Vineyard Books, Gifts & Coffee

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Expanding Services, Announced May 19th, 2009

Our Grand Opening was September 12th & 13th, 2008

We unveiled the new store, including an expanded seating area and the addition of a bakery! The opportunity to meet our new owner and employees was available, the offer still stands! People received door prizes and they savored a sandwich from the Pig Roast! A crowd joined us for Open Mic Night on Friday!

A MESSAGE FROM THE NEW OWNERS:

It is with sincere gratitude and thanksgiving to the Lord, the Larkin family, the current staff, and our faithful customers, that we accept this opportunity to manage and operate the vineyard books, gifts, and coffee shop that has been serving this community as a christian resource center for the past 12 years.

We are excited to be able to offer to this community a wide range of Christian ministry materials along with inspirational cards and gifts in addition to the very best of Ancora coffees, espresso, and flavored smoothie drinks. We will also be offering powdered Big Train espresso drinks and fresh fruit smoothies.

We are pleased to welcome Sue Gronholz to our staff. She has agreed to continue her fine line of Celestial bake-shop specialties including her delightful cream cheese coffeecakes, freshly baked scones, and muffins, which are available for special order and carry-out (48-hour notice is appreciated).

Meeting space ~ We are already hosting the area ministerium, and Optimist Club once a month, and look forward to expanding our service area to accommodate groups of a larger size… If you are interested in reserving some space for a special gathering or celebration, even after regular business hours, we would be happy to serve you (one week’s notice for groups over 10 would be appreciated)… For more information, please contact pat davis @ 318-1965

We wish to thank each of you for your prayers and encouragement to undertake this “mission.” In fact, our new license is titled “home mission” and we are looking for both financial and prayer partners along with your customer input to enable us to maintain and expand this ministry in our area…

God bless you & we hope to see you soon…

In His service,

Pat Davis & VBGCS Staff

Vineyard Rescued from the Winepress

     Ms. Pat Davis, a Wayland music instructor, is the new owner of the Vineyard Christian Bookstore and Coffee Shop here in Beaver Dam.
     Vineyard employee Sharon Kuhfuss (whose name is German for "cow-foot") said the goal of the Vineyard is “to be a resource for the Christian community and others.”
     The Vineyard has been located in the Shopko retail area for 3 and a half years. Before that time, the Vineyard was adjacent to the Beaver Dam Mall before the new commercial development (including Walmart and Menards) took place. As Kuhfuss explained, at the time "the Vineyard could better envision itself at the Shopko location."
     David and Merry Larkin owned the Vineyard before the recent takeover by Ms. Pat Davis. The Larkins wanted to close the business in order to have more time with their grandchildren. The Vineyard began putting huge discounts on its products in preparation for the store closing, but then Ms. Davis intervened.
     Kuhfuss said that “David and Merry Larkin are very thankful that their vision continues.”
     Ms. Davis will start restocking the store with all the same books, drinks, bakery and Christian knickknacks that were once there, but she does have some major changes in mind. She wants to expand the music selection, and, as Kuhfuss said, “WiFi is definitely on her list of goals.” At the moment, she will be working to make small changes, but the big plans will come in due time.
     Sharon Kuhfuss views new owner Ms. Davis as “someone with a definite heart for ministry.” She feels that God led Ms. Davis to pursue this opportunity.
     Vineyard's fate was for a long time obscure. Kuhfuss said, “We have been on this roller coaster ride, and just knowing the Vineyard will continue is a good thing. We like the atmosphere we work in.”
     One part of this atmosphere is a special spot Vineyard workers call the "grief corner." This space contains items to help those dealing with the loss of a loved one. Kuhfuss shared a story about a woman whose son died unexpectedly. The mother came to the Vineyard frequently, and felt comfortable enough there that she would curl up on a couch to cry, read or sleep.
     Although the Vineyard is a Christian store, the outreach to nonbelievers is not intrusive. Kuhfuss said, “We spread the Good News by our interacting with the people.” Kuhfuss spoke in particular of two young men who came into the store and sincerely asked the staff numerous questions about God and other spiritual matters.
Another demonstration of Vineyard's unique place in the community is that area pastors meet at the store once a month to hold meetings. This event allows the many churches in town to touch base and work out plans for inter-church events.
     Kuhfuss concluded, “Pat Davis feels really excited.”

Article by Matt Breuer; first printed in the April 21st, 2008 issue of the Wayland Chronicle.

The Vision for the Vineyard: Ms. Davis Shares Her Story

     The Vineyard began years ago as a vision Ms. Davis' dad shared with local businessman Tom Sprague, the man who eventually sold the Vineyard to the Larkins.
     Ms. Davis commented that when the Vineyard was at the Basset Complex (in the old mall area), the store did not receive much traffic. Now that the Vineyard is in the middle of Beaver Dam, next to highway 151 and near Beaver Dam High School, Moraine Park Technical College and Wayland Academy, the cafe attracts more people.
Davis said, "The transfer to the Shopko area was a very good move on the part of the Larkin family."
However, just as the Larkins were on the verge of closing down the cafe due to family commitments, Ms. Davis met with her family and friends to discuss the fate of the Vineyard. After much discussion, the Vineyard returned full circle to the Davis family: it started from her "dad's instrumental part in starting the Vineyard" and now has come into Ms. Davis' able ownership.
      After an interview with the owner herself, the goals for the Vineyard are even more far reaching than communicated in the previous section.Ms. Davis wants to increase seating to include an area for private meetings and expand the selection of Catholic reading materials. Her most radical change will be to add wireless internet access to the whole cafe. As she said, "The wave of the future is to order things online." Ms. Davis is also considering converting the coffee shop into a non-profit organization.
     While considering all of the changes, Ms. Davis commented, "I feel like I am a bridge from where the Vineyard is now to where it will go in the future."
     Yet Ms. Davis emphasized that the essential character of the Vineyard will remain the same. She said, "The Vineyard is a gathering place for believers, and a comfortable place for anybody."
     The complete vision for the Vineyard is unique. Ms. Davis said, "I want the Vineyard to belong to the community." She believed that the Vineyard was already a family and said "I consider myself a member. We have a fabulous staff."
     Ms. Davis added, "We owe a lot to the retiring owners, the Larkins. I consider the business a gift."
The music teacher has a passion for enriching her community which also came out in her compassion for the homeless and downtrodden. She said, "There are beautiful souls in those throw-away people." She hopes that a soup kitchen will open in downtime Beaver Dam through her help. Right now, though, there are just a lot of ideas being pitched around.
     Davis had one final comment about the Vineyard: "I hold my breath and wait to see what will happen next."

Article by Matt Breuer; first printed in the April 28th, 2008 issue of the Wayland Chronicle.

No Beans About It

Ms. Davis said that "coffee is an up and coming thing," and she was spot on. According to an SCAA Market Report, "In 1999 there were 108,000,000 coffee consumers in the United States spending an approximated 9.2 billion dollars in the retail sector and 8.7 billion dollars in the foodservice sector every year." This translates to literally tons of coffee imports into the U.S. each month. The International Coffee Organization concluded that, in 2007, the U.S. imported around 2 million 60 kilogram bags of coffee per month.