,” an early July social post from the business read.
Brennan said she plans to be a customer when Good Sense opens. While many expressed their sadness to her, she assured them she’ll “still be around.”
“Some people said, ‘It won’t be the same,’ and I said, ‘It might be better.’ It might be what Howell needs to move forward.”
— Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Locals celebrate memories from Uptown Coffeehouse in Howell
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