Maya Vinic has been a Cafe Campesino partner for over twenty years. Their progress and development in Mexico’s most southern state of Chiapas has been one filled with all manners of serious challenges. The cooperative was born in the aftermath of the Acteal Massacre– an attack on farmer families and others in the small community that resulted in the death of 47 unarmed people, mostly women and children. Their struggle for the recognition of their basic rights as human beings and indigenous people led them to form their own pacifist movement “Las Abejas” or, in English, “The Bees”. It also spawned their own coffee farming cooperative that has survived and prospered, even in the face of continued threats, harassment, and attacks by paramilitaries in neighboring communities.
In the winter of 2015/2016 the farmers of Maya Vinic came face to face with another challenge– climate change. While they had noted environmental changes over time, that season was a stark warning for what lay ahead. The changing weather and soil conditions all over Latin America led to a massive proliferation and spread of the coffee rust fungus, known in Spanish as “La Roya”. In a very short time the fungus contaminated and destroyed well over 60% of their coffee crops leaving them with very little coffee to sell locally or internationally. At that point they realized that if they did not find a way to counter this plant disease, the members and their families would be at risk of not being able to meet even their most basic needs.
Over the course of 2016 the cooperative explored ways to reconstitute their coffee fields. They hired two agronomists who worked with them to create a field school that would teach farmers from different communities how to recover their coffee crops. In 2017 Maya Vinic instituted training for 162 farmers at various field school workshops located in their communities. There, farmers learned how to improve their traps for the coffee boring beetle, improve their composting practices and develop basic mineral broths to enhance soil fertility and overall coffee plant health. While the conventional wisdom focused on replanting new hybrids that were more resistant to Roya, they chose to put equal focus on agroecological farming methods. While they did back that strategy with experimenting with different types of arabica coffee plants, they put a premium on deepening the health of the soil and the environment around the plants.
Because coffee plants take three years to mature and produce, they knew that they would have to work fast. Cooperative Coffees, the cooperatively-owned importing company which Cafe Campesino is a charter member, began supporting the field schools not long after they began through our Co-op Impact Committee. Over a three year period we have watched Maya Vinic farmers embrace agroecological methods for growing coffee and we have seen their dedication pay off. Their production has now largely recovered and they are now in a good position to resist not only another coffee rust outbreak, but any other plant blight that may come along due to changing rain, soil, and weather patterns.
To find out more about Maya Vinic check out their website. And to taste their amazing coffee just click here and grab a couple of bags.
In a small town in the farmlands of Southwest Georgia, we roast a delicious organic coffee called Sweet Auburn. Everyone loves the taste, but not everyone knows the story behind the name.
Some ten years ago, with our friend and long-time Cafe Campesino supporter Maria Moore-Riggs of Revolution Donuts, we had the opportunity to open a coffee house in the historic Sweet Auburn Curb Market. Despite our best efforts the shop never really took off, but our experience there was a valuable one. Since then the Sweet Auburn Blend has remained a favorite and has become one of our top selling coffees. The blend continues to be our homage to the historic Sweet Auburn neighborhood of Atlanta and to the people we met and know there.
The Sweet Auburn Curb Market
The name “Sweet Auburn” itself came from John Wesley Dobbs, once upon a time the unofficial mayor of what he called “the richest Negro street in the world”. Known for many years as the spine of the city’s Black community, Sweet Auburn runs along and around Auburn Avenue in east Atlanta. While segregation was firmly cemented as the racial order, Black businesses thrived in Sweet Auburn. The success of this business district drew more African-Americans from outside the area, causing the budding community to flourish. Dobbs co-founded the Atlanta Negro Voters League, which helped get 20,000 local African Americans registered from 1936-1946. This new political power helped gain the hiring of the first eight African-American police officers in Atlanta. At 79, Dobbs died the same week that the Atlanta city schools were desegregated in 1961.
Over the years, Sweet Auburn grew to be a major center of African American culture in the city – and the South – known for music, religion, politics, and culture. The longest-running black newspaper in the U.S., the Atlanta Daily World, was launched in the area in 1928 and still operates today. Musicians Gladys Knight, Ray Charles, and Little Richard all cut their teeth in Sweet Auburn’s popular clubs, giving audiences sneak previews of the future of popular music.
Ebeneezer Baptist Church
The Ebenezer Baptist Church, founded in 1886, became the center of the modern Civil Rights Movement and is well known for its former head pastor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., as well as for its current leader, and newly elected U.S. Senator, Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock. The neighborhood has few parallels in its prominence in Black life and overall contributions to Atlanta’s great history.
