History:
We are committed to homemade and happy. It started with the idea that we would build a place where we would like to take our own family. Put the focus on Fun! Food always made the way Grandma used to; starting with real ingredients and preparing dishes using Grandma's original recipes. When you come to Turkeyville we want every minute to be special and fun!
The Turkeyville story began in 1943. Grandpa (Wayne) Cornwell was from the city and when he married Grandma (Marjorie) he decided to try his hand at farming. They decided to raise cows but 1943 was a difficult year when things weren’t going very well and the cows got sick. A neighbor gave grandpa 12 turkeys to try and raise, and he was successful with all of them. In the early 60’s the Cornwell’s joined together with a group from the church and went to the county fair to sell turkey sandwiches. By 1968 the word was out about how good Grandma’s cooking was, so they decided to open a one room eatery, now know as Cornwell’s Turkeyville. Grandpa Cornwell served up the sandwiches and Grandma was in the kitchen preparing all the food.
As the family grew so did the business. The next addition to the complex was the Ice Cream Parlor. Our ice cream parlor is just the place to satisfy your sweet tooth all of our ice cream is homemade right there in our ice cream parlor. We use only the highest quality and freshest ingredients in our ice cream. Try the Butter Pecan made with real buttered pecans, or our own Turkey Trax: peanut butter ice cream filled with crushed peanuts, chocolate syrup, chocolate chips and Reese peanut butter cups. While you are enjoying your ice cream in one of our homemade waffle cones be sure to browse our wide selection of caramel corn and fudge also made in our ice cream parlor. With all of these homemade treats to choose from you are sure to find the perfect treat to take home. The dining rooms were not big enough to hold all the quests on a rainy day, so the next step was to add a 2nd dining room. This was this was enough until the early 80’s when business was booming and so was the family by leaps and bounds. There were 9 family members in the business at the time, Wayne and Marjorie (Grandma and Grandpa), Joie and Alan, Sons: Blain Brent, Bryan, daughter Vicki and daughter in-law Patti. In 1984 the Country Junction gift shops opened with all kinds of great gifts, souvenirs, household items and much more. The bakery was also opened with fresh baked goods every day. The appetizing aroma from our bakery will make you want to buy, one if not everything. We have fresh cinnamon rolls, cinnamon raisin bread, garlic and cheese bread just name a few. Stop in and browse our wide selection of bakery products and find the perfect one (or more) items to take home for your family. And if you want you can even take it out of our package and tell everyone you made it yourself…we won’t tell.
The Cornwell family has always believed that they needed to have more than just great food. Twenty some years ago they started Craft Shows and Flea Markets as well as Antique Shows. This was their way of exceeding that more than just great food motto. The Craft Show is a juried show and has grown to be well known for its size and quality. The list of events at Cornwell’s is always changing. 2011 will be the second year for our Bike Night, run on Wednesday nights May through Labor Day. We also host Garden Shows, Community Yard Sales and more.
Cornwell’s Dinner Theatre opened in the fall of 1987. The idea was to get people to stay longer, so that Turkeyville would be a destination for more than just a meal. That was almost 16 years ago and now the dinner theatre is host to over 40,000 guests in the 47 week season, which always includes great family entertainment. We feature actors from all over the United States and offer a variety of performances.
Still Committed to the family roots , quality and fun are an important parts of the way Turkeyville is run today .
About Us:
At Cornwell's Turkeyville, we like you to "consider yourself part of the family." The Cornwell Family's philosophy is that "people will come to where they have been invited and will return to where they have been made to feel welcome." This has fostered our growth since opening in 1984 as a small, unique restaurant to today's entertainment complex housing Michigan's most unique motor coach attraction.
