By Michael Ryan
WINDHAM - The joint was jumping when Natasha and Drew Shuster held a 30th Anniversary gig, last Saturday, for their eminently successful Catskill Mountain Country Store.
It isn’t all that unusual for the place to be hopping, on the west end of Main Street in downtown Windham, where they have, “a little bit of everything,” Drew says, believing it is one of the reasons for their continuing fruition.
Another explanation, and probably more to the point, has been the “creativity and hard work of my wife,” Drew says.
As for his part, “I am hard-working too but mostly I listen to what Natasha says,” Drew reveals, smiling sagely.
There are a lot of stories that can be told about Catskill Mountain County Store, which had humble beginnings, offering baked goods, a produce stand and a small gift shop, a few blocks east of the current location.
Over the years and after outgrowing that spot in a short eighteen months, the business has added a popular breakfast and lunch restaurant, an animal rescue farm and the Happy Sappy maple syrup museum.
A faithful and steady stream of new clientele find (according to the season) Christmas trees or pumpkins, a Pirate Playground, a giant easy chair and frog pond outside, with old-fashioned games, toys and foods inside.
“People like to come here because it reminds them of their childhood and grandma’s house,” says Drew, a familiar voice on local radio, letting folks know what cookies, pies or cakes might be even more special this week.
“We have fresh and simple food of the absolutely highest quality. Three generation of families come here. They bring their kids. They make memories in a real way,” Drew says.
After the last table is readied for tomorrow and the lights are turned off, that is the time when the truest measure of success settles in deepest.
Natasha and Drew have three children, growing up in a little rural town while each is forming their own niche in a changing word.
Lone son Gus, who was present for the anniversary gig, rose to fame as the maker of apple cider donuts in his youth, making a living today as a molecular biologist.
Daughter Sydney, who was similarly famed for her fudge, is a “rising star” in the field of chemistry, working toward her PhD at Yale University.
And daughter Tori could one day rule the roost in multiple fields, either environmental justice, anthropology or linguistics, says proud dad.
They’ve been given a solid foundation at the The Catskill Mountain Country Store which was hit hard by the Great Flood of 201l, although the destruction was transformed into a vital life lesson.
“That flood was absolutely wonderful, “Drew says, stoically. “It enabled us to teach our kids the true meaning of community, seeing and helping neighbors, friends and customers pull together.”
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