In the 1960s and immediately after, following several economic downturns, the neighborhood began to struggle with a lack of investment. This was exacerbated by the construction of the Downtown Connector freeway that split the neighborhood in half and raised an unnatural barrier to commerce and traffic flow. Sweet Auburn was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976, but by 2006, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation listed Sweet Auburn as a “Place In Peril.”. In recent years, re-investment has come in the form of gentrification that, while improving the overall economic outlook of the area, threatens its unique flavor and personality.
To honor the district we will be donating 10% of all February online sales of the Sweet Auburn blend to the King Center. Founded in 1968 by Mrs. Coretta Scott King, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (“The King Center”) has inspired and educated millions of visitors who come to The Center to learn about Dr. King’s work and vision. We salute Sweet Auburn for all of its incredible history and for its contributions to the rich culture of the state of Georgia and to the entire country.
The multi-talented artist Eva Avenue designed our new Holiday Blend label. We’ve worked with her since 2017 and find she has a “joie de vivre” that is contagious. So, we did a Q&A with Eva to learn more about her creative process and what it takes to stay inspired during a global pandemic.
CC: You designed Cafe Campesino’s 20th Anniversary Zine and developed our new Holiday Blend label. You also designed the imagery for Americus Eats. What inspired those designs?
EVA: The Holiday Blend was definitely designed with cooling the planet in mind, literally and figuratively. I felt that right now there’s enough red (heat and rage); an icy blue intimate moment with two snowman friends enjoying a cup of coffee would give a sense of cooling down and calm.
With the Americus Eats banner, I wanted something that popped and captured the spirit of Americus, because the webpage was clean and organized and so the banner had to feel lively and fun, to draw people in once they came to the page.
The 20th Anniversary zine was an extension of a legacy publication I started in 2009 called the Nightly Noodle Monthly, with a signature style for this mix-tape vibe of hyperlocal voices, writing that was satirical/deadpan-honest/self-referencing/journalistic/authentic to an experience, and collaged scenes cut with paint-staking precision. Visit the free Noodle library to peruse-binge random issues.
EVA: I struggled with this Q for hours and days until my husband said, “It’s simple. You take small details that others don’t notice and infuse them with your sense of magic and wonder. You see each day like how people see Christmas.”
Yeah, OK! I’m in a constant state of inspired living, which I get by prioritizing that my basic and extra needs are met and always challenging myself to go for the next stage of my personal evolution.
Finding genuine, well-actualized people is always a bit of a holy grail for me, too. I find Bill Harris to be one of those people, and any work that I do for this coffee empire comes out, as a result, inspired.
“I’m in a constant state of inspired living, which I get by prioritizing that my basic and extra needs are met and always challenging myself to go for the next stage of my personal evolution.”
– Eva Avenue, artist
CC: You work in several mediums- oil painting, music, drawing, short videos, collage, coffee painting! – do you have a favorite?
EVA: I actually love making vlogs, and I’m learning Premiere Pro! If I could be a successful Youtuber, and use all my creative skills to make engaging videos, that’s the dream. My other fave is to sing and play electric bass/piano.
Eva Avenue in her studio.
CC: How did you learn to work in all of these mediums?
EVA: I took piano lessons as a kid, and had a strict practice regimen; practices turned into riffs and I’d be off on my own writing my own pieces of music that grew out of scale runs or something by Brahams. You know.
I sang in chorus all through school, too.
My parents were painters, so I grew up with studio work and art shows as a backdrop to my life and developed a pretty good sense for what does and does not look good, what does and does not evoke feeling. On one hand I’m a total art snob, and on the other hand I appreciate pure expression from someone with no training. It depends on what eyes I choose to see with, in that moment.
I went to an arts magnet program in high school that was honestly as good as any art university, so in college I didn’t even worry about taking art classes and focused on developing myself as a writer and musician.
Cover page for Cafe Campesino’s 20th Anniversary Zine.
CC: When we first met you in 2017, you had returned home from New York to live in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Since then, you’ve lived in Gainesville, Fla.; spent nearly a year in Europe, living in Portugal and Northern Ireland; taken a few cross-country road-trips and you are now living in New Mexico.
Does traveling feed your creativity? If so, how?
EVA: Traveling is so inspiring – anything new to take you out of yourself. When you can’t look at things with new eyes, traveling gives you new eyes. It also expands my creative network, and I like to keep creative relationships alive by catching up in person.
CC: Why did you decide to move to New Mexico?
EVA: Florida’s COVID-19 numbers were high and the state government was being extremely cavalier about the whole thing, and New Mexico’s numbers were low and their governor was putting regulations in place, which I found so relieving; I also used to live here and it feels like home.
