Great news and challenging news for community, the Round House Cafe’s fund-raising effort to buy their building has passed the $65,000 mark, and thanks to an angel who has offered a matching grant of $5,000, it is close to reaching it’s goal of $75,000. This is important news. People from all over the country have joined in.
To those left who haven’t given all of their discretionary money to politicians, it will only take a few thousand dollars to hit the goal, and that will be a great blow for community. If we want to keep it, we will need to fight for it.
The cafe is at a crossroads, a month ago, their landlord raised their rent substantially and put two ugly “For Sale” signs right in the cafe windows (a local artist has added her own subtitle to calm the misunderstandings). I removed the signs soon after they were put up, which confounded and angered me, sparking some controversy and disagreement.
Scott asked me to return them, which I did.
The signs seemed an aggressive thing to me, and I can’t fathom why making the cafe look like it was failing is good for anyone. I’m glad I made some noise about it. I am giving up the lazy citizen thing, if I want to do good, I have to move a bit, not just type a lot.
I have asked Scott repeatedly if I could take these signs down again, as recently as today – they continue to provoke many rumors that the cafe is going out of business. But Scott has asked me not to, and out of respect for him, I have agreed. It it was hard for me to resist pulling them down today, the cafe was empty and I had a clear shot at it.
But it’s not my cafe or my building.
Since the signs went up, it seems to me the prospect of the cafe staying in their building or buying it have declined, there are all sorts of ways the Round House can move and stay right in the middle of town, the money Scott has raised gives him a number of good options for doing that. Maybe of them offer him more options for the cafe to serve the community and make money.
Scott and Lisa Carrino have worked day and night for years, and perhaps need to find a way to keep their cafe and still have a life. Many people in town are supporting them, and will support whatever they decide to do. People come into the cafe every day with checks, and cash contributions to the fund.
They are important to us, we have lost enough of our community, this is the line.
My personal hope is that Scott and Lisa consider moving the cafe out of their building, but I am not privy to any negotiations. I doubt they can have a successful negotiation, and I have felt that since the signs went up. It was not a friendly gesture. But I also know they wish to stay in town. They have put a lot of blood and sweat into the cafe.
The good news is that there are lots of lovely old buildings available, some smaller, some bigger, each offers different opportunities. The Carrinos are going over their options very carefully and thoughtfully. I consider their struggle selfless and heroic. They do not live for money or security, they are seeking to do good.
The Round House has become a symbol of community for many people, all over the country.
Rural communities have lost so much to emigration to the cities and the exodus of jobs, here we are eager to fight for it to stay. Scott will be updating people as developments occur on his gofundme project, he has asked me to help with the writing and I am eager to do that. I wanted to update you on where this very important story stands, and also ask that if anyone has a few dollars kicking around, we could reach the $75,000 goal pretty quickly, thanks to the matching gift and your generosity.
Scott may buy his building, or fix up another one, but with your support, the idea of community will have scored a major victory. You can contribute here. It can be done.