July 1, 2026

Dear friend of the Strafford General Store and the Strafford Community Trust,

It’s time to celebrate! A year ago, the Coburn family passed on ownership of our general store to the Strafford Community Trust, with Adam Smith as the store proprietor. We want to mark this anniversary by thanking all of you for making this possible. Join us at the store if you can on Friday, July 3rd between 9 and 11am for cake and good cheer.

We are delighted with Adam’s expertise and hard work, the dedication of long-term and new staff, and the strength and security of our General Store. Thank you to the Preservation Trust of Vermont for their continual guidance. Adam and the Strafford Community Trust continue a rollout of updating store systems and building improvements.

Here’s what we collectively accomplished in the last year:

• The Store has remained the heart of our community through this big transition.

• The dedicated and talented staff team---Adam, Deanna, Meg, Jeanne, Tammy, Aiden, Eli, Evan, Hailey, Jasper, Kyle, Lucy, Regan, Steve, and volunteer Diane Tensen---are ushering our store into a new era. That is no small feat after years of dedication and expertise from the Coburn family.

• Sales are strong thanks to this community’s support.

• The store remains a nurturing and invaluable learning environment for the many teens who work there.

• In addition to keeping favorite items on the shelf, the store has increased its connection to Vermont-wide producers. There has been good feedback about the new products. You can see a list of many of the local producers on the store’s webpage!

• Many store and building improvements have happened and many more have been identified and are in the works. These include the installation of a new alarm system, updated infrastructure in the basement, scales and scanning at the cash registers and an automated inventory tracking system.

• We have updated our website! The Strafford General Store has been folded into the Community trust website. News and developments appear, as well as the opportunity to donate. (Remember, we are a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization and rely entirely on your generous support to keep upgrading the building.)

We continue to receive votes of confidence from funders who continue to make this dream possible:

• We’re replacing the leaky roof under which old wooden shakes were discovered. We want to thank the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation for their contribution to the overall cost of this extensive--and expensive---project.

• Mascoma Bank has offered to pay for washing the building facade.

• We recently received an $8,500 matching grant from the 1772 Foundation, which will partially pay for repainting the building. We need to raise the matching funds. Please consider a donation to help us reach this goal!

Projects in the works include:

• Weatherizing the building and increasing energy-efficiency to save money and energy.

• The store’s aging dairy and beverage coolers will be replaced.

• Solutions for a durable wastewater system for the store and laundromat are being explored.

• We plan to hire a project manager/clerk of the works position to oversee and shepherd the building work.

• Last, but not least, structural support in the basement will be addressed as soon as we can clean out the basement. We have set up a service to assist with the cleaning for next month. Stay tuned for volunteer opportunities!

Work will be on-going, and with as little disruption to the business as possible.

We are grateful for Adam’s extraordinary hard work, for the long-serving employees' continued commitment, and for your patronage which helps to keep it a viable business for the community. We are also grateful for the many in the community who stepped up to aid during Adam’s recent convalescence. Please don’t hesitate to contact a Community Trust board member with any questions or concerns.

Cheers to this wonderful community!

The Strafford Community Trust Board

Trudi Brock (Chair), Bob Cowden, Marisa Donovan, Pat Kelly, Rosi Kerr, Tracey McFadden, BJ Miller, Annie Penfield, Vanessa Rule, Rebecca Seibel.