I was given a solo art show at Chapel Gallery in St. Pete, and felt I would be better inspired/create better work out in New Mexico. So when I told my husband I was coming out here to paint for 6 weeks, I had a secret vision that I would stay and he would move out here, which is what happened. Now he’s a news director out here and I’m living my best life and working on a film called The Art Show Movie.
CC: Working with you over the years, we’ve noticed you have an unshakeable optimism and a true “joie de vivre.” What have you done to nurture that during Covid times?
EVA: I moved to the Southwest for that free, open feeling.
I am also a homebody. I’ve made the best of it by focusing on what I can do and luxuriating in the peace of mind that is my own company. I’ve slowed down, decluttered my life, and learned new skills in music production, illustration, abstract painting and video production. I’m focusing on the good things I want to happen, which includes a vision board to manifest paying off my student loans in one year with one big fat payment. I video chat with friends, take road trips with my husband, made a lot of new friends this year, met some heroes; bought roller skates and a bicycle. I’m ready for the vaccine, though.
CC: We’ve also noticed that you’re extremely supportive of other artists and love a good artistic collaboration. Is there a particular artist you’d love to collaborate with one day?
EVA: YES! I imagine being in a Wes Anderson film, playing a show with the Dandy Warhols and writing music with Patrick Cleandenim, who I interviewed for my college paper in 2006.
CC: What should we look for next from Eva Avenue?
EVA: So happy you asked, because I’m making a film called The Art Show Movie that replaces an art show that got canceled because of all the shutdowns.
Making this art show into a film that is accessible to anyone on the globe means everyone with an internet connection is invited! I write almost all the music in the film, too, and play a disapproving art critic. Am really really excited to share this with everyone when it comes out in March 2021.
I also have a new French Pop song out called Ce Que Je Veux, check it out!
CC: Finally, we know you’re a coffee-drinker. What’s your current coffee ritual?
EVA: Black coffee. Mr. Coffee brewer for sure. I make a couple pots during the day. There’s usually enough left over in the pot when I go to bed so that when I wake up, I can grab the cold coffee from the night before and drink that before making more hot coffee. I definitely miss my little Italian moka pot cause it smells so strong and you hear the gurgling as the water shoots out the spitter. I mix sweetened condensed milk into my coffee when it’s really strong, but also mostly enjoy it black.
That’s at home. But at a coffee shop? Oat milk latte, nitro coffee, cold brew, or hot Mexican chocolate.
When you’re approaching your first Thanksgiving season as a new grocery store owner, and there’s a shortage of pumpkin puree, what do you do? Make your own!, says Kristin Russell, co-owner of Savannah’s Brighter Day Natural Foods Market.
Kristin and her partner Brad Baugh purchased Brighter Day at the end of last year, some 18 years after she opened the coffee shop next door, The Sentient Bean.
A fair trade, community-driven coffee shop, The Sentient Bean will celebrate 20 years in business next year- one of Cafe Campesino’s longest standing customers. It has become well known not only for its 100% vegetarian food menu (which consistently features local, seasonal produce), but also as a gathering place for community expression.
Brad Baugh & Kristin Russell.
Pre-covid, the Bean was hosting bi-monthly Open Mic nights, monthly Comedy Nights and weekly PsychoTronic Film nights (meant to screen obscure and/or underappreciated films selected by Savannah’s local PsychoTronic Film Society).
But long before the Bean opened its doors to become a “little corner of a lot of activity,” Brighter Day had been selling fresh produce, health supplements and organic foods on the south side of Forsyth Park for 23 years.
The previous owners, Janie and Peter Brodhead, opened the 800-square-foot natural food store when they were 24 years old and sold it to Kristin and Brad 41 years later.
In an interview with Savannah Now last November, the Brodheads expressed relief that the business they’d made their lives’ work would have a continued shot to thrive under Kristin and Brad’s leadership.
If learning to run a grocery store weren’t enough of a challenge, running two businesses during a global pandemic should be. But (lucky for all of us) Kristin seems to be doing just fine. She’s working to keep morale up, innovating to cut costs and create new products and continuing to tackle the complexities of grocery inventory.
We checked in on Kristin, the Bean and Brighter Day in the Q&A below.
Q&A with Kristin Russell of The Sentient Bean & Brighter Day
Cafe Camp: What’s an example of a “normal day” for you running these two businesses?
