Beautiful Friday afternoon on the Meduxnekeag

Friday at the market

Artist Valerie Flewelling was selling prints made from her
original paintings (and cinnamon buns) at the Woodstock Farm
& Craft Market on Friday.

Woodstock Mayor Art Slipp was among the many people who
stopped by to purchase local goods at the Woodstock Farm &
Craft Market on Friday, July 27th.

Popular cafe in Woodstock's downtown closes

A sign was posted on the door of
Bistro 610 on Tuesday morning
informing the public that the cafe was
closed "effective immediately" and
thanking customers for their patronage

WOODSTOCK-What had become a hub of the community within months of its opening closed its doors last week.

Bistro 610, formerly Fusion Cafe, unexpectedly closed for good on Tuesday, July 10th.

The closure of Bistro 610 caught many by surprise - the only indicator of the business closing up shop was a sign in the window stating that Bistro 610 was closed "effective immediately," and thanking customers for their patronage.

Ray Kierstead, owner of Bistro 610, told the Bugle-Observer that the bistro was closed for business reasons.

"In today's environment and economy, operating a restaurant like Bistro 610 costs a lot of money," Kierstead said. "There are costs associated [with] running a business like that."

"Profits have to exceed that, and unfortunately, they didn't."

Kierstead realizes the bistro's closure will have an impact on Woodstock's downtown core. But he remains hopeful that the space will not remain vacant for long.

"There will be another business, quite possibly a restaurant, in there soon," Kierstead told the Bugle-Observer. "I'm optimistic and I'm sure that will happen."

"It will just have a different face than the one we closed."

Bistro 610 (formerly Fusion) - A fixture of the
Woodstock town square since 2006.

Woodstock town councillor Randy Leonard was a frequent customer at Bistro 610. He told the Bugle-Observer about going there every morning with friends for coffee and to do crossword puzzles.

"It was a real social thing for us," Leonard said. "There were other groups that came in later in the morning after us."

"In the evenings, they had music, and it was great," he recalled. "[The closure is] just unfortunate."

He added that he feels the loss of Bistro 610 is going to hurt downtown business. Being a town councillor and former Woodstock mayor, this is something Leonard understands.

"It was quite unique, the restaurant and what they had there," Leonard told the Bugle-Observer. "There was a bar there and good food and they always seemed to have a lot of entertainment at night."

"Its going to put a bit of a drag on downtown Woodstock."

Geoff Stairs was also a regular at Bistro 610. Stairs, who serves as president of the River Valley Arts Alliance (RiVA), believes Bistro 610 was important to the community, and always played a role in the programming with the Dooryard Arts Festival, which he helps organize.

The fourth annual Dooryard Arts Festival is scheduled to take place from August 8th to August 11th, and the scheduling will need to be tweaked to accommodate seven artists who were going to perform at Bistro 610, Stairs told the Bugle-Observer.

"In terms of programming, we won't lose any programming. There will just be some shifting that will have to happen," Stairs said, remaining optimistic that other venues will be found for these performers.

Mayor Art Slipp sees the bistro's closure as a huge loss to the community.

SLIPP

"I think it had become a major focal point for the students at the community college and a number of our working professionals," Slipp said. "It was a gathering place."

Slipp added that the internet cafe aspect of the business was a unique type of restaurant for the town. The mayor was sure to note the amount of entertainment provided by musicians who were coming through the area while on tour.

"[Bistro 610 provided an] opportunity to see great entertainment and that's something that the community is going to greatly miss," Slipp told the Bugle-Observer.

Slipp said that the bistro also served as a place for artists to show their work.

"It had provided an outlet for different artists in the area to display their work, so in terms of the integration in the arts community, the bistro had played a major role in providing a place where the community could gather, discuss the work and socialize," Slipp explained.

Slipp went on to explain that Bistro 610's closure will be a major disappointment for its patrons, and a setback for downtown Woodstock, as it attracted people to the downtown core in evenings and on weekends.

"It will take a while for us to determine what the impact [will be] on the downtown, but its certainly going to be a tremendous loss," Mayor Slipp commented.

Bistro 610 originally opened in 2006 under the name Fusion Cafe. In the fall of 2011, Fusion relocated in the former Needs Convenience store, adjacent to its former home. The new location would provide twice the square footage, improving Fusion's ability to host entertainment.

Founder and manager Tracie Jones explained the cafe's original concept, which was to provide nontraditional food, which included fair trade coffee, tea and home baked goods while using as much local product as possible to support the local community and offer a healthy selection of food.

Though Jones thinks everyone would say that the restaurant's specialty was cheesecake, she feels that the specialty was centered more around building relationships while operating a type of neighborhood cafe where everyone was welcome.

She added that art and music becoming a larger part of Fusion (later Bistro 610) seemed fitting as it promoted individuality and creativity, while also promoting local talents and providing them with a place where they could be seen and heard.

"I can't even tell you how much joy I have derived over the years and feel very blessed to have met so many local, national and international talents," Jones told the Bugle-Observer.

