An Amish store in Unity, which drew customers from a wide area but burned down early this year, has been rebuilt and will reopen Wednesday, Sept. 21.
Members of the Waldo County Amish community quickly rallied when the Amish Community Market and Bakery on Route 139 was destroyed on Jan. 20. Just three weeks after the popular store burned down to a heap of smoldering, charred metal and ash, workers had erected new exterior walls and a roof and were putting in insulation.
The market will reopen at 8 a.m., according to a post on its Facebook page.
“Please come and visit, see the new store, grab some stuff and rejoice with us on the reopening of our market,” the post said. “Thank you all for your kind thoughts, prayers and patience.”
The new bakery is not quite done yet, so the store’s popular donuts won’t be available until next week, though there may be cookies and some other baked goods for sale, the post said.
The store, run by members of the Amish community, drew accolades over the years from near and far for its well-crafted baked goods, attracting visitors from all over.
The fire flattened the store eight months ago after a woman working in the store’s bakery heard a crackling sound from a wall near the boiler.
The store plays an important role in the region, especially within the Amish community.
Caleb Stoll, the store’s owner, first started construction of the store in the summer of 2009 and opened it the following spring.
Stoll said earlier this year that it was one of the first businesses to open in the Waldo County Amish community, which formed in 2008. When the store opened its doors, there were just five or six households in the community, which now counts between 20 and 25 households and between 150 and 200 people, he said.