KR: I’m not sure there is a ‘normal day’:) A couple days a week when there are big deliveries I get to work at 5 am and spend the first several hours of the day checking in and stocking the deliveries. Beyond that- I bounce around a lot. The day-to-day running [of the business] is handled by the great staff, so I am free to put out fires and hopefully work on business development and new ideas. I spend a lot more time at Brighter Day these days, but I love to swing through Sentient throughout the day and make sure everything is going smoothly there. I enjoy doing the grunt work actually, so I try to pitch in wherever I see a need.
Brighter Day Natural Foods Market in Savannah, Georgia. Photo by Matthew Poe.
Cafe Camp: Why did you purchase Brighter Day?
KR: We purchased Brighter Day because we love having an independent grocery store in our neighborhood, and we wanted to be able to keep shopping there. We’re pretty heavily invested in this neighborhood, and Brighter Day is a big part of why we think it’s so great. We also loved the idea of owning another outlet for food with great potential for expanding options for local growers and producers. The potential symbioses between the two businesses is pretty exciting too.
Cafe Camp:Have you been able to benefit from any “economies of scale” by running two values-oriented food businesses next door to each other?
KR: For sure! Our cost of goods for the Bean menu items has gone down almost 5 percent this year, which is a big impact on the bottom line. Part of that too, however, is due to menu simplifications that are Covid related. We’ve also combined a lot of services (technology, security, linens, etc.), which has saved a little dough. There are still a ton of efficiencies that I am working on taking advantage of, but it’s slow going as I have so much to learn.
Brighter Day’s house-made, grab-and-go sandwiches, salads and snacks.
Cafe Camp:Have you experienced any “surprises”/ unanticipated challenges in running a grocery store?
KR: You mean besides a pandemic?! Lol. Juggling supply this year has been pretty tricky. Just when we seemed to be getting a more stable supply of certain products that went away during the beginning of the pandemic, the wildfires in California shut down another large section of our products.
I don’t know that it was unanticipated, but tracking the numbers of such a large and quickly changing inventory is more complicated than I realized, and it’s taking a long time for me to wrap my brain around it. Luckily, the great staff there keeps doing what they’ve been doing, and it seems to be working out okay, but I look forward to running a much tighter ship in the future.
Cafe Camp: Is Brighter Day stocking up for Thanksgiving meal-prep ?
KR: We are indeed! All of our frozen turkeys arrived last week so we had to run down product in our biggest freezer to make room for them. We get fresh turkeys, which have to be pre-ordered, just a few days before Thanksgiving. We also stock up on cranberries, gravy, baking supplies, and other Thanksgiving staples. This year there is a pumpkin puree shortage, so we’ve started making our own in the deli, and we’ve just added stuffing to the in-house mix too.
Cafe Camp:On the Brighter Day website, it says you offer Mail Order (in addition to in-store pick-up). Are you shipping nationwide?
KR: We do ship nationwide but only shelf-stable products. Mainly we ship supplements. We charge a $5 handling fee and shipping. People can fill out a form online, email or call us.
Cafe Camp: Covid! Anything you’d like to share? How is Sentient fairing? How has the coffee shop changed to survive?
KR: During the most extreme of the shutdowns, the coffee shop was down to 10 percent of our regular business, but we are now back to almost 75 percent, which is quite sustainable. We’ve made a lot of changes, and it will be interesting to see which ones stick. We have two teams of staff and try not to have too much cross over to reduce potential infection rates, and we all can’t wait for that to be over. We simplified the menu including, unfortunately, less super fresh produce as we couldn’t afford to lose too much of it in the beginning. I’m happy to say that is coming back. The biggest change is that we added online ordering. We’ve been requiring masks since the beginning, and for a while, it was a super pain to enforce, but now almost everyone is on board.
Inside The Sentient Bean in Savannah, Georgia. 2020.
Cafe Camp: Morale- how are you keeping yours up? Are you traveling at all?
KR: Thankfully the weather has been amazing this year, and I’ve spent a ton of time outside and on the water here on this beautiful coast which has kept my morale up and consequently helped me keep the staff’s morale up. I’m generally not a very expressive person. I’ve been trying really hard to remember to thank everyone often for their hard work, patience, and great attitude. Bonuses- that helps morale too! I have managed to travel a bit, and I’m super grateful about that. It was strange and curtailed, but it was still a change of scenery.
Cafe Camp:What’s next? For you, for Sentient, for Brighter Day?
KR: We’re just barely coming out of survival mode, and we’re still poised to go right back into lockdown any moment, so it’s extremely hard to have much focus on ‘what’s next’, but……
Brighter Bean! We’ve launched our combined brand which we primarily plan to use as a food label. That effort has been the focal point of figuring out how the two businesses can help each other out.
