Bakery’s new storefront is helping turn Greenfield House into a gathering place.
By Nick J. Buckley / For Black Squirrel News
ATHENS — Shannon Steele wanted a storefront.
Greenfield House wanted a spark.
Steele’s baking business, Shannon’s Sourdough Co., had grown beyond what she could sell from her family’s property. The Athens Area Historical Society, meanwhile, was struggling with the cost of operating one of the village’s most recognizable historic homes.
Kacie Brunner, manager of the Athens Area Community Foundation and treasurer of the Historical Society, saw Steele’s Facebook post looking for space and sent her a message. The two had never met.
“She is filling so many holes that we had,” Brunner said. “I mean, we were on the verge of having to sell this house. We couldn’t afford to keep it anymore.”
‘I was bored’
Steele hadn’t planned to become a baker.
“So basically, I was bored,” she said.
Steele and her husband, Cody, moved from Battle Creek to the Athens countryside about three years ago. She was working full time from home for a travel nursing agency and wanted something of her own.
“I’ve never really enjoyed cooking or anything like that,” Steele said. “I mean, I hate cooking dinner, but I can go out and make 150 loaves of bread like nothing.”
Cody encouraged her to sell what she was making on Facebook and later nudged her to approach JoLo Farms in Battle Creek. Steele didn’t think they would be interested. Cody asked anyway.
JoLo became her first wholesale account.
As demand grew, Steele became commercially licensed. Cody and Steele’s father converted part of the family’s barn into a commercial bakery. She approached Horrocks & Co. in Battle Creek next.
“I didn’t even get a sentence out, and they said yes,” Steele said. “They gave me a whole table, and I just haven’t stopped.”
Steele now makes roughly 160 to 200 loaves a week, plus dozens of English muffins, cookies and pizza.
Customers wanted to buy directly from Steele, but she no longer wanted strangers regularly showing up at the family property.
She posted on Facebook that she was looking for space in Athens.
Brunner happened to be scrolling.
A house worth saving
Built between 1863 and 1865, Greenfield House Community Center sits prominently near the entrance to downtown Athens, just off M-66. The historic home had already been saved once.
The house had fallen into severe disrepair and faced condemnation before Chico Ramirez, then president of the Historical Society, bought it and poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into its restoration, according to Brunner. He later sold the house to the Historical Society for $1.
The property now hosts Historical Society activities, Athens Area Community Foundation offices and Senior Times. The weekly gathering, supported by Calhoun County Senior Services, brings about 30 older adults together for a free meal, conversation and guest speakers.
Before Shannon’s Sourdough and Market could move in, the front room had to be emptied.
That included a massive piano.
Athens firefighters came over after a Sunday drill to help. They removed the front door, got the piano outside, loaded it onto a backhoe and drove it down the road to the Historical Society museum.
“That’s the great thing about Athens,” Brunner said. “We don’t have the money, but we have the heart. The people step up and volunteer.”
Shannon’s Sourdough and Market opened in the Greenfield House on July 1.
More than a storefront
Steele’s baked goods now share the front room with eggs, flowers, maple syrup and other locally produced goods. Her young daughter is a regular presence behind the counter. Some customers and neighbors walk over. Others arrive by golf cart.
Tomissa Smittendorf, president of the Athens Youth Council, has already visited the new storefront multiple times. The council’s maple syrup is among the local products sold there.
“I absolutely love it because I’m really into homemade things and just shopping local,” Smittendorf said. “I don’t have to go to the big box grocery store for everything, and it’s right here in our community. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Historical Society postcards are also sold at the storefront.
“She makes nothing selling our syrup and our postcards,” Brunner said. “Nothing.”
Steele has also agreed to coordinate events at the Greenfield House.
“This last month has really opened my eyes and made me realize what I want to do and where I want to go from here,” Steele said. “This is where I want to be.”
The response to her business still catches Steele off guard. She said she has stopped taking individual orders because she can barely keep up with demand.
“I go to the bank and they look at the check and are like, ‘Are you Shannon’s Sourdough?’” Steele said. “It makes me want to cry because I never expected…”
Steele paused. Brunner, standing beside her, stepped in.
“You’ve worked hard for this,” Brunner told her. “You’re doing extraordinary things.”
The two hugged. They had only met about five weeks earlier.
“She’s been thriving here,” Brunner said. “People are loving her. They love what she’s doing. They love that she chose to take a chance on Athens because we’ve been down and out.”
“It’s a fresh spark,” she added. “She brings a lot of hope.”
IF YOU GO
Shannon’s Sourdough and Market at the Greenfield House
215 N. Capital Ave., Athens
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday and Friday
Also available at: Horrocks & Company and Uproot Market and Eatery.
How we reported this: Black Squirrel News reported this article during multiple visits to Shannon’s Sourdough and Market at the Greenfield House in Athens for in-person interviews and observation. Additional research came from the Athens Area Historical Society.
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