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The bizarre tale of Willowbend Nursery Inc. could be coming to an end.
Or not.
David T. Stark, a vice president with Stark & Stark Consulting in Painesville who has worked with Willowbend in the past, said the nursery in Perry is in talks with an out-of-state buyer who wants to acquire the assets of the troubled business, which last September filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors. Mr. Stark declined further comment, citing advice from attorneys, and he did not say whether his firm was working with Willowbend at present.
Just how far along those talks are is open to question. Rachel Wright, the 30-year-old daughter of current Willowbend owner David Brewster, said she doesn't believe a sale is close to happening.
"There are multiple bids right now," said Ms. Wright, who noted that her brother, Dana Brewster, is interested in the business.
Perry Township trustee Rick Amos, the former chief financial officer of Lake County Nursery, another nursery in Perry, said a deal with an out-of-state buyer "would be very disappointing for us." Mr. Amos said he's concerned that the 334 acres for sale might be bought by a housing developer who would destroy Perry's quiet, rural atmosphere.
A sale to an unrelated buyer would end the Brewster family's ownership of the nursery, which dates to 1897 when it was founded by Emory Merton Brewster. The events leading to Willowbend's downfall are the stuff from which soap operas are made: marital infidelity, a nasty divorce, family in-fighting, and claims of embezzlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Mr. Brewster and his wife, Denise, are embroiled in a contentious divorce case that started in June 2005. That was two months after Mrs. Brewster said in divorce filings that she discovered her husband of 34 years had been having a long affair with Cheri Hall, a woman with a dubious past who has given birth to two children - one a 9-year-old boy, and the other an 18-month-old girl that she says are Mr. Brewster's. Mr. Brewster also has three grown children with his wife.
"They have taken the position that I'm some hooker looking for gold," Ms. Hall said in an interview two weeks ago in discussing divorce filings...