Greetings, friends of the Village Store! This is a periodic newsletter on our project to bring our beloved store back as the Village Store & Café.
Please Give
If you love the idea of reviving a gathering place and food hub in the center of Thetford, and you're able to contribute, don't let another day go by:
Here's why we need your help: the project is off to a great start — we've raised close to $500,000 in nonprofit donations and pledges from community members. But we still need to raise about $1 million more to fully fund demolition, design, construction, and septic expansion. Those funds will come from you and the rest of our community.
Every dollar counts. Your support will allow us to start construction sooner and reopen the store and café in spring 2028.
Come See Us at Thetford's 250th!
Thetford's 250th anniversary party is coming up on June 20, and we'll be there. The Village Store & Café's future proprietor, Margaret Loftus of Crossmolina Farm and Cookeville Market, will be onsite serving food.
We'll also have a few other treats up our sleeve. Please stop by and say hi!
Fun With Site Planning!
This past month, much time has been committed to nailing down our site design. That's been more fun than it sounds, because it's given us an excuse to dive into Thetford's history.
In late March, we met with the Development Review Board and determined we needed clarity on the property boundary between the store and the Timothy Frost building. That led us down a rabbit hole researching Thetford's historical property records. A huge thanks to Roger Thrall, master woodworker and retired surveyor, who volunteered to lend a hand. Roger and Tim Briglin spent hours tramping around Thetford Center searching for boundary pins, measuring property lines, and placing flags. Above are photos of Roger in the Town archives and peering along the lot boundary.
The historical documents didn't fully clarify things, so we worked with the Selectboard on an agreement to establish a boundary. And we're happy to report that, at its June 1 meeting, the Selectboard adopted a resolution setting the boundary line! With that issue resolved, we'll be back before the DRB seeking signoff on the site plan. Many thanks to the Selectboard members and Town Manager Brian Story for considering our request and helping us reach a timely resolution.
More soon. Thank you for supporting the revival of the
Village Store & Café.
— The Thetford Center Community Trust Board (Tim, Deecie, Sarah, Dom)