Stansbury cafe reopens after double tragedy
The seaside town of Stansbury on the Yorke Peninsula is celebrating this week’s much anticipated reopening of the local takeaway shop and cafè, after it was destroyed by fire late last year.
Just days before the town’s biggest celebration, its 150th anniversary weekend, cafè owners – mother and daughter team, Julieanne Peterson and Kirsty Boin, watched on in disbelief as their livelihood went up in flames – an electrical fault to blame.
“We were in absolute shock,” Kirsty said. “We couldn’t believe what was happening in front of our eyes as we watched on from the outside.”
In true country spirit, the Stansbury community quickly rallied, and within days the Blue Lime was back up and running, albeit in a slightly different capacity.
In true country spirit, the Stansbury community quickly rallied, and within days the Blue Lime was back up and running, albeit in a slightly different capacity.
“Thanks to Terry Williams’ kind offer to lend us a food van, we could still operate while our building was out of action,” Kirsty said. “We will forever be grateful for his kind gesture.”
“The community was so supportive and continued to come to the food van, even on the days when we had miserable weather. We wouldn’t have survived during this time without the support from the tight knit little community here in Stansbury. We all back each other in times of need.”
But the heartache didn’t end there for the Petersons. The mother daughter team were dealt another tragedy on Christmas Day, with the sudden death of Kirsty’s dad and Julieanne’s husband, Matthew Anderson.
“This absolutely ruined us. It was something we didn’t know how to deal with at the time,” Kirsty said. “Getting the cafè back up and running has really helped give us something to focus on through this hard time.
“Matthew will live on in our hearts as we begin our new journey. We know he’s watching over us.”
Despite a very long and harrowing year, the family is excited to share the new look Blue Lime Cafè, which has been transformed exactly how they imagined it.
“We love the new look,” Kirsty said. “Everyone who has been part of the rebuild has helped us put our special touch on it, and make it ours. The fire was a terrible thing to have happen, but we’ve tried to look past it and think of the positives, which is a new modern, groovy place people can come to, that is much better than what we had before.”
With a vision to seat more customers, and give people the option to sit and have a coffee and look out at the beautiful Oyster Bay, the original takeaway side of the shop has been switched to seated dining, with modern fixtures and some window seating to take in the view. There’s a new team of friendly local faces when you walk in the door, and some new menu items the Peterson’s can’t wait to share.
“It’s been a long journey, but we’re proud of how we’ve handled everything. We’ve been here for each other and persisted through it all together.
“It’s onwards and upwards from here.”
