17 most anticipated restaurant openings in the Bay Area this fall sfchronicle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from sfchronicle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Robb Family Farm and Sugarhouse, Robb Family courtesy photo
Vermont Business Magazine Maple sugaring – as it is called among locals - is a labor of love, and often, as in the Robb Family Farm and Sugarhouse’s case, it is the financial lifeblood that sustains the century-old family farm in Brattleboro, Vermont. The season for harvesting and boiling the maple sap into thick, sweet maple syrup is a short critical one, lasting only several weeks right before Spring.
The Robbs sell Vermont maple syrup, maple candy and maple cream online and in their country store located next to their sugar house. A good portion of their sales is made during that time from people visiting their sugarhouse producing enough money to cover their operating costs for the year. But the coronavirus upended their dependable revenue stream.
Owner Rob Grimes says he liked to foster a space where people would be open to be themselves regardless of their gender identity or religion.
“Very often people would come in there and express all sorts of opinions but not fear judgment and not fear harassment,” he says.
Rob knew most of his customers well. Many of them turned into volunteers, like one veteran who worked there for his first job as a civilian.
A local priest started a group that met monthly at the shop called Comic Chat, a quasi-book club where people could talk about big ideas they learned in comics.