Cafe Camp:Sustainability, Food and Savannah – You’ve been actively involved in Savannah’s sustainable food culture for more than 20 years (starting Sentient & Forsyth Farmers Market, now owning Brighter Day). How do you feel about Savannah & sustainability these days? Are people thinking about the impact of Climate Change more? Are sustainable food systems more supported now than in the past?
KR: I’m optimistic about Savannah’s sustainable food culture. I’d like to see change happening a lot faster, but patience has never been one of my virtues. The pandemic and the Western wildfires have put a welcome spotlight on the weaknesses of a food system that relies on so much transportation. I think a lot of people are ready and willing to increase their support of local food, so we’ve got to seize on this opportunity to keep everyone’s attention.
The bigger picture of resilient food systems as one part of the solution to climate change isn’t part of very many people’s narratives yet, but I think that consciousness is growing. That last question is a tricky one… Sustainable food systems are more supported now than in decades, but we are still super removed from our food in comparison to pre-WWII. I think the message that “how you eat is an important part of managing climate change” is growing.
Back patio at The Sentient Bean in Savannah, Georgia. 2020.
Brighter Day Natural Foods Market 1102 Bull Street Savannah, Georgia 31401 https://brighterdayfoods.com/ Get your house-made Pumpkin Puree! ..and stuffing!
Traveling through a winding verdant tunnel deep in North Carolina’s Nantahala forest, Leigh and Clay Hartman’s 12 year-old-son weighs in on their potential move from Charlotte to the tiny mountain town of Highlands.
“My soul is here. When can we move?”
Despite harrowing curves on the 4,100-foot ascent as you drive up to Highlands, the journey is remarkably peaceful. Especially in the summer. The landscape is flush with rhododendron, mountain laurel, sweet gum, native azaleas, ferns, mosses – an abundance of native flora.
And when other towns across the South reach peak temperatures of 95-100 degrees Fahrenheit, Highlands rarely breaks into the 80’s. As I write this, temperatures in Americus are projected to top out at 96 degrees (one of many such days in July and August). Today’s projected high in Highlands? A crisp 73 degrees.
Moving to Highlands, North Carolina
So, amidst the backdrop of one of the most delightful summer landscapes of anywhere in the United States, the Hartmans make a new life for themselves. Nearly a year after moving to Highlands, they purchased a coffee shop on Main Street.
Buck’s Coffee Cafe in Highlands became Calders Coffee Cafe on May 1, 2019. The date was coincidentally Leigh and Clay’s 20th wedding anniversary.
The name, “Calders,” is a nod to the early days of their relationship. It’s the name of a Scottish pub in Charleston where Leigh and Clay had one of their first dates.
It’s a Scottish-Gaelic word that means “stony rivers,” an apt descriptor of much of the Highlands-area landscape.
Becoming Coffee Shop Owners
Becoming coffee shop owners happened after two very successful and intense careers for both Leigh and Clay.
Leigh retired from 15 years at Bank of America where she worked as a business transformation executive, helping the financial giant navigate acquisitions during and after the financial crisis of 2008.
Clay retired after 25 years in the U.S. Navy where he served as an attack pilot, and had most recently worked for 10 years leading a North Carolina-based renewable energy company.
The early mornings, hard work, determination and entrepreneurship necessary for running a coffee shop came naturally to Leigh and Clay.
But what the couple was really looking for when they started Calders was a sense of community.
“I wanted a place where people could feel like they belong,” said Leigh, who had grown to appreciate the sense of community that Clay’s career in the Navy had brought to the family.
“In the Navy, you really learn this reliance on community. Everything depends on everyone else. If anything happened, I had an instant community,” she said. “When Clay was deployed, I’d wake up at 7 am., and my lawn would have already been mowed. Everybody adopts someone else. There’s very much that feeling that you belong.”
When they first purchased Highlands’s Main Street coffee shop, Leigh sensed that customers were concerned that they might lose the sense of community that Buck’s had cultivated for some 18 years.
Clay Hartman, co-owner of Calders Coffee Cafe.
“Literally our first week, we had people who looked terrified that we would change. It was overwhelmingly clear that people wanted a positive experience from the company and our staff,” she said.
Fostering Community at Calders
In the year since the Hartmans have owned the coffee shop, they’ve made every effort to protect their customers, fostering a welcoming, approachable environment.
For starters, they kept all of the original staff from Buck’s. They also kept their price-points affordable. They added more lunch items. They kept Cafe Campesino on as their primary coffee offering (thank you!). They added beer, wine and cider to their menu. They added more grab-and-go and souvenir-style items for the tourists who flock to Highlands to fish, hike and cool off during the summer.
