Krebill's Grassroots worth a smile

Reactive journalism is about 90 percent of our business. We see and react by talking to people and creating a narrative around what we saw and what the players in the event had to say about it.
It’s when we get into the proactive journalism where things can be surprising, even a little fun.
That happened to me this week. I was out writing a feature out of the Lee County Fair and, after about 90 minutes of sweating and walking among the goats, lambs, and cattle in the show barns, I headed home.
I had run across a group of kids with Harrison Huskies whose group has been serving concessions at the fair for the past 75 years, and are still running strong. See that story in Tuesday's paper.
And as great as that story is, because you always find a good feature story any day of the fair, my rantings today focus on a small café I stumbled on in Donnellson.
As I was heading into the small town at about 2 p.m. Thursday, I noticed someone had moved into the restaurant that used to be on the southeast corner of the intersection at Hwy. 2 and Main Street.
It caught my eye, but not my attention, as I had some work to do at the time. I did notice about four cars up next to the building.
But on the way back when the work was done, I was pretty hot. So I pulled through the intersection and into the parking lot of Grassroots Market.
I walked into the quiet and quaint café and stood at the counter looking over the offerings on a menu. They had herbal decaf tea, I think it was Lavender Lemon or something like that. After about a minute, a staffer came around the corner and apologized for the wait. Apparently, there was some magic going on in the kitchen over some biscuits or cinnamon rolls or pulled pork or something tempting like that. I ordered a tea and then began to fire some questions. How long have you been open? Why is my hair line receded? Who owns this place?
That question brought the name Cassie Krebill. After placing my order for the tea, Cassie came up and introduced herself. I said she looked familiar and she explained that she had been in some queen contests.
I told her she reminded my of my oldest daughter and it turns out they graduated about three years apart, Krebill from Central Lee and Taylor from Fort Madison.
Cassie and I struck up a conversation about her new venture. She’s a dairy farmer by trade, but saw an opportunity in this corner café in a small town. I was struck by her passion, not for the various coffees, teas, frozen custard, and baked goods that she was pedaling, but a few words about wanting to help local producers.
The café has a bank of refrigerated doors, the kind you would see holding beverages at any local convenience store, along the south wall. Cassie pointed to the doors and said those were being repaired and, when they were working, she wanted to open them up to local farmers who wanted to sell their locally produced meats, cheeses, and vegetables.
“I love local farmers. I just love them, and I want to do what I can to help them,” she said.
It was really out of the blue. This young woman, with probably a pretty decent business model in the café itself, wanted to help area farmers sell what they are growing.
The look in her eyes wasn’t one of intimidation either. She knew what she wanted, she was working on a tea with conviction, but you could see the gears going in her mind as she talked to me while making a fruit and herb tea for me. The tea was $3. And it lasted all the way back to Fort Madison.
When I left I told her I was just going to go home and write up something based on our conversation and slap it in Pen City Current to help let people know she was there.
In a humble tilt of her head she said she had been keeping a low profile and kind of just letting the thing grow word of mouth.  It may be working. When I was doing some research, I found a couple social media videos of her apologizing for running out of biscuits and gravy. They must be pretty good if she’s flying under the radar and still can’t keep inventory.
I was happy I made the turn into this parking lot and got to meet this dynamic young woman with nothing but energy and life in her eyes. She reminds of a 32-year-old I know who lives in Manhattan. She even looks like her.
I’m trying to keep my bread intake to a minimum and cinnamon rolls are a no-no, but I’ll be stopping in for a tea regularly. And this woman can hold a conversation like she’s known you for 10 years.
I handed her a card and left. I said good-bye to Dan Dalstra, who surprised me as he came around the corner as part of her staff. Dan’s a world-class photographer who pops up like a Jack-in-the-Box at events all around the area.
Cassie’s open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Monday. She’s open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. If you’re curious and at that intersection, just look to the southeast and pop-in. She’ll chat you up and get you something good to eat and/or drink.
And it’s not gonna break the bank – But that’s Beside the Point.
Chuck Vandenberg is editor and co-owner of Pen City Current and can be reached at Charles.V@PenCityCurrent.com.