Note: I’m following the story of Casey Page, who is living out her dream of opening a coffee/canteen cart – formerly a horse trailer. Casey is stubborn, intelligent, and hard-working; she carefully puts together a plan that will grant her dream and still permit her to be an attentive mother to her young children, a good wife, and a successful businessperson.

She hopes to have her cart up and running in February. Meanwhile, I’m tracking her progress on behalf of dreamers everywhere. I love stories about people following their dreams. They are sacred to me. Here is the latest update: she’s painting her trailer in Dan Rogers’ workshop today.

Casey is tired; between her two kids, her house, and her community work, she’s working all the time, planning the foods she’ll be selling – coffee, tea, sandwiches, croissants, and donuts – out of her coffee/canteen cart, now being lovingly restored and adapted by Dan Rogers. He built our new bathroom.

Casey often helps him restore the horse trailer; today, she was working on painting the interior. I offered to help paint a little bit, and she said sure. I enjoy talking with her while we paint; she has various exciting ideas.

She’s also networking with other young foodies – organic farmers, coffee makers, and bakers. Casey works alone, but she’s bringing many talented people with her.

Today, I was invited to help paint and stain a small chunk of the new car counter. It’s a gloomy, soggy day; a storm dumps rain on us, and Casey is undeterred as always.

We met in Dan Roger’s garage just a few miles from the farm.

It’s the vast former garage of a farm stuffed to the gills with heaters, saws, brushes, and ancient tools. That’s where Casey has been going for nearly a year to get her trailer in shape.

Casey is honest, thorough, thoughtful, and determined. And she is ambitious and deadly serious about her cart project. She’s also interesting.

I asked her why there wasn’t more color in her trailer, and she gave me a lesson in design, which I was fascinated by. She’s looking for neutral colors, something in the middle, nothing flashy or trashy.

Casey has worked in food places for most of her life; she was trained and educated as an interior designer, which is apparent when you see her house. Now, she wants to be her boss, offering exceptional morning coffee, tea, and baked goods. It would fill a big hole in our town; there is nothing like that here.

Casey is part of a sharp and very different generation of promising entrepreneurs. They study food closely, avoiding paying employees, cumbersome state regulations, rents, and maintenance costs.

They make healthy, exciting, and different food. I hope they thrive.

 

The trailer is almost done; she’s doing the painting and is now working on the inside.

Casey has almost boundless energy and a river of new ideas for her dream. She is also a mother, a newborn baby, and a five-year-old sister. She has a lot to do. She never complains or plans.

 

The horse wagon from the outside and the cart have a ton of character.

Casey has enormous energy and never seems to wear down. She also is a purebred creative, she has one idea after another I picked the right person to follow. Whatever happens, she will give it the best imaginable try.