Since the on-set of the Covid-19 pandemic, they’ve instituted social distancing measures, keeping their cafe open for carry-out only, and they’ve adhered to the local mask mandate. Most recently, they’ve been working on a pre-order and pick-up system where customers can bypass a line to pick up their pre-purchased food and drink orders.
Supporting Other Community-Oriented Businesses
Calders’s support for small-scale and mission-oriented businesses goes beyond their selection of Cafe Campesino coffee. Their wines come from small-production and family-owned producers around the world. They source Wehrloom Honey, an apiary based in Robbinsville, NC, where Leigh’s mom grew up. They sell Imladris Jams, which produces hand-crafted jams using fruits grown on nearby Western North Carolina farms.
They also source products from Erin Bakers and 1 in 6 snacks, two companies working to end food insecurity, and Clean Cause Sparkling Yeba Mate, which gives 50 percent of its profits to support recovery from alcohol and drug addiction.
Plan a Visit to Calders
With their selection of products, their friendly staff and their emphasis on community, Calders is ready to welcome you for a visit.
They are open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Hours are 7 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Calders Coffee Cafe 384 Main Street Highlands, NC 28741
Learn more about their company story and their menu online.
Inside Calders Coffee Cafe in Highlands, North Carolina.
Steve Clark has probably made over 1 million lattes since he moved to western North Carolina back in the early 2000’s.
Watching him work on a busy morning is a lesson in barista efficiency. He stands squarely in front of a silver La Marzocco – never leaving his station – steadily building lattes and cappuccinos in the order they were received.
He pours rosettas and tulips and hearts with perfectly steamed milk. He casually chats with customers as he builds their drinks – one right after the other.
If you make it to Buck’s Coffee Cafe in Cashiers during the height of the summer (peak tourist time), you might have to wait 15-20 minutes for Steve to prepare your drink. Sometimes there are 12-18 people in line at one time. Steve never gets flustered.
Steve Clark, co-owner of Buck’s Coffee Cafe in Cashiers, North Carolina.
A Day in the Life of a Coffee-Shop Owner
As the co-owner and operator of Buck’s Coffee Cafe, Steve is a work-horse. He’s at the shop by 4:30 a.m. and opens it by 7 a.m. When he’s not pouring lattes, he’s making breakfast sandwiches or lunch paninis. He supports his staff through the breakfast and lunch rushes, then heads home around 2 or 3 p.m. On most days, he’ll run 5 or so miles after work. The rest of the day is devoted to his three kids.
“I have to physically exhaust myself to quiet the mind,” he says. He’s easily been working this hard since 2008 when he opened the Cashiers location with Tommy and Linda Clark (no relation). Before that, he had been a key employee at the couple’s original Buck’s location in nearby Highlands.
Buck’s Coffee Cafe in Cashiers, North Carolina.
When Steve met Buck’s
When Steve first moved to Highlands from Florida, coffee wasn’t on his radar.
“I was an alcoholic and an addict,” he said. And he credits Tommy and Linda with changing his life.
“Linda says I was their first hire, but that’s not how I remember it,” he said recounting the first time he met her. “I was literally walking down the street and she was trying to get in the front door and had her hands full, and I literally opened the door for her.”
That single gesture of kindness was the spark that earned Steve a job at the soon-to-open coffee shop in Highlands, as well as a place to live. “The house I had been living in burned down,” he recounted, explaining that an apartment above the coffee house served as his home for many months.
Later, his work at Buck’s introduced him to the woman who would become the mother of his children. “Although we’re not together anymore, I have three children as a result. I don’t think I would have the family that I have now if I didn’t work here.”
And, becoming a dad was the impetus for his sobriety. “There’s a good chance I’m dead or in jail without them,” he said.
Working for Tommy and Linda at the Highlands coffee shop offered Steve a foundation for how to manage people. According to Steve, Tommy and Linda take care of people “for the long-haul,” and they did things like offer health insurance to employees long before other coffee companies were doing such a thing.
Steve Clark (left) and Tommy Clark (no relation) are partners in business at Buck’s Coffee Cafe in Cashiers, North Carolina.
Leading with Kindness
Now, Steve treats his own employees – mostly college-aged, seasonal staffers – with the same support and trust he got from Tommy and Linda.
“It’s very important that my employees know that as long as they’re making a good effort, then I’ve got their back,” he said. “It’s okay if they make a mistake. It’s even OK if they make a big mistake, as long as they’re showing up on time and not being disrespectful.”
The welcoming and supportive culture Steve fosters at Buck’s in Cashiers extends to all customers – no matter their background or socio-economic level. “It’s important to me that everyone feels comfortable here,” he said. And to that end, Buck’s remains open year-round for locals. During the slow winter months, the Cashiers’ population dwindles back down to its permanent residents, which the 2010 census lists as 157 people.
