FAIRDALE (AP) - A cafe is about all that's left in this tiny northwestern Walsh County town.

Like many rural communities, Fairdale is losing residents.

Fairdale Cafe manager Sheila Myrvik worries about the future of the community-owned business.

According to the 2000 Census, Fairdale has a population of 51, with a median age of 58. But Myrvik said the population these days is closer to 35 and most are age 70 or older.

"It's scary," she said. "There are no new businesses coming in, that's for sure."

Despite a drop in business this spring, Myrvik said the cafe has been doing "fair" business. She plans to keep it open.

"Hopefully," Myrvik said.

Other small-town cafes in northeast North Dakota face similar obstacles.

Edinburg no longer has a cafe. Cafes in nearby Park River and Lankin recently reopened. The cafe in Adams also is under new ownership.

Cafes are important for small towns, said Julie Johnson, an owner of Out to Lunch in Park River.

They are often the gathering place for the community. For patrons, especially the elderly, the food served can be almost as important as the social ties.

"There's still a need for it," Johnson said. "We have our regulars that show up in the morning. It's a place to hash over stuff and find out the news."

Even those doing well face challenges because fewer business owners are willing to take on the long hours and financial risk.

For months, the owners of the Minto Cafe have searched for a buyer without success. The cafe closed in late March before reopening in May.

"We're gonna try to keep it open as long as we can," said Nancy Lizakowski, who co-owns the cafe with her daughter, Sarah Soltvedt. "A small town should have a cafe."

Like at other small-town cafes, the pair has had to cut back hours and struggle to find workers.

"You hate to see a small-town cafe close down," Soltvedt said. "But you've got to have the support to keep it going. We've got our regulars. But getting the extra ones in would really help."

Soltvedt said the cafe is essentially breaking even, making it difficult to justify the long hours. Both she and her mother have other jobs.

"I love the job and the people, but some days, you don't know if you should be here or you should do something else," Soltvedt said. "We're getting to the point where we're ready to do something else."

She and her mother own the building. Though they want locals to still have a cafe, they'd sell it even if the buyer wanted to use the space for something else.

Welch's Cafe in Park River, which closed last August after 24 years under Cheryl and Toby Welch's ownership, reopened two months later as Out to Lunch.

Johnson, a former cook and waitress at the cafe for 15 years, and her sons, Adam and Alex Hagen, own it now.

It's still profitable, she said.

"It seemed like there was a big demand for the cafe on Main Street," Johnson said. "A lot of the regulars didn't want it to close. I still get comments from them about how happy they are that it reopened. The main street was pretty dead without it."

The Welches still operate Welch's Bakery on the same block but didn't want to run the bakery and the cafe at the same time, Johnson said. "It was getting to be a lot for them. They figured it was time to get some time off," she said.

The couple now takes Sundays off.

The Silver Dollar Cafe in Lankin reopened last August after closing about four months earlier.

"It's been going pretty good," said Lisa Mitsche, who co-owns the cafe and leases the building space with her mother, Linda Rolf. "You have your good days and your bad days. But all in all, it's turned out good."

But it's a lot of hard work, Mitsche said.

"The towns are smaller, and there are less people. But you kind of just have to go with the flow," she said. "If you learn to budget and have good food, you can make it. It's something special when you get to know your local community and their needs."

The cafe hosts events in its meeting room and also caters.

Business was slow in the winter, but has picked up since spring.

"This has been a good go," Mitsche said. "We're going to try to keep it going as long as we can."