JUST IN: Dayton social club to discontinue its lunch service

The Dayton Liederkranz-Turner German club will stop its lunch service later this month, but its president assures fans that great German food will remain an integral part of the club's special events going forward.

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The lunch service, open to the public as well as club members, launched in 2018 as a one-day-week trial on Mondays, and it currently operates on Sundays and Mondays. The final days of lunch service will be Feb. 9-10, Feb. 16-17 and the two-day finale on Feb. 23-24, according to John Koerner, president of Dayton Liederkranz-Turner (DLT), located at at 1400 E. Fifth St. in the St. Anne’s Hill neighborhood.

Lunches are served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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In a notice to club members, Koerner said the lunches were “a noble experiment on the DLT’s part to provide authentic German cuisine in Dayton. The operation showcased the DLT to many new people, resulted in some new members, and helped to support our mission.”

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“But the restaurant business is difficult, requiring labor and financial outlays that exceed our resources and any possible return on our investment,” Koerner said.

Another deciding factor: the chef who prepares the lunch menu, Andrea Hellickson, is stepping down. Club officials talked to a handful of people about possibly taking over for Hellickson, but in the end, decided to drop lunch service.

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Credit: Amelia Robinson

Credit: Amelia Robinson

“Its objective never was to be a big profit-maker,” Koerner told this news outlet in an interview late Thursday. “We probably would have stopped it anyway within the next year.”

And, the club’s  president said, “It’s not like we are abandoning food.” The club’s members will still prepare plenty of German specialties for club-sponsored annual events such as the GermanFest Picnic, the SchnitzelFest and the DLT Oktoberfest.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Dayton German Club launches lunch service open to the public (June 2018)

For more information about Dayton Liederkranz-Turner, call (937) 223-9013 or check out the club's web site at DaytonGermanClub.org.

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