A single random encounter with Tommy and Linda radically changed Steve’s life. And because of their kindness, he is forever changed.
“They mean a lot to me. If my kids end up being similar to Tommy and Linda, I’ll be blissfully happy. Just absolutely blissfully happy.”
Tommy, Linda and Steve opened Buck’s Coffee Cafe in Cashiers in 2008. In addition to coffee and light food items, the location also offers a collection of wines, and artisan-designed home decor, including paintings by Tommy and Linda’s daughter, Dawne Raulet. In 2019, Tommy and Linda sold the Highlands store to Leigh and Clay Hartman, who have since rebranded it as Calders Coffee Cafe.
Many people ask, “What is Juneteenth? What’s wrong with the Fourth of July? Why does everything have to be about separation? Can’t we all just get along?” The quick answers are African-American Freedom Day, everything and nothing, it’s not and yes, but it takes everyone being invested in diversity, equity and inclusion.
My upbringing was very diverse. I grew up in a predominantly African-American neighborhood, attended racially diverse schools, and never felt that I stood out as an African American until I got to my predominantly white university. I majored in Cultural Anthropology, Sociology and Black World Studies, but I don’t remember Juneteenth ever being taught.
I learned that Independence Day was for white Americans, because in 1776, African Americans were still considered property with no rights.
I always knew that July 4th wasn’t for “us” (African Americans), but I didn’t know what “our” replacement holiday was. As a young child, I remember there being many different fireworks shows. African Americans watched in the park (in a predominantly African-American neighborhood, and white people watched from their individual suburbs. I vividly remember 1976 and all the celebrations related to the United States’ 200th year of freedom. Every ad, every billboard, every label showed white people in celebration for this anniversary. I didn’t know any black person who was excited about July 4, 1976.
I learned that Independence Day was for white Americans, because in 1776, African Americans were still considered property with no rights. But, being a good American citizen, I celebrated the fourth of July like every other American; hot dogs, fireworks and a day off work.
Juneteenth flag: American Red, White and Blue with the Texas star and a “new” bursting star to celebrate freedom.
Independence Day for African Americans: June 19, 1865
As an adult, I learned that Juneteenth, a mash-up of the words June and nineteenth, was Independence Day for African Americans. Juneteenth commemorates the day (June 19,1865), in Galveston, Texas, that Union General Gordon Granger with 2,000 troops read the federal orders proclaiming that all enslaved people were free. The reading came a full 2 ½ years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. News didn’t travel fast back then, and slave masters were in no rush to release their free labor. Slave masters actively suppressed news of the emancipation in Confederate territories that were not under Union control.
I can’t even begin to understand the collective feelings of joy, fear, disbelief, and freedom. What followed the reading of the federal orders is now called “the scatter.” African Americans left their enslavement and “scattered” throughout the United States looking for family members. My ancestors left Mississippi and scattered to Colorado, Kansas and Illinois. It tickles me to know that some slaves started “the scatter” before General Granger even finished reading the federal order.
It makes sense to me that every American should want to celebrate the day when EVERY AMERICAN was free. That day would be June 19th.
I know many people will ask “Why don’t we all just celebrate the Fourth of July? It’s already a tradition, and everyone loves it?” I would retort with “Everything that’s a tradition is not good and upwards of 13% of the US population (2010 US Census) was not free in 1776. It makes sense to me that every American should want to celebrate the day when EVERY AMERICAN was free. That day would be June 19th .
July 4th and June 19th
When we celebrate July 4th, Independence Day, we are celebrating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. That document declared that the 13 colonies were no longer subject to the British monarch. The Emancipation Proclamation was signed 87 years later, and it took 2 ½ additional years for all enslaved peoples to be freed. I don’t think that we need to get rid of one celebration to enjoy the other; we need to give room and acknowledgement for the importance of each day.
I don’t think that we need to get rid of one celebration to enjoy the other; we need to give room and acknowledgement for the importance of each day.
This year (2020), it feels more important than ever for my family and I to celebrate Juneteenth. Every day in Southwest Georgia I see remnants of these “traditions,” and I don’t love them! It’s a slap in the face to see confederate flags, streets and buildings named after known slave masters and to have someone paint a confederate flag on my daughter’s cheek as part of a face painting activity at a street fair.
In Germany today you will not find a single public statue lauding Adolph Hitler. The government recognizes that 1) They lost the war and 2) Any adoration of a figure who hurt and killed so many of their citizens is heartless and hurtful. I remind people that the south DID NOT WIN the war! Why are we celebrating the losing side and throwing it up in the face of our citizens who are descendants of slavery? It’s heartless and hurtful.
