Shipshewana - A hotel is about to break a northern Indiana tourist town's dry tradition by becoming its first business to sell alcohol.
The decision by owners of The Country Inn & Suites to obtain a state license to sell wine has been met by objections from town leaders worried about protecting its quaint atmosphere and many Amish and Mennonite shops.
The Country Inn's farm winery permit allows it to sell wines from Goshen-based Wine Cellar Supply Inc. and no other type of alcohol, including wine not produced by Wine Cellar Supply, said Alex Fedorow, the hotel's general manager.
Shipshewana officials, however, say they believe they should have been asked for their opinions before the license was issued by the state Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.
Christine Yoder, the Town Council's vice president, said she was not too concerned about the hotel's license and did not begrudge a business for wanting to make itself more profitable.
"My concern is it will open a door," she said. "We have to represent the people that live here and also the merchants. We're marketing a town that's family based."
The town about 30 miles east of South Bend has some 500 residents, many of whom are Amish and Mennonite. The drinking of alcohol is generally discouraged among those of both faiths, said Joseph Yoder, director of Shipshewana's Menno-Hof, a nonprofit information center on Amish and Mennonite culture.
Fedorow said the hotel began considering selling wine because many guests had asked where they could buy wine in the area since the inn opened 10 years ago.
The inn's newly created wine room, where it could start selling wine this week, is styled after a high-end coffee shop, with a small, cherry-finished bar and tall tables. It also includes an art gallery where local artists can display their work.
Several tour groups have booked with Country Inn & Suites since the announcement that Wine Cellar Supply would locate there and hold wine tastings, Fedorow said.
"We have gained business specifically because this permit was granted," he said.
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