Coming Soon - Pop Up Pantry
Author: John Hahn
Coming Soon - Pop-Up Pantry
John Hahn
Tina Homann is at it again! A few years ago, Tina successfully remodeled the seventy-year-old Masonic Temple into “The Lodge” which is now used for community projects, a daycare, an Airbnb, nonprofit meeting rooms, a community theater, and many STOKE programs. She has now purchased the old Main Street Barbershop at 408 Broadway, between the Flynn Building and Opportunity Bank.
After being unable to rent the space out, the decision was easy. Repurpose the building and help the community again. Tina is a very busy gal!
Amanda Domino and Tina have taught a basic cooking class for a few of the kids enrolled in STOKE. They quickly realized that the class became about much more than cooking. It became about building healthy relationships between kids and their families, mentoring and community. At times, the meals prepared were served to family members and friends, which was one of the favorite parts of the students.
Now, they want to take that a step further and truly open the meals up for the community to enjoy.
Heather Hatwan came to the Lodge a few months ago, curious about what is happening there. She is a chef and owner of Big Sky Culinary classes. After visiting with Tina and Amanda, she was quick to offer her help to take the cooking classes to a whole new level.
With the help of STOKE and Heather’s expertise in reopening restaurants, Tina hopes to repurpose the shop and create a place where people in the community can gather. She wants to create a place to visit with friends, family, and colleagues. We envision the “Pop Up Pantry” to be a huge benefit to the people in our community Tina says.
The pantry will provide a comfortable place to visit. Food, drinks, and hopefully some entertainment will be provided on a day-to-day basis.
For starters, on Fridays, we will provide meals prepared by the kids participating in STOKE’s culinary classes. The kids will have an opportunity to cook and learn more about the hospitality business too. The meals will be free, but donations are greatly appreciated. Any tips will be split amongst the students working that night.
Meals will be prepared in the commercial kitchen at the Lodge on Wednesdays and Thursdays under the close eye of chef Heather Hatwan. Heather will teach the ins and outs of a commercial kitchen (food safety, knife handling, etc.) Fridays will be the final prepping, cooking and serving meals at the Pop-Up Pantry. On other days, the pantry will be available for “closet cooks and bakers” to show off their goods.
We’re also hoping to attract musicians to bring their instruments and have some jam sessions.
We are aiming to help minimize food insecurities in our community and hope that farmers and ranchers in our area will donate produce meat, and dry goods. Community members are encouraged to donate any extra things they have in their pantries.
We are also hoping that people with special culinary or hospitality skills will step up and offer classes such as canning and preserving, gardening, or bread baking.
If you’d like to learn more about what will be happening at the future Pop Up Pantry, join us at our Farm to Family Fundraiser on September 22nd, from 5:00-8:00 p.m.
We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas as this is still an idea in progress.
