The owner of a longtime city bar and restaurant will retire after more than three decades in business.

Dean Kirk Jr. said the Huddle Lounge, near the intersection of Cunningham and Jefferson streets, will close May 18 at the end of the evening.

He said his father bought the Huddle in April 1984 when the younger Kirk was 26.

Kirk worked there and soon took over the establishment, which serves beer, cocktails and food.

Kirk said he decided to close the Huddle for several reasons.

“People are afraid of the city after 10 or 11 p.m.; and (working) six or seven days a week is just getting to be too much for me and the money was right,” Kirk said.

Regarding the latter, Kirk said he sold his liquor license to Sheetz. He does not know where Sheetz will use it, and he did not disclose the amount he received.

“It could go anywhere in the county,” Kirk said of the license.

At the top of the list of things that Kirk will miss about the bar is the people.

“You're only as good as the people who surround you as far as staff, family and friends go,” Kirk said. He employs four at the Huddle.

One event that will be missed by bar patrons is the annual turtle soup day. Kirk said 20 turtles were harvested from local ponds and 80 to 90 gallons of the soup were made each year. He then gave the soup away to anyone who came to enjoy it.

“We make it in a big vat,” Kirk said. “I'd get 300 to 400 people.”

Resting up as soon as the door is locked for the final time is not in the cards, he said.

“I've got to empty the bar, and I've got a house that needs work and a camp that needs work,” he said. “Then I'll probably have to find something to stay busy.”

The Saeler-Solkovy Memorial Ride will have to find a new place to meet and hold its “bike night” fundraisers. The group used the Huddle for meetings and bike nights twice a month each summer for several years, Kirk said.

According to the group's Facebook page, ride organizers will host a farewell party at the Huddle from noon until closing time May 11.

Saeler-Solkovy organizers will provide two dishes and ask those planning to attend to take a dish to share if they can.

“I will most definitely miss them,” Kirk said of the Saeler-Solkovy group. “They're good people.”

The popular ride raises funds for different county residents who have a special situation or need. It has raised thousands for various families.

Dan Saeler, co-founder of the annual ride, said he is sad to see the Huddle close.

“It's not a typical bar,” Saeler said. “It's not fast-paced or anything. It's laid back.”

He said Kirk is a very generous business owner who handed out gift certificates to charities looking for basket raffle prizes.

“He is always helping somebody out with something,” Saeler said of Kirk.

Saeler said the Huddle was one of the few bars left that stayed open until 2 a.m., “regardless of whether it was only him or there were 15 people there.”

He hopes Kirk is aware of the appreciation felt by all those associated with the Saeler-Solkovy Memorial Ride, and wishes him the best as he embarks on a new phase of his life.

“I'm happy for Dean,” Saeler said. “He's dedicated almost 40 years of his life down there.”

Kirk said the bar and restaurant started out years ago as the Vin-Mar and became the The Colony, and then Charlie's Place for two years before being purchased by the Kirk family.

He said the building will go up for sale in the near future in the hopes that another owner will open a new establishment.