If the history of Cherry’s Sunset Diner in Kresgeville were a book, we would be nearing the final chapter, or just maybe, with some luck a sequel is looming on the horizon.

A few weeks ago, the family of Cherry’s late owner, Richard Cherry, announced that the diner would be going up for sale through an auction on June 26.In a note published on the diner’s Facebook page, Cherry’s daughter Amber Garis wrote, “I’ve realized over the past few months that following in my father’s footsteps and mourning his loss at the same time is too much for me to bear,”Garis said in her post, “This restaurant and its patrons deserve someone who can devote themselves to it and I am just not capable of giving it the love it needs.”But Cherry’s is so much more than just another diner to be found on the well-traveled roads of Pennsylvania. The “Sunset Diner” had its own history before it came into the hands of the Cherry family.Dining carThe original diner is one thought to be an O’Mahony dining car that would have been built in Elizabeth, New Jersey, which operated between 1913 and 1946. The Sunset got its start on North Church Street in Hazleton.In the 1950s, the old-style dining car was replaced with a more modern stainless-steel diner and the first Sunset Diner was moved to its current location in Kresgeville.The first owners in Monroe County were Donald and Blanche Arnold. During their tenure, a number of additions were added to the dining car, which went from four booths and a counter to a 72-seat restaurant. A two-bedroom apartment was also added to the building.In 1983 Robert Cherry and his wife, Sandra, purchased the Sunset Diner and renamed it Cherry’s Sunset Diner. The asking price in 1983 was $175,000 for the building on approximately a half-acre of land.Robert owned the diner until his son Richard took over in 2000.Memories“We all grew up here,” Garis said. “Me, my sister, my cousins, my aunt, we were always here. We even lived upstairs for a while when our house was being built.”“I remember the stairway to the apartment used to be in the banquet room and my sister and I would sit at the top of the stairs and yell to ask if we could come down into the diner.”As the girls got older, their first jobs were of course in the diner.“Halloween was always a great time, everyone always dressed up,” Garis said. “And my grandfather was drawn to this area because of the strong Pennsylvania Dutch influence here. I remember the diner’s 10th anniversary party they played polka music and everyone danced.”Garis has pictures of the Halloween parties, Christmas parties and that 10th anniversary party.Richard was a member of the Grundsow Lodsch Nummer Sexa (Groundhog Lodge), and the lodge still holds its annual Groundhog Day ceremony at the back of the parking lot.One of the changes that Garis’ dad, Richard, made to Cherry’s was to add the Maraschino Bar about four years ago. The bar hosts entertainment and special events regularly.While Garis doesn’t recall any celebrities coming by the restaurant, she remembers that her dad always catered meals for the up and coming stars who would perform at the West End Fair.“A lot of the acts that came through were not well-known, but they went on to be pretty famous,” she said. “The one I remember is because I helped my dad when they were here was Diamond Rio. I remember them saying it was the best food they had eaten while on the road.”The facesThere are too many stories to tell, and many that can’t be printed according to Garis, although she says she and her sister have often spoken of writing a book about the “interesting customers.”Paula Warner went to lunch with her mother at Cherry’s when she was 19 years old.“My mother looks at me and she said, ‘You should get a job here,’ ” Warner said. “I had never waitressed, but I said OK. I went and filled out an application. That was 28 years ago. I have been here ever since.”Garis laughed at Warner, “Tell her about that Mother’s Day.”“Oh yeah,” Warner smiles and says, “All day long people kept telling me I was in labor with my son. I kept working and saying, ‘no, I’m fine.’ But then I started to get cramps. I waited to finish my shift, then I went to the hospital. Doctor said I did it right, carrying heavy trays all day. By the time I got to the hospital I was already 8 centimeters dilated.”Garis and her sister both grew up, married and moved on to their own careers and motherhood. Garis and her husband, Cory, moved to North Carolina, where she worked as a contracts administrator and Cory worked for a pharmaceutical company.Garis’ sister Trista Vanderah and her husband, Ryan, stayed in the area. Trista works right across the street from the diner at Blue Mountain Health Systems West End Physical Therapy.Last year Richard Cherry was diagnosed with cancer.“We came home for a family wedding, and on the way home, Cory and I just looked at each other and we knew it was time to come home,” said Garis. “Cory was able to transfer, and we moved to Nazareth.”FamilyIn January, Richard Cherry passed away at the age of 57. Garis has been running the diner with the help of her family and with the staff that has been a part of her “family” for as long as she remembers.Warner’s best friend is waitress/manager Cindy Brown, who has been at the diner for 28 years. Waitress Kristin DeLuca has been with Cherry’s since 2001.“Cindy started a week before me,” Warner said. “We have been best friends ever since. We are all like a family here.“I remember this one,” she says, pointing to Garis. “Sitting in a booth out front with her hair in pigtails.”“We have been together for special occasions, proms, weddings and babies,” Warner adds. “I hope someone local buys the place and keeps us together. I would miss Scotti and Chuck.”Scott Griffith joined the team as a dishwasher in 1983. Chuck Siegfried joined Cherry’s as a cook in 1991 and is still behind the stove this very morning.“I spent four years washing dishes,” Griffith said. “Amber’s dad taught me how to cook and I have been cooking ever since.”Breakfast favoritesIt is a warm, cloudy Friday morning. It is a long weekend so the local regulars are sharing the diner with travelers passing through on their way to camping at Hickory Run State Park or the beach at Beltzville Lake. The air outside of Cherry’s smells faintly of yeasty fresh dough. Inside a few of the booths and occupied and so are a few of the counter stools.Cherry’s is warm and inviting.Colin and Terri Dorshimer are enjoying a late breakfast/early lunch by the looks of what they have ordered.“I am here every morning during the winter when I am off from my job as a heavy equipment operator at Haines and Kibblehouse,” Colin Dorshimer said. “I broke my ankle, so I am off today, so here I am.”“I don’t even have to tell Paula what I want. She knows it’s coffee, sausage, egg, cheese and white toast.”“It is always perfection,” Terri said. “It’s eggs, home fries and bacon, excellent every single time.”When Garis took over she couldn’t decide what customers liked best, so she asked staff to write down what customers liked the most and the least.“Breakfast was all over the place,” Garis said. “It was obvious that our customers just really like our breakfast.”Garis herself leans toward the Benedicts.“It is our hollandaise, it is the original recipe my grandfather used. I am not sure if it was his recipe or one of the cooks’, but it is homemade from scratch and it is wonderfully delicious.”One regular customer refers to the grilled sticky buns as his “breakfast appetizer.”Everyone at Cherry’s is hoping that the auction works out and that someone is willing to come in and love the business as much as the Cherry family has.“If not, I am really going to miss my family here,” Warner says. “And I am really going to miss my customers, especially the morning guys.”