Huber heir heads to auction with plan to win family's southern Indiana business

STARLIGHT, Ind. (WDRB) -- On Saturday, 92 years of Huber history will take a dramatic turn when Joe Huber's Family Farm & Restaurant in Starlight goes on the auction block.

The 156 acres of land have been split into 20 tracts, according to auctioneer Doug Harritt, and they can be sold individually or in combinations.

"There will definitely be a new future for Huber's," Harritt said. "We just don't know who's going to be in control of that destiny."

Jenna Clem, a daughter of the late Joseph Huber III, hopes it will be her. 

"It's my life," she said. "I got engaged here. I got married here. My kids have their birthday parties here."

Clem said she's trying to save the family legacy. She's led the charge in keeping the farm and restaurant in the Huber family and off the auction block. Most recently, Clem said she put together a joint offer with Samtech founder Sam Shine for $2.5 million to buy all the land, but it was declined. 

"The land was going to go through his (Shine) foundation, and it was kind of like a loan for us to pay him back to be able to farm it, but that didn't happen," Clem said. 

Huber's family farm and restaurant is known for its fall pumpkin patch, field trips, family event and its legendary county cooking. The four Huber heirs who own the operation decided to retire, not leaving the business to a younger generation of Huber's, and that cut the family at its root. 

"I love my family, but I'm very hurt," Clem said. "My heart hurts, and I don't understand it."

Unable to buy the property before auction, Clem said she's going into Saturday with a new plan. She plans to focus on the restaurant and the 31 acres surrounding it, with the barns, parking and two lakes. She's backed by a private loan and $16,000 donated through a GoFundMe page. 

Shine is expected to bid on the farmland.

"We're hoping they can actually keep the restaurant and keep going, because we know so many people that come over here," customer Tom Duncan said Friday as he enjoyed a plate of turkey and gravy. "We've been coming here for 30 years."

Duncan said it was his sister Anne who encouraged the trip on the eve of the auction, afraid it would be their last chance to enjoy the restaurant. Similar conversations happened at several tables during Huber's lunch rush. 

"It's just so hard to say what's going to happen at an auction," Clem said. "It's the unknown. It's scary."

The Harritt group would not release names of businesses or individuals who pre-registered for the auction. Harritt said his office received daily calls with interest daily and consistent traction on its website. In addition to the farmland and restaurant the Huber's 3,700-square-foot farmhouse property will also be auction. It was not originally up for bid, as Clem's grandmother still lives in the home. It will be sold partially furnished with dining and bedroom suites.

"Some of the biggest buyers I've ever had make no inquiry," he said. "They do their groundwork their self." 

It leaves customers like Duncan to watch and wonder if Huber's new future will still taste like the home cooking he knows and loves.

"We used to come over, and Joe would be in the corner with the PA system, and he'd welcome everybody here," he said. "Just a nice guy."

Saturday's auction will not impact the Huber family Orchard and Winery, as it is owned and operated by a different branch of the Huber family tree.

The bidding begins at 10 a.m. in Barn #1, located at 2421 Engle Road, Borden, IN.

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