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Our Story
by
Gary Schoeny
We have always enjoyed skiing in the winter
at Canaan Valley, West Virginia. We
talked about how it would be great one day
to
open up a small Gourmet Coffee Roastery.
We are “true” coffee lovers who enjoyed
researching a great deal about coffee and
the roasting process. We thought that
when we retired from our professional
positions we would do something we were both
passionate about. I worked as an
Information Technology Manager for a large
company, and Mary Ann worked as a
Administrative Assistant/Contracting Officer
for a government law office.
In April of 2003 (4 days
before Easter) while still in Charlotte,
Mary Ann was driving home from work in rush
hour traffic and was in a severe car
accident. She was in the right lane
when a construction truck carrying 7, two
hundred and fifty pound roof trusses,
swerved causing its load to shift. The
trusses hit the rear of her Trailblazer
while spinning around the trusses were
banging the side of the car then spun around
and hit the front driver’s window by the
front windshield post. She was told
that 2 inches either way it would of killed
her. The double impact caused her to
have a traumatic brain injury.
Mary
Ann was unable to read complete sentences or
walk (without assistance) for about 4 to 6
months. She was told that the pathways
in her brain had been damaged. She
suffered severe headaches when trying to do
or listen to anything. Test results showed
that
Mary
Ann had a “traumatic encephalopathy”;
recovery
at that time was unknown.
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Because of this, Mary Ann was no longer able
to work at her position
with the government.
Her
healing was going so slow...I knew it would
be a good time to resume looking for our
dream of opening a Gourmet Coffee Roastery.
In the designing planning
stages…Mary Ann would dream of what the
coffee shop should look like. I tried to
build just as she described to me. It
has been a long process of trying to put the
Café together just right, but we are both
please with the outcome. You can find
the finished pictures at
www.happytrailscafe.com.
In the fall of 2004 our
Gourmet Coffee Roastery opened its doors…it
was awesome to receive the great reviews.
Our dream of having a Gourmet Coffee
Roastery had come to be. We were told
by our customers how the atmosphere made them feel so much at
home. Customers shared that they were able
to feel the love that has built Happy Trails
Café. We still laugh of the stories
our customers tell us about seeing Mary Ann
, and how they enjoyed talking with her.
A few years ago we had to
close the “eat in” portion of our café…it
was very difficult for me to take care of
her and stay open for “walk-ins” full time.
Mary Ann has to rest after each task in
order for her pain to go away.
Additionally, our coffee is being sold in
several restaurants, convenient stores and
Coffee Shops. You can
find us on
FACEBOOK
We
both hope you enjoy our coffee and we look
forward to doing business with you!
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