08/29/2026
TEN YEARSโจ
*Long and maybe a little mushy post ahead*๐ฅน
Ten years ago today, we opened our doors for the first time as the owners of Cedar Lodge, and holy moly what a ride itโs been! ๐ข
Let me tell you, this industry is not for the weak! ๐ช๐ผ
Let me do a little introduction for those of you who may be new here! So we are Liz & Jared and we are the *NEW* owners of Cedar Lodge! ๐คชJk on the โnewโ part, but no joke, we still get referred to as โthe new ownersโ more often than you might think! People are always wondering how the heck we ended up in Ladysmith WI (honestly some days, me too) so hereโs our story:
Iโm from Chetek, WI originally, started working at age 15 at the Perkins in Rice Lake and when I turned 18 I applied at the Rice Lake Applebees. While working there, I spent 2 years at WITC where I got a degree as a Medical Administrative Specialist (shocker, but I never used that degree for a job)!
Jared is from Whitehall, WI and started out his food service career at an A&W (which btw, is our kidsโ 2nd favorite restaurant after Cedar Lodge๐
)! Jared went to college after graduating high school where he thought he was going to be an architect (guess what, heโs not๐ซฃ) but eventually transferred and got a degree from Stout in Hotel & Restaurant Management. During his time at Stout he started working at the Menomonie Applebees where he eventually climbed the ranks, got into their management program and transferred to the Rice Lake Applebees to get more training!
In 2012, we were both working at the Rice Lake Applebees where long story short, we fell in love!๐ฅฐ
I went back to serving at Perkins as well as started bartending and cooking at the B&B in Chetek and Jared continued managing at Appleebees until they eventually transferred him from Rice Lake to Menomonie. While living in Menomonie (we moved to Elk Mound when we found out we were having a baby), I worked part time at a gas station as well as drove back to Chetek to work a bit at the B&B. After our oldest son was born, I got a job serving at the Informalist in Eau Claire.
So how did we get to Ladysmith? Jaredโs mom and stepdad (Tonya & Randy) had bought a cabin in Ojibwa at some point during all of our growing up and they had become visitors to the Cedar Lodge. One of their neighbors in Ojibwa was actually a cook at CL and was the one who told them that the sisters (Patty & Mickey) were ready to move on from their time leasing the CL and the building owners were looking to sell the building/business for a good deal! ๐คฉSo we made an offer to buy the business on a land contract (because we were young and had a lot of debt from college no bank was going to take a chance on us) and lo and behold the owner said โnoโ.๐ We resumed life and then one day soon after Jared came home from work and was basically like โI put my notice in at work, we are buying the Cedar Lodge and moving to Ladysmith.โ ๐ณApparently, the ownerโs wife who had told us โno dealโ decided sheโd rather negotiate a deal with us in purchasing as opposed to having to find new leasers or go back in to the business! The next couple months were kind of blurry, but ultimately led to us remodeling and moving in to the trailer home that came with the purchase and opening our doors to the public as the new owners on August 29th, 2016.๐
Thereโs been blood, (a LOT of) sweat, and (a fair amount of) tears, in the last 10 years (obviously the tears were mostly from Jared)! ๐
Itโs incredible how much we have learned about ourselves, the food service industry, and the community weโve come to love and call home.
Owning your own business, specifically one that specializes in feeding people, can truly be one of the most rewarding jobs in the world! We know it hasnโt always been perfect, but I can assure you we are our own toughest critics and have learned from every mistake made a long the way! Thank you to each and every one of you who have believed in us (sometimes when we didnโt believe in ourselves), welcomed us in to the community and gotten us involved, and supported us throughout this journey..we have gained some, lost some, and still meet brand new people every single day. Itโs seriously humbling how many incredible people we have met and come to call not only patrons, but friends! ๐ฅฐ
Now for a HUGE shout out to all of our amazing employees (past, present, & future) for helping us to live our dream, and raise our heads and push through those really tough days! I know itโs clichรฉ, but we seriously COULD NOT do this without them! ๐คฉ This includes all the babysitters over the years who have been there to love, teach, and encourage our kidโs tiny minds in our absence as well as all the teachers who have probably heard wayyy too much TMI from our boys over the last few years since they started school๐ซฃ!
And then thereโs our families near and far! The hours that we work are crazy, inconsistent, and always changing, and let me tell you how thankful we are to have the ones here to encourage us, support us, and help fill in with childcare or help out at the restaurant in a pinch! But also those who make a point to travel to see us and support us because how the heck we ended up in rural Ladysmith WI is still a bit of a mystery to me! โบ๏ธ
Anywhoodle, if youโre still here after my novella, from the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU, for a humbling 10 years of allowing us to use food as our love language to feed you, your families, and your friends! We are forever grateful for your support! โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ
Cheers! ๐ป๐ฅ
Love,
The Prokops
Jared, Liz, Jackson (11), Emmett (9), Hudson (6)
