On December 10 of last year, the café in Woods Street, Donald, formerly the “Early Bird”, reopened under a new name and new ownership and has been since trading as “Spud’s Café”.
The new owners, Glenda Kay and Brad Payne, after extensively travelling and working all over Australia, decided that they would like to own their own business in a small country town, and Donald is thrilled to welcome the wanderers to their new home. Glenda was born in Avoca, and spent 20-odd years in St. Arnaud before travelling around Australia working.
Brad was born in Gippsland, and employed mainly in meatworks and civil construction all around the country, before he crossed paths with Glenda in Darwin. The couple then travelled together, working as they went, returning to Darwin for a short time before deciding to fulfil their dreams as business owners, and buying the café in Woods Street. Apart from missing her kids and grandkids back in Darwin terribly, the transition to Donald has been fairly smooth for Glenda.
With her previous involvement with mid-week basketball matches, and playing and coaching netball, she has already made some sporting associations and friendships in the town. Brad’s interests lie with golf, but both have sporting backgrounds and have even become sponsors of the Donald Cricket Club. Once Spud’s Café’s teething pains have eased (which have been minimal thanks to its hard-working staff), Glenda and Brad hope to join with some of the local clubs in the future.
Speaking of the café itself, the owners are not the only new addition. Wanting to make their own mark, Glenda and Brad decided to rename the business, but “Spud’s” isn’t suggestive of what’s on the menu... Spud is, in fact, their Bull Arab/Great Dane cross and she is about the size of a café herself!
The new additions to the menu, include Golden Fried Chicken, which was introduced at the end of February, and has been walking out the door ever since! The opening hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., mean patrons can stop in early for their Baraldo coffee fix, and the shop is open on public holidays, but closed Sundays (except for special events). Should you wish to stop in for some great tucker, Glenda and Brad would be thrilled to welcome you.
