A grand opening ceremony for 3 Lakes Cafe was held Monday at the former JoJo Asian Cafe, located at 11 S. Main St. in Cassadaga. The opening day was a huge success, with local dignitaries, family and friends gathering to a standing-room-only event.
The new coffee shop is owned and operated by Jacob and Abigail Lundeen and is named after the three lakes that make up the Cassadaga Lakes.
Abigail grew up in Sinclairville and attended Panama Central School, and her husband is from the Rochester area and the two met at Roberts Wesleyan University.
During the ribbon-cutting, Cassadaga Council Member Cindy Flaherty said Abigail knew she wanted to open her own coffee shop when she was a teenager and a lifeguard at Cassadaga Beach. “I thought that was a strange goal for a young girl, but she achieved it perfectly.” Cindy said.
At left, 3 Lakes Cafe's new owner, Nathan Bailey, with his daughter Abigail and son-in-law Jacob Lundeen. Nathan is currently undergoing treatment at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the new owners donated all of their opening day profits to the cancer center.
Abigail attributes her love of coffee to her father, Nathan Bailey: “Growing up, I always wanted to drink my dad's coffee and he always let me drink it, even as a kid. I always had it black, so I got into the habit of drinking black coffee very early.”
“During all the holidays, my dad and I would have a 'mini-date' where we would find a coffee shop and go for coffee together,” she said.
The father-daughter date went well, as her mother, Debra Bailey, an art teacher in Panama, wasn't interested in coffee.
Her husband, Jacob, wasn't necessarily a coffee fanatic, but he always wanted to own his own business, and after college he became manager of a Jersey Mike's Sub Shop in the Rochester area, which confirmed his desire to be a small business owner.
His wife wanted to open a coffee shop, so Jacob thought the perfect place for the two of them to do it was near Abigail's hometown.
They bought the Cassadaga building, made a business plan and created a menu, offering a variety of hot and cold coffees, as well as teas, bubble teas, smoothies, omelets, salads, wraps and sandwiches.
For a detailed menu, please see our Facebook page.
Making up for a tragic day
On April 13, 2022, Abigail's father found out he had metastatic melanoma. He had five brain tumors. He also had lesions in his lungs, and was eventually found to have five tumors there as well.
Nathan immediately underwent the Roswell treatment, which has been successful so far, but he's not done yet. “Roswell came up with a really brilliant plan and it saved his life, so I'm very grateful to them.” Abigail said.
A year later, Nathan, who is the pastor at Park Methodist Church in Sinclairville, asked his family on April 13 to consider doing something for others. “He wanted us to redeem that day, which means showing radical love throughout this entire process. People came and chopped wood for him. People came and brought him meals. They drove him to places. The community rallied around. He wanted our family to choose to show radical love to someone else, for no other reason than the fact that God shows us radical love.” Abigail said.
That year, Abigail and her husband bought lunch for a group of friends.
A year later, Nathan challenged all who followed his teachings. “Nate Bailey's progress page” The Facebook video is looking to follow suit and do something bold for others on April 13th.
3 Lakes Cafe hadn't even opened yet, but Abigail and Jacob announced on April 13 that they would donate all profits from their opening day to Roswell.
Nathan isn't the only family member blessed by Roswell.
Jacob's mother was also battling cancer and was receiving treatment in Roswell. In fact, it was less than a year before he found out she had stage 4 cervical cancer. She began treatment in Rochester and eventually underwent chemotherapy in Roswell, Buffalo. After that, he was diagnosed as cancer-free.
Nathan has also made great progress – the only tumor he has needed to treat since his initial diagnosis is in his lungs. We look forward to announcing that he too has made a full recovery.
Abigail and Lundeen said they will donate all of their proceeds from April 13th onwards to a charity of some kind — it could be Roswell, a local organization, or even a specific person or group — but they want to keep it a tradition every April 13th. “Save the day”
