Storefront 1997
What a lifetime ago…such a beautiful time. We opened our coffeehouse in the old Princess Theatre building in my hometown of Lewisburg, W.V. It was a treasure trove, Mattie’s Roastery and General Store. A place for community, a place of quality goodness, and a place of epic joy. My brother, Todd, made that brushed aluminum sign and all the stenciling that called in the passersby. Many years later, our apostrophe went missing and I became plural for a short while…until we found it well hidden by a toddler in a potted plant, so my time of multibeing was short-lived.
The list on the side window read:
- tea
- tavern puzzles
- W.V. (Coal) or (honey)
- bottle coke
- antiques
- moonlight to (perhaps) midnight
- espresso
- W.V. maple syrup
- newspapers
- juice
- pure maple candy
- book(???)
- mountain(?? there could have been whole mountains in there)
- spices
- redband candy
- music
- homemade italian sodas
- bulk o(..?)
- ground peanut butter
- and…the photo is cut off and the list went both east and south and my memory lapses.
The front door read, “Life’s too short for troubled water.” a temptress of fate? and a tale for another day.
Almost Twenty, Mattie’s.
