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Congressman awards Cheryl’s Diner

Cheryl and Lanny Borthick
Cheryl and Lanny Borthick
Courtesy of Susie Seeger
Posted

Congressman Vince Fong awarded Cheryl Borthick an honorable Certificate of Recognition, this month, at the 40-year anniversary of her business, in Kernville, Cheryl's Diner.

In light of this momentous occasion Borthick, and two of her grown children, Susie Seeger and Sandi Johnstone sat down for a trip down Memory Lane. The three women shared thoughts surrounding Lanny Borthick, Cheryl's husband, the visionary builder of Cheryl's Diner who passed away not long ago.

The diner, which is so popular with tourists that it was featured in a European magazine, is in a prime location, because of tourism and different recreational opportunities in the Kern Valley.

Cheryl's memory, while not perfect, is clear about all the details during the planning, which began this unexpected responsibility Lanny appointed her to.

She had worked at Mount Mesa, with her mother, previously. She and Lanny lived in Lake Isabella at the time, and she started working at Nelda's Diner, the restaurant her mother opened.

Her husband Lanny was a well-known builder in these parts. Cheryl said, "He had built us a brand new house down there on Flower Street. Lanny was a builder. So he built the Log building, in Kernville, for the Forest Service."

Interest in the log building Lanny built led to a woman that owned some property, near Circle Park, to request to contract with Lanny to build her a log house. The home the woman already owned, in Kernville, was built in the 1950s. Lanny told the woman he would only build her a log house if she sold him her current home on Sirretta Street. So Lanny wanted to buy the woman's house, built in 1950, when Cheryl and Lanny already had a newly built house in Lake Isabella.

Lanny came home and told Cheryl, "I've been talking to the realtor, over here, Gerry Click. He has a piece of property he wants to sell us, and us build a diner, and you run it."

Cheryl reacted by telling Lanny that she didn't want to run a diner because she was only working 4 days a week. Cheryl said, "So I got talked into that, and we moved over here in 1983, to the house on Sirretta Street, and he started building this building, it was a flat lot, in August of 1984. And we opened in January of 1985. So I had to quit my four-day a week job at Nelda's Diner."

It was a Sunday just before Cheryl's Diner opened. The couple was finished readying for their opening, the following day, Monday.

Cheryl said to Lanny, "Doesn't this look gorgeous? It'll never look like this again." She was hoping it would thereafter look like a busy diner. Rather than having the opening on Monday, Cheryl’s mother told her to open the diner that Sunday, fearing that waiting until the following day would cause a loss of interest from passers by. It snowed that Sunday. The cars were coming through Kernville. "They would see the sign, and they would brake. It was actually dangerous," said Cheryl.

Just as Lanny Borthick always placed an emphasis on custom intricate details, in the homes he built; Lanny built the restaurant custom special. He made the kitchen to be the easiest kitchen to work in for any cook, according to his daughters. Lanny also made the counter at the diner to have extra wide space for servers. This was no ordinary counter top, for it was pressed through the front window opening of the diner, by local firefighters, who helped.

To this day, although the original counter top has been replaced, the current counter top has Lanny’s name written on it. According to Sandi he wrote it, one day, to signify that he built the diner. Later Susie, out of reverence to her dad, had the same signature tattooed on her arm. Diner staff has been careful to preserve the written signature on the counter top, in remembrance of Lanny.

Lanny sure knew how to pull strings, being a shrewd negotiator, personable, and friendly but also extremely persuasive in his dealings.

Previously there had been a moratorium on water, so no building permits were allowed to be I issued in the town of Kernville for five years. So in order to get the permit, with the county, to build Cheryl's Diner, Lanny talked the county into lifting the permit on another building, and transferring it for Cheryl's Diner instead. Cheryl said, as though she was still in disbelief, "During the Moratorium! There were people that were very mad at him."

Sandi agreed with her mother, Cheryl, saying that there was a neighborhood group that was angry that Lanny Borthick was building during the moratorium. However according to Cheryl, by the time they opened the diner, the moratorium was already lifted.

"He had a way of speaking to people that included their ideas and thoughts.
Yet he had a way to smooth that over," Sandi said.

"The sound of the dishes clattering, the food being picked up and set before the customer, we grew up with that. We had so much fun. We didn't have to go out in the world. The world came to us."

Cheryl agreed saying that there was a couple that came from Denmark to Kernville for their honeymoon. And so they came to Cheryl’s Diner. “They returned as a family later to show their children where they went on their honeymoon."

Susie said the Cheryl’s Diner always makes sure they have good customer service. Sandi said the staff always serves milk cold and their coffee hot, and their eggs
cooked just right. Susie said. "We actually learned that from Grandma. All the years that we worked at Nelda's Diner. I was 12 when she opened."

Sandi and Susie both said they always think of their Dad when it comes to Cheryl’s Diner. Lanny liked to help others who had troubles whether it was lonely shut-ins with Alzheimer’s or others that needed help with transportation or an emergency.

Cheryl, who serves on the board of the Kernville Chamber of Commerce, as Lanny previously did, said, "When we moved here to Kernville nothing stayed open in the winter. So when I came, it was something new to stay open until 9 o’clock at night. And there were a lot of years that I stayed open, during the summer, until 10pm. And it was busy."

She explained that with the drop in population Cheryl's Diner has changed things up a bit. "Right now I'm closing in the afternoon, at 2pm, because it's cold. So I'm open for breakfast and lunch. On the weekends I'm open until 8 o’clock, on Friday and Saturday.
And then Sunday we close early.”

Every year it happens that Susie's daughter and son in law, for five Fridays in August, during River Rhythms, serves G-Que brisket and pulled pork sandwiches at Cheryl's Diner. Expect to see those treats pop up at other times as well.

The diner showcases music and Karaoke weekends. Cheryl said, "I just want to keep cooking good food."

The business prefers to assist with Whiskey Flat mayor campaigns.

The diner usually features a Valentines Day special and a dessert. This year with Whiskey Flat Days, on the same weekend, they plan to have something special for Valentines Day.

How did the restaurant survive COVID? During the pandemic the restaurant survived by taking the screen off their window near the parking lot and taking orders at the window. Cheryl made deliveries during that period. And the diner didn't need a dishwasher back then, because every order was takeout. Sandi said that lot of customers were shut in. So the diner often sent a note or piece of pie to cheer them up.

When officials said restaurants could open back up Sandi's family attained tables they put together, and set up a little cafe at the side of the diner, near the parking lot.