103 - The Evergreen: Southern Kitchen & Gathering Place

Fran Luscher, daughter of Marian and Buck, and her daughters, Amy Luscher Smith, Jenny Luscher, and Cindy McCann, started The Evergreen as a cafe and gathering space for the local community.

The Evergreen: Southern Kitchen and Gathering Place

After 3 to 5 months, it was entirely family run, but now includes “found” family as part-time staff.
COVID-19 disrupted Amy’s retirement plans, but she was able to proceed when she became eligible, as her agency had changed its retirement systems.
Their building had great bones but needed renovations after being rented out to various other businesses after her grandmother’s retirement. They replaced all the electrical components, not an easy task, immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her grandfather owned a construction company, and their barn still had supplies they could use, like two-by-fours and metal.
They’ve partnered with paper artist Michelle Sutton, a close friend, to teach classes.
The Evergreen offers “Crafternoons” one Saturday a month. $5 gets you table space, and you can stay from open to close, bringing in whatever you are working on.
At the very first Crafternoon, one participant was arm knitting and ended up teaching others how to do it as well.
The Evergreen taught cookie classes, Michelle teaches card classes, and her mother has taught wreath classes.
There is a structure in place for others who may want to teach classes. They’ve also had painting classes.
Their internet access is very good, and the Wi-Fi has been utilized quite successfully by larger groups.
They have been booking the event center a lot, especially showers, and recently graduations.
One wall is wired especially for guests to bring in many crockpots if the group wants to do potluck, but Evergreen’s catering is available as well.
The Evergreen’s specialties include Sunshine Chicken Salad and the Breakfast Hot Brown.
They are open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 9:30-11:30. The event spaces can be rented 7 days a week.
They partner with Karen Van Meter at Cake and Candy Supply in Shelbyville for a lot of their baking supplies.
Amy is also an author. Her book is about her breast cancer journey and what to expect from diagnosis through surgery, chemo, and beyond.
She kept a blog during that time on Caring Bridge to keep friends updated, and has now turned that blog into her book titled “My Faith Sparkles.”
The book is on Amazon, but she doesn’t make money from it. For every book sold, she donates a book. She has distributed these to the cancer center in Frankfort and also at Baptist Health Cancer Centers. She will ALSO give you a book at the café for someone you know who is going on that journey.
Amy had her book launch at the Paul Sawyier Public Library and has donated several copies there as well.
They use Facebook and a dedicated website, although paid Facebook ads have not led to actual sales. Leo explains that the changes Facebook made around 2020 make it more difficult for small businesses to target their local area.
Word of mouth drives the majority of their business, but they also have an email newsletter to publicize classes and upcoming events.
They do some very targeted marketing. For example, they provided individually packaged sugar cookies for teachers with coupons at the end of the school year.
They offer box lunches for Bourbon Trail folks, as well as state government and local businesses.
They have partnered with Frankfort Christian Academy and taught a week-long cooking class where students learned kitchen safety and a new recipe each day that they got to eat for their lunch.
Evergreen is starting to offer experiences where you can have lunch and learn to make a bourbon ball or put together a Hot Brown.
The newly renovated small room is the perfect space for these experiences, as well as pop-ups by local entrepreneurs, or special dinners.
They will have a ribbon cutting for the new space later this year.
They have spaces that will accommodate 25, 50, or 150.
They also have the technology available to enable presentations easily.
They offer a variety of coffee drinks and do seasonal offerings as well, for coffee, entrees, and desserts.
They are not open for dinner but do accommodate evening events.
There are some hurdles to opening a small business in Frankfort, and one of those is the lack of a one-stop shop for permitting and other necessary services.
Amy invites folks to come out for Crafternoon, a meal in the café, catering, or an event space.
Evergreen is located at 450 Evergreen Road, off U.S. 60.
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