Investment

From time to time, my mother would tuck a roll of Reed’s butterscotch or Regal Crown sour lemon candy in her purse, a special treat for us on Sunday afternoon car rides or physicians’ waiting rooms (not church – no candy in church). I learned a tiny lesson in patience with those candies, as it took time to peel off the paper, and then more time to savor the hint of butterscotch or the tart lemon flavor. As I spotted both variety of sweets on the shelf at the newly-opened Village Point Market in Hayesville, I wondered – is it possible that those golden discs might taste as good as I remembered? And could I still wait until the very end to crunch into them?

While the presence of Reed’s butterscotch, Royal Crown lemon drops, the chalky-white candy sticks (formerly known as candy cigarettes), and a multitude of other sugar-coated childhood favorites may draw me back to Hayesville sooner rather than later, there’s much more to be discovered on the shelves, in the deli cases, and throughout the patio at the new market. Cheeses and meats, pies and produce, and a flourishing assortment of plants, attractively displayed and ready for purchase. And yes, ice cream too!

Kim and Ben Ferguson and their family and staff have turned a long-empty shell of a building into a bustling hub for the Hayesville community. Instead of heading to Loudonville or Ashland for a gallon of milk or a pound of sugar, Hayesville neighbors will be able to walk to “the corner store” once again. And although Hayesville doesn’t have an interstate exit to call its own, I’m guessing that the Village Point Market will soon become an Ashland County “destination.”

While I’m always happy to discover a new source for ice cream cones, there is much more to this than dairy products or retail therapy, because Village Point Market is a symbol for both restoration and investment. In the past, the structure at the corner of SR 60 and XXX was a place of work, where men and women toiled on a daily basis, earning a living for themselves and their families. Like so much in life, the time came when their labor was no longer needed, and the brick walls no longer sheltered its workers – only the dust of neglect.

Yet now, the space has been reclaimed, reshaped, and restored. Having seen some pictures on social media, I’m guessing the restoration project included some blood, sweat and tears on the part of the Ferguson family and their helpers, as they labored together to bring their vision to life. As Ben told Ben told the Times-Gazette, “I grew up in the community and I've walked by that building ... and to be able to really improve the community has been very rewarding to my wife and I.”

True restoration begins with vision, but can only be completed with the investment of time, money, and hard work. Thankfully, investment of that sort is happening in our downtowns, our neighborhoods, and even in the lives of our neighbors. Restoration is taking place in warehouses repurposed as sacred ground, in homes receiving a facelift, and in people claiming the hope of recovery from addiction.

We may be tempted to leave the work of restoration, of investment, to those we perceive to have deep pockets or exceptional skills. Of course, LeBron James can afford to invest in the youth of Akron – he’s got more money than most of us can even imagine.

Fortunately, Ashlanders aren’t waiting for their bank accounts to overflow – instead, they’re courageously investing in bricks and mortar, in entrepreneurial adventures, and in the future of our children, because they know that investment in community can be accomplished one corner at a time, one child at a time. Perhaps, like Ben Ferguson, there’s a corner you’ve walked past for many years that longs to be restored, or would benefit from a regular litter patrol or a scattering of wildflower seeds.

Here’s hoping investment in our communities will continue. But even more, might we be spurred on to invest in each other, because, as Henry David Thoreau understood, “Goodness is the only investment that never fails.”