I’ll be honest right from the get-go, this piece is more for my own amusement than for the sake of reporting local news. I’ve often toyed with the idea of writing the occasional satire article, especially in moments when the state has a near total solar eclipse, or when certain city council meetings (in communities outside the Flashes’ readership, which shall go unnamed) go laughably awry. I thought about doing so here while reflecting on Eaton Rapids Craft’s apparent cloud of bad luck, or simply making the headline, “Truck hits Eaton Rapids Craft Co. Lol.” Instead, I decided to dial it back a little, but not so much as to miss the humor.
Regular diners out in Eaton Rapids may have noticed the new, large windows on the front wall of Eaton Rapids Craft Co. Lovely as they are, providing more natural light and a better view of Main Street, they are a quiet reminder of early October 2017 when a truck drove directly into the dining room on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Thankfully on Sunday, May 13, when yet another pickup truck crashed into the Craft Co., it missed the prominent new windows entirely, only ramming into the southwest corner just off the kitchen. In both instances no one was injured, and business quickly resumed after some needed cleanup.
Eaton Rapids Craft Co. is rather like a made up restaurant in a sitcom where a car crashes through a wall, yet the customers and staff continue on as if nothing happened. The Happiness Hotel from the 1980s movie The Great Muppet Caper comes to mind.
One can’t help but admire the resilience of the still fledgling restaurant. Despite some community discouragement, an unexpected closing and reopening, staff turnover, and two pickup trucks crashing into the building, all within a year and a half’s time, the restaurant still stands, and the ownership and staff remains optimistic. In my experience, the menu and the service is never a disappointment, and there’s always a welcoming hello from at least one owner or investor. Eaton Rapids Craft Co., if nothing else, remains an example of how the ability to laugh off obstacles takes one far in life.
