NAPPANEE, Ind. – Amish Acres is officially closing its doors. The popular restaurant will host a New Year’s Eve event celebrating what will be the end of an era in Michiana.

The family who owns Amish Acres announced back in November that the restaurant would close down because they were retiring.

Those who regularly visited Amish Acres say that the restaurant has had a lasting impact on the community.

“I think the heritage part of it,” Jack Wysong said, the grandson of the founder of Amish Acres, “the restoration of the Amish farmstead and the Koontz family has definitely taught people from all over the United States and other countries throughout the world what Amish people are and how their culture works and how it is again so neat and unique.”

The New Year’s Eve party will begin with a dinner for over 400 people. Then there will be a performance of “Beauty and the Beast” at the Round Barn Theater.

The event will then top off with a champagne-punch celebration, a cabaret show and fireworks.

“Beauty and the Beast is ending on a super high note as our number one selling show out of the 230 productions we’ve run through our 50 years,” Wysong said. “So it’s definitely going out with a bang and it’s definitely something I’ll love and miss.”

The 28 acres of land will be auctioned off on February 5.