Once a hub of the community where residents could pick up a few groceries or catch up on local events over a cup of coffee, the Chesterfield General Store has been closed since 2014. Now, after three years of painstaking renovations, the store is set to reopen with wider offerings, including a small grocery, deli and full food service with breakfast lunch and dinner, as well as catering.
“We have done a lot here, and it has taken us a while,” store owner and chef Gregg Monette said. “We wanted to put a lot of thought and effort into making it a comfortable place that will meet people’s needs.”
The new incarnation of the General Store will offer limited table seating, counter seating and a menu of locally sourced, homemade foods, including items such as baked goods, soups, sandwiches, salads and pizza.
A 24-foot-long, L-shaped counter/bar surrounds a kitchen that Monette says would make any professional chef happy with its 10-burner range, convection oven, large pizza oven and ample prep and storage space.
A small grocery/deli will feature meats, cheeses and some prepared foods like pasta, grain and noodle salads.
“We want to provide something that has been missing in this area for a long time,” Monette said. “This is a small cafe/restaurant, a meeting place and a small grocery that will meet people’s basic pantry needs.”
The General Store also has a full liquor license and has wine beer and for sale.
As well as using local farms, breweries and coffee roasters, Monette said that all of the construction, electrical, plumbing and landscaping work was done by local tradespeople in the Hilltowns.
“We are trying to establish our role in the resurgence of the local cottage industry, an idea that is really taking hold in western Mass,” he said. “It’s exciting, and I am looking forward to showcasing what we are all about.”
All that remains is finish work, cleanup and the final inspections, which Monette says will take place within the next two weeks.
“The plan is to open in mid November, grow through the winter and by spring be pretty established,” he said. “Then we will have a grand opening.”
A career chef, Monette has worked in establishments like the Classe Cafe in Amherst, the former Green Street Cafe in Northampton, the former Chandler’s Restaurant in Deerfield, and the Blue Heron in Sunderland.
“All of my experience in those places, all of those dishes will come here in some way,” he said.
Monette has not yet determined the store hours, but said, “We will definitely be open by 5:30 a.m., and there will always be someone here brewing coffee or baking bread.”
WILLIAMSBURG — The 32nd annual Hilltown CROP Hunger Walk will take place on Sunday, Oct. 20, beginning at the Williamsburg Congregational Church.
This is a community-wide event sponsored by the Church World Service and organized by local communities to end hunger in the U.S. and around the world.
Standing for Christian Rural Overseas Program, the acronym has remained while the program has outgrown its parameters and is now an interfaith hunger education and charity service.
According to organizer Jean York, Williamsburg raised $3,206 at this event last year, and she is hoping this year will be even more successful.
“It is anticipated that 25 percent of the proceeds will go to the Western Mass Food Bank in Hatfield,” she said.
York noted that hungry people in developing countries typically walk six miles a day for food, water and fuel or to take goods to market. She is hoping that people here will step up for a much shorter and casual walk to help end hunger everywhere.
“We walk to be in solidarity with those struggling for existence. We walk because they walk,” she said.
The route is a loop going from North Main Street to Button Shop Road to Route 9 and back to the church.
Registration is at 1 p.m., and the walk begins at 1:30 p.m. A light lunch will be provided for all walkers. All those raising over $100 in pledges will receive a ball cap from Ford of Northampton.
For more information, call organizers Jean York at 268-7020, Sue Snow at 268-3529 or Roger Graves at 268-7960.
CUMMINGTON — On Saturday, Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. the West Cummington Church will host a benefit concert for It Takes a Village featuring The Nields.
The suggested donation is $20. Proceeds will go to programs like home visits to new families, free maternity, baby and children’s clothing, children’s gear and free groups, classes and workshops for families. For more information, visit hilltownvillage.org.
Ideas for this column on life in the Hilltowns can be sent to Fran Ryan at Fryan.gazette@gmail.com.