EXCHANGE: Oilfield cafe gives new life to former schoolhouse

OILFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Travelers on Illinois Route 49 in Clark County can enjoy homemade food and live music, in season, at a former schoolhouse and general store that is now a cafe.

The cafe takes its name, Oilfield, from the small community in which it is located amid farmland dotted by oil rigs between Casey and Westfield. Martha Menser of Westfield operates this cafe in the building where her parents, Elbert and Mary Ennis, once ran their Oilfield general store in the 1960s through the 1980s.

"I just love this place. It's where I grew up. I love the history of it and people seem to enjoy it. I get a kick out of them enjoying it too," Menser said. This building was constructed in 1866 as the Butternut Schoolhouse and was converted into a general store in 1924 by then owner C.A. Newlin.

Menser and her sister, Ruth Ann Beasley, first opened their family's former general store building to the public as a cafe in 2007. Menser maintained regular business hours at the cafe for several years and then just had it open from special events from 2015 to early 2018 after taking a job in Charleston.

After retiring, Menser reopened the cafe on a seasonal basis in May 2018. Oilfield's season runs from the first Thursday in April to the second week in December.

Menser said she; her husband, Jerry; and her mother-in-law, Maxine Shoot, serve up hand-patted hamburgers and other sandwiches, specials such as meatloaf, and soup.

"If it's chilly, we have chili," Menser said. She added that their customer favorite homemade pies include an apple pie baked in an iron skillet and her mother-in-law's family recipe coconut cream pie.

From visitors to the cafe, Menser said she's heard stories of the general store staying open until midnight to provide a place for locals to visit. The cafe still serves as a gathering place, hosting live music from 6 to 8 p.m. every Friday. Menser said musician John Crouch of Casey is set to perform country and folk there on the first Friday of every month this season.

The cafe is frequented by a mixture of locals from the Casey-Westfield area and travelers who seek out out this restaurant, Menser said. She noted that the cafe has hosted customers from 48 states and at least three other countries.

Menser said the workers who maintain the nearby oil rigs periodically stop by the cafe for lunch. The Oilfield general store catered to these workers for decades. She said her father, Elbert, repaired oil rig equipment in the workshop that he ran next door to the store.

"He loved the area and he wanted to promote it as much as possible. He enjoyed the history and wanted to preserve it, too," Menser said of her father.

The cafe is decorated with mementos of the general store, including its old coal stove, and of the Oilfield community's boom town days, when it offered a train station, hotel and other businesses. Menser shares this history with her guests, including scheduled tour groups.

Edie Breneman, president of the Clark County Historical Society, said she and other members of this group dined at the Oilfield cafe a few months ago and heard a presentation about the community. Breneman said the community of Oilfield is off the beaten path, but the cafe there is worth a visit for the good food and the history.

"Oilfield is an interesting place and Martha knows all about it." Breneman said. "If she has time to sit down and tell you the stories, it's even better."

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Source: Mattoon Journal Gazette & (Charleston) Times-Courier, https://bit.ly/2HXWzab

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Information from: Mattoon Journal-Gazette, http://www.jg-tc.com