Our Family Story
The Hermann side of our family came over from Germany and the Rodgers side came over from Scotland.
Both Sides were in the Oklahoma land runs and the farms are still in our family today. We have a
huge family on both sides with deep roots in the Cushing area. We have a long heritage of good cooks and
recipes that have been passed down through the generations. Our families have stayed close with lots
of large gatherings and tons of good food.
In 1959 Grandma Ethel (who absolutely loves the mountains) took her daughter Pam, her son Mark, Grandma
Gladys, and Aunt Fern to Estes Park, Colorado for vacation. They ventured into the ghost town of
Glen Haven and found an old lodge that was boarded up. It was called Glen Haven Lodge. It was made
out of huge logs, was three stories high and was built right up against the mountain. Grandma Ethel
fell in love with it! She talked to a real estate person who told her about an older couple who'd
recently sold their ranch and might be interested in investing. She walked up the road to where they
lived, introduced herself and convinced them to loan her $60,000.00 to buy the lodge. After buying it
they went back to Oklahoma and Grandma Ethel told Grandpa Kenneth (her husband) they were moving to
Colorado to run it. We have always had strong women in our family. This was our first restaurant and
Grandma Ethel prepared food like she had been taught by generations before her.
(much to Grandpa's dismay her cooking has gotten her many marriage proposals)
Our family worked together and raised many children in the restaurant business for 35 years. After that
Grandma thought she would retire and grandpa wanted to move back to Oklahoma and live on the family farm.
But the restaurant business was in Grandma's blood so in 1982 she opened up a small cafe on the main
street in Chandler, Oklahoma thinking it would be small enough that family could run it. Granny's Country
Kitchen opened to a huge uncontainable success! After 14 years Grandma said she was really going to retire
this time and sold the Country Kitchen in 1996. After doing this business all our lives, Pam and Teri said
they would never open another restaurant, but in 2000 we couldn't stand it any longer admitting it was
in our blood so we opened Shiloh's. Even though retired Grandma Ethel along with Great Grandma Gladys
(who is 95) can still be seen overseeing the quality of our recipes to make sure they live up to the
traditions handed down.