Culture was just as important a part of Fusion as food and entertainment. A number of different cultural holidays were acknowledged at the cafe with dinners and music traditional to cultures.

Jones recalled being able to employ staff that she could stand behind.

"I had a staff that I trusted impeccably, and I respected," Jones noted. "We prided ourselves on loyalty and hard work, and [on a few occasions] when my health was less than stable, they really rose to the top and took care of everything without being asked, nor did they have their hands out for rewards."

-- With files from the Bugle-Observer - Friday, June 13, 2012 issue --

The Shiretown Blogger celebrated one year of blogging in Victorian style

July 19, 2012 was the one-year anniversary of The Shiretown Blogger. What started as a blog aiming to celebrate the wealthy community and its progress ended up with 200 pageviews after being up and running for less than a month. The blog now has over 16,000 total hits and continues to "celebrate our wealthy community and its progress." 


The Shiretown Blogger celebrated the milestone in Victorian style at the Victorian Tea, offered once weekly at Connell House in Woodstock. 

Food at the Victorian Tea at Connell House was served buffet-
style.

The tea is served every Thursday from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm. For only $11.95 per person, one can experience a Victorian-style luncheon and tea and check out the exhibits on display at Connell House.


I'll let the pictures do the blogging. 

Patrick King greeted guests at the door sporting
a black tuxedo. King also escorted guests to their
tables.

My table was nicely decorated

The restored parlour at Connell House was also nicely decorated

Patrick King entertained guests with some piano music

Carleton County Historical Society summer
student tour guide Sam Wilson poses with
a birch bark canoe model in the room dedicated
to Edwin Tappan Adney.

This oddity, believed to be an antique harmonica,
is among many antique musical instruments on display at Connell House.

A total of 1,000 toy soldiers are on display at Connell House.
The soldiers were collected by a Col. Edward Vince.

Some old-fashioned military uniforms which belonged
to Col. Vince.

The Shiretown Blogger looks back on past year of blogging

As I was leaving First Town Dental on Connell Street after my dentist appointment on June 28^th, I saw Rosalyn Drake, owner of Viveta Medical Clinic.

I met Rosalyn in September 2011 when I gave a presentation at Falls Brook Centre in Knowlesville at their annual fair about my blog. Rosalyn was there promoting her clinic. Rosalyn is a very kind lady who always goes out of her way to speak to people.

I couldn't help but say hello to Rosalyn and ask “how's it going?” We talked about how the summer is going, work, and my blog.

I mentioned that the blog has been up and running for nearly a year (the one-year anniversary is on July 19^th), and that I have surpassed 15,000 total hits on the blog, the second goal I had set for the amount of pageviews I had hoped to have by mid-July.

Rosalyn mentioned that her walk-in medical clinic is preparing to celebrate one year in business too. Where does the time go?

My conversation with Rosalyn brings me to reflect on The Shiretown Blogger's first year. Within a twelve-month period, I have been able to establish my blog as an alternative news source which would serve the Woodstock area and most of the online world. Establishing a strong presence in the beginning helped to lay the groundwork for the blog's early and continued success.

I have also established a presence on other social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Contrary to popular belief, the use of social media to promote my blog has been met with limited success, however, it has helped in one way or another for sure.

Celebrating our wealthy community and its progress

The Shiretown Blogger aims to celebrate the community (primarily Woodstock) and portray it in a positive light. What our wealthy community really has to offer is often overlooked.

My goal to celebrate the community and the people in it has not changed. My goal is still to celebrate “our wealthy community and its progress.”

I have been inclusive to most other types of stories. Everyone has a story to tell. I strive to tell every story I possibly can and stick to The Shiretown Blogger's motto.

But as the blog grows in popularity, the amount of stories told on it does too. I have somewhat branched off from my main focus of celebrating the wealthy community and included different types of stories, including my (somewhat) regular commentary “The Blogger Speaks,” where I express my sometimes unpopular opinions on issues.

I still, however, see joy in “celebrating our wealthy community and its progress.”

A year's worth of changes

I have got to admit, a lot can happen in twelve months. I have had the pleasure of covering and promoting various events in Woodstock and the greater area, including the successful 2011-12 Slammers campaign, the Dooryard Arts Festival, and the Falls Brook Fair, just to name a few.

I have added a History at a Glance page, where The Shiretown Blogger takes a look at how Woodstock became the wealthy community it is today.

Aside from my commentary “The Blogger Speaks,” I will be beginning an occasional segment called “Our World,” where I will be discussing world issues.

This segment will also be changed to something along the lines of an editorial, something less personal. However, it will still reflect the views of The Shiretown Blogger.

For more information, visit www.shiretownblogger.blogspot.com. 

Have lunch in style on Thursdays at Connell House

Ashley Black, left, and Patrick King are summer students with
the Carleton County Historical Society. Guests taking in the 
weekly Victorian Tea at Connell House can expect to be served
by Black and King in period costume. The Victorian Tea is held
every Thursday from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm at Connell House.
Carleton County Historical Society Image

Future home of Carquest