It was my honor to educate and empower a dozen young people in my art/music studio coffeehouse over a 10-year time span. We all grew in knowledge and understanding of how to relate to the public — and each other. Our work gang was truly a delight — full of energy — creative and dedicated to accomplishing any task.
My all-time favorite energetic creative volunteer extraordinaire worked around the customer created murals.
She helped transform the space into a tearoom.
One of the best part of any independent shop is the empowerment an employee experiences because he/she is given the chance to add their creative spirit to the establishment.
The next higher level is the connection with the customer. We had a unique bond of spontaneous energy unable to be duplicated anywhere else.
These Junior High School students loved the opportunity to decorate the windows on their Half-Days.
Two precocious children grew up in the studio/coffeehouse from age four/six for 5 years.
We had art, music and baking adventures.
Betty and I met years earlier with her purchase of tubes of paint from Cygnet Studios. Her first gallery exhibit featuring 70 years of artwork was a grand event. My father passed away October 2009, Betty was comforted through his violin the next year. We lost Betty to Cancer, January 2011. Her family requested my community coffeehouse for the life celebration — an honor.
The community coffee connection is memorable. These ladies decorated their own “Java Journal” and didn’t even make the mistake of dipping their markers in a coffee cup. Way to go, gals.
Sitting in the art gallery was inspirational, a huge reason many youth frequented my establishment. Conewago Coffeehouse was more than just fun and games . . .
Spontaneity emerged and manifested itself instantaneously with this post-it project and became a new in-house activity.
We celebrated the joys of life and the sadness of death — together.
Go ahead, ask “what happened to your amazing establishment?”
Evil does exist. I found out first hand — I looked it in the eyes . . .
Predatory placed and promoted establishments didn’t kill OUR community coffeehouse — though a few DID try with “Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.” (Charles Caleb Colton) My community connection was calculatedly destroyed by a duo of “bully-boys” (names omitted for anonymity) then veiled through a twisted legal system.
I bet YOU and I are counting on justice to prevail. Anyone for a family reunion?
iCygnet 
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