Celebrating Juneteenth
Juneteenth is not a Federal holiday, but in recent years many corporations have begun celebrating their African American employees by recognizing June 19th as a corporate holiday. A few of these corporations are Google, Habitat for Humanity International, JC Penny, Nike, NFL, The New York Times, Target,Twitter and Vox Media. Although Juneteenth is not a national holiday it is celebrated in most metropolitan cities with parades, rodeos, cookouts, street fairs, prayer services, fireworks and family gatherings.
Eating Red Velvet Cake, watermelon, and Marcus Garvey Bean Salad (mixture of red, black and green beans)
Barbecues and family get togethers
Red Foods Served on Juneteenth
The eating of red food items is thought to be in recognition of West African cultures, where red is a symbol of strength and spirituality.
The color red also symbolizes the blood of millions of enslaved people who suffered and died. The red soda was initially made with strawberries, hibiscus and kola nuts. Red soda is now a common staple at Juneteenth celebrations.
I pray that everyone stay safe, enjoy your loved ones and celebrate Juneteenth with the knowledge that America has come a long way but there’s still a long way to go. Happy Juneteenth!!!
Strawberry Ginger Ale Recipe
Red soda is now a common staple at Juneteenth celebrations. Here’s a recipe for Strawberry Ginger Ale:
Ingredients
2 ounces chopped peeled ginger
8 ounces fresh strawberries chopped
1 cup water
12 oz sugar
About 1-quart chilled club soda
Preparation
Combine water and sugar and over medium heat bring to a boil; stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved.
Add ginger and strawberries. Simmer for 10 minutes then remove from heat cover and let steep for 1 hour.
Strain mixture through a sieve into a bowl, pressing on strawberries and ginger and then discarding.
Chill syrup in a covered bowl or jar until cold.
Mix syrup with club soda to taste (start with ¼ cup syrup per ¾ cup club soda, then adjust to taste).
About the Author
Dawn Daniels McNear is an Americus-based friend of Café Campesino. She moved to Americus 13 years ago with her husband and 3 children to continue her work with Habitat for Humanity. She approaches life with humor and radical candor. Her life motto is “If you don’t like me that’s okay, get in line with the others. Life is to short to let people who don’t matter, matter!“
Words by Christy Deen. Images courtesy of Drip-Thru Coffee®
Training is a key process in any company that wants to maintain mastery in its field, and companies in the coffee industry are no different. On-going training is important for staff development, product consistency and empowering a team to rock this third wave of coffee.
Drip-Thru Coffee® has and continually partners with Cafe Campesino’s Coffee Training Lab to fulfill these training goals. My husband and I successfully completed the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA)’s Barista Level One certification with the Coffee Training Lab before opening our first Drip-Thru Coffee® location.
Employees at both our locations have completed Espresso & Milk 101 with Hannah Mercer, an authorized SCA trainer and education coordinator for Cafe Campesino and its sister roastery in Florida, Sweetwater Organic Coffee.
Most recently, we took several baristas to a latte art class at the Coffee Training Lab in Americus, Ga., at Cafe Campesino. It was a great way to step back from the daily grind (“ha ha”) at the shop and really focus on the craft and knowledge behind creating latte art.
…the main takeaway for our staff is to never stop learning. There is so much knowledge in the world to gain!
Christy Deen, co-owner of Drip-Thru Coffee®
Fun was had by all, and in addition to learning about latte art, the main takeaway for our staff is to never stop learning. There is so much knowledge in the world to gain!
Whether you are a coffee enthusiast, barista-in-training, or coffee shop entrepreneur, the Coffee Training Lab has something to offer you! Be sure to check them out.
Christy has worked for over 20 years in the food -and-beverage industry. She’s managed restaurants from the Walt Disney World Theme Parks to the Atlanta airport.She and her husband Martin opened their first location of Drip-Thru Coffee® in Stockbridge, Ga., in 2016. Shortly thereafter, they opened a second location in College Park. Drip-Thru Coffee® brings good, fast coffee to Atlanta commuters without compromising quality or service.Learn more about their company at:https://www.dripthrucoffee.com/
As a wholesale customer of Cafe Campesino, Drip-Thru Coffee® receives periodic training that is tailored to its needs. In addition to managing wholesale-customer training, the Coffee Training Lab offers Barista and Brewing classes that are a part of the Specialty Coffee Association‘s Coffee Skills Program . The Lab’s 2020 SCA classes have recently been listed online. Visit: www.coffeetraininglab.com for dates and locations.
