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By Nicole Goodhue Boyd/staff
Michael and Thomas Chill play with toys on the floor at The Chocolate Cellar on Saturday afternoon. The downtown shop will
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Chocolate Cellar closing this weekend

By Sally Applegate/correspondent

Thu Jun 19, 2008, 01:02 PM EDT

Georgetown -
Cuckoo for chocolates? Better hurry. This is the last weekend you can get tasty fresh creams, fudge and other favorites at The Chocolate Cellar, the popular downtown candy store in Georgetown Square.

Lonnie and Dianne Brennan, the store’s owners, say the closing has nothing to do with any increase in rent or trouble drawing customers to their store. The rent is fine, and the store has been busy. It’s all about family time.

“We have a great landlord, Dr. Mark Traveis, whose optometrist’s office is in the same building, the historic Davis Building,” says Lonnie Brennan, until recently a Georgetown selectman and currently a candidate for state rep. “He turned down other businesses like a telemarketing office and an adult bookstore, because he wanted something nice in his building. He chose us.

“This is our last summer with the kids. Wesley is 18 and a sophomore at Northern Essex, Elyse is 16 and a senior at Georgetown Middle/High School, and Kinsey is 13 and in middle school. This [closing the business] is giving us time to enjoy the summer with the kids.”
The Brennans opened The Chocolate Cellar in October of 2003 as a family venture, with Dianne working there on weekdays, her mom and dad, John and Jacky Wilson, also taking turns in the store on weekdays, and Lonnie working Saturday mornings. They also hired students to work the store.

The word got out to the school kids that there was now a candy store in town and they came trooping down the stairs to check out the merchandise, which included balloons and slush.

“We had such a ball doing this,” says Dianne. “How can you not have fun surrounded by chocolates? I’ll miss knowing every kid in town.”
“This was a family kind of adventure,” says Lonnie. “When Dianne’s dad got sick last year it was tough, because her parents were the mainstay of our business. It had been fun for them and kept them going. Without them it became a burden rather than a family adventure and fun. This year it all fell on Dianne.”

John Wilson is doing much better now with a cane and a walker, according to Lonnie, who goes down to Peabody on a regular basis to help his father-in-law by shoveling snow in the winter and mowing the lawn for him in the summer.

Lonnie and Dianne have always been very generous to local organizations, donating merchandise from the store to help fundraisers.
“We’ve donated to all the schools, to Camp Denison, the Boxford and Georgetown libraries and churches,” says Lonnie. “We donated several dozen balloons for an Eagle Scout ceremony, and we donated the balloons for the Mike Donohoe Memorial 5K Road Race.”
Last Saturday The Chocolate Cellar held a 50/50 sale to clear out as much merchandise as possible, and raised $1,200, with $600 of it going to the Georgetown Music Parents. They had help with their 50/50 sale from Kirsten Davis, Robin O’Malley, Tracy Southwick, Roberta Curtin and Lorna Scullin.

This Saturday, June 21, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Brennans will do another 50/50 sale. This one will benefit the Georgetown Knights of Columbus, helping the organization to raise funds for events for families and children in Georgetown and Rowley. Knights of Columbus members will be scooping slush and selling old-tyme soda pop, toys, balloons, candy and chocolates at the store.

Lonnie, a Republican who is running for state rep. again against Democrat incumbent Barbara L’Italien, says he will continue to use The Chocolate Cellar’s office space this summer. Their lease is good through fall. They are cleaning out the perishable stock now, and plan to move the rest of the merchandise out during this fall.

Lonnie and Dianne have lived in Georgetown “for 15 years and eight months,” says Lonnie.
Want your own candy store? $20,000 and it’s yours, according to Lonnie.

This weekend, June 19-22, The Chocolate Cellar will be open to the public for the last time. The Brennans say the store hours will be noon to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. After this weekend, the store is officially closed.
“I’ll get Saturday mornings free for the first time in five years,” says Lonnie. “Dianne’s going to miss the kids. I’m going to miss the fudge.”

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