WHEN Jim and Frocina Dertilis opened Jim and Frocina's Cafe and Takeaway at Warracknabeal in 1985 they promised their five young children they would only stay for five years.
Twenty-five years later, Jim and Frocina have sold the business and are finally moving on.
Mr Dertilis, 66, is the culinary whiz and is responsible for cooking the fish which is famous across the Wimmera for its taste.
He said while he would be sad to leave the business, he was looking forward to enjoying his retirement.
"I'd like to paint the house, do some landscaping and have a break," he said.
"We are going to Europe for three or four months in April as well. I also want to spend more time with my kids and grand kids."
Mr Dertilis said he never expected to stay in Warracknabeal for as long as they had.
"When we first came here the kids didn't want to come, they wanted to stay in Bendigo," he said.
"I promised we would come here for five years but I loved the town and ended up working here for 25 years. Now I will retire here and stay here for the rest of my life."
Mr Dertilis said they had decided to move to Warracknabeal after he took care of a friend's takeaway shop.
"A friend asked me to come run his shop and he sold takeaway, fruit and vegies but he mostly sold pies," he said.
"While he was away business was booming because everyone loved my fish and chips and they said to me I should come here and open a shop."
Mr Dertilis said some members of the community weren't optimistic that his business would work.
"There was a Greek lady living here when we first arrived and she said to me, 'Jim what are you doing, there is too much competition' but I told her I love competition, you have to have competition," he said.
"Six months later she came in and told me I obviously knew what I was doing and wished me luck."
Mr Dertilis said he wanted to thank all of his loyal customers over the years and said he wished new owner Jim Wang the best.
"I wish the new owner the best and hope he can continue to do the same service and quality of cooking," he said.
"It's a small town and the people are very friendly but you have to do the right thing all the time, have freshly cooked fish, make your own potato cakes and when you approach customers you have to be friendly.
"It's a good town to grow a young family."
Wife and business partner Frocina said while their children did not want to move to Warracknabeal originally, once they settled into their schools the whole family loved the town.
She said she would miss the shop but she was also looking forward to their new life.
"We've had enough time in the shop now and we love the people ? they've been so good to us ? but we've got grand kids now and we'll spend more time with them," she said.
"We've done it for 25 years and put pride and joy in it. It has been like our second home, spending seven days a week here. We will find it very hard to move out but we want the new owners to succeed as much as we did."
Mrs Dertilis said she would miss the friendliness of their customers. ''I'll miss the community and the friendliness of the people," she said. "I'll still be dreaming of cooking pizza and fish and chips."
Loyal customer Sally Roosa said the best part about Jim and Frocina's Cafe and Takeaway was the tasty fish and the service.
"Jim and Frocina are such wonderful people ? they always give you a smile and say hello," she said.
"That's what keeps me coming back, it's a good environment to walk into."
She was sad to see Jim and Frocina leave the shop.
"It's pretty sad actually, they have been here for such a long time," she said. "I'm going to miss walking in here and seeing their faces. I don't want anything to change ? people come in here for the way Jim does his fish so it's pretty important it stays that way."
New owner Jim Wang has come from Melbourne to take over the store. He is spending time with Mr and Mrs Dertilis in the store this week to learn the tricks of the trade.
He said his wife and two-year-old son would join him soon.
He said they were looking forward to moving to Warracknabeal.
"The people here have been friendly," he said. "I have learned a lot but I still have a lot to learn."
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