STARLIGHT — On Wednesday afternoon, folks dining at Joe Huber's Family Farm & Restaurant weren't just there for their usual fried chicken. They were also there to enjoy the Southern Indiana icon before it's sold this fall.
The Huber family has owned the farm for decades, but the 160-acre property will be sold in multiple parcels at a public auction on Nov. 17. The decision was announced Tuesday through the Harritt Group, a local auction company.
The Starlight business is a popular attraction known for pumpkin picking and country-style food. The farm has been in the Huber family since 1926, and in the 1960s, Joe and Bonnie Huber started letting people pick their own vegetables.
Its impending sale leaves a void in Southern Indiana's agri-tourism attractions.
Wendy Dant Chesser, One Southern Indiana president and CEO, hopes a similar business will take the place of Huber's.
"We want to make sure it is something similar, so that same kind of tradition can be in place for future generations as well," she said.
The restaurant opened in 1983. Its menu includes fried chicken, chicken and dumplings and fried biscuits with apple butter — all addictive in their own way.
The four children of Joe Huber Jr., the restaurant's founder, decided to retire, according to Doug Harritt, the owner and founder of the Harritt Group. He said Joe Huber's has not announced an official closing date, but it will at least be open until Nov. 17.
FAMILY SPLIT
Family member Jenna Huber Clem has started a GoFundMe page in the hopes of raising $1 million to save the business. She is the granddaughter of the restaurant's founder and the daughter of Joe Huber III, who ran the farm before he died in a mowing accident in 2015.
She claims that a split between family members is one of the reasons they decided to sell.
"Since the death of both my grandfather and father, there has been a divide in the family," she wrote on the GoFundMe page. "To some, money means more than keeping a family tradition alive. My husband and I have made multiple fair offers to purchase the farm from my aunts and uncles which were not even considered. So I can assure you that the next generation is very interested in keeping their legacy alive."
Harritt said though the land will be split into tracts, people can also bid on larger portions of the property.
"If they want to bid on a 5-acre tract, they can bid all they can, but also if someone tries to put it back in different combinations or if someone wants the whole farm, it gives everyone an equal chance," Harritt said.
Harritt said a surveyor has started working at Joe Huber's farm to divide it into different tracts. The Harritt Group will continue to post regular updates on its website as the auction approaches.
"This will be a historic event, really," Harritt said. "The Joe Huber name is iconic in Southern Indiana. Everyone from little kids to elderly adults have had a part of this for multiple generations."
JOE HUBER'S LEGACY
New Albany resident Julie Conway visited Huber's om Wednesday afternoon with her parents to celebrate her birthday. She said she was shocked when she learned the news about Joe Huber's closing.
She has been visiting the farm for the food and vegetable picking since she was a kid. She said she remembers picking apples and feeding fish in the pond on elementary school field trips.
Her parents have been visiting Joe Huber's for about 30 years, and now, Conway's own daughter enjoys pumpkin picking and hanging out with her friends at the farm.
She said she hopes whoever buys the property carries on the tradition. She said she likes how the food has remained the same throughout the years.
"It’s like you're going to your grandma’s, because it’s always the same," she said. "That’s one thing you don’t change — you don’t change grandma’s mashed potatoes."
After hearing the news, Woodie and Letha Marshall traveled about 55 miles from their home in Mount Washington, Ky., to visit Joe Huber's.
"They don't have anything like this over in the Louisville, Kentucky, area," Letha said.
Karen and Jack Dugan, who live in Memphis, Ind., enjoyed a lunch at Joe Huber's restaurant on Wednesday afternoon. They said they were both surprised to learn the news of its upcoming sale.
"We thought, 'ooh, we better get out here,'" Karen said.