Summer 2009
Getaways
Retro Central
Red Sky Trading brings you back in time, but the food’s better
By Michelle Edelbaum
Photographed by Daria Bishop
Red Sky Trading is the kind of place where a sign encourages visitors to “please help yourself” and “ring the bell on the barn door loudly for assistance.” Payment is on the honor system — by leaving money in a canister and recording purchases in a little book on the front counter.
It would be easy to miss the shop altogether — and its vibrant mix of retro treasures, antiques and gourmet foodstuffs that are tucked into an old red barn off Glover’s main drag — but for the large sign out front that announces fresh homemade doughnuts.
The hand-cut, cinnamon-sugar-coated rounds, an old family recipe, are definitely worth stopping for (they’re only available on weekends), but they’re just a gateway to the cool stuff hiding inside.
Although owners Cheri Safford, 50, and her husband Doug, 63, a teacher, don’t man the counter, you get the sense that they’re around, hanging out in the 170-year-old farmhouse they’ve renovated next to the shop or puttering around their yard with their three cocker spaniels.
The New York—born-and-raised couple (he in Yonkers, she in Rochester) moved to Glover from the Adirondacks 10 years ago. They’d already had wide-ranging careers — Doug ran his family’s Village Inn in Long Lake, Cheri owned a graphic design business in Rochester producing custom gift wrap, and they’d worked together as chefs at an Adirondack lodge.
Two years after moving to Vermont, Cheri and Doug started Red Sky Trading under an umbrella on their front lawn. They love food and were already jarring and canning jams, salsas and more. Doug thought they could share their passion with people who would appreciate the homemade foods and Cheri’s craftiness, and see if the business would work.
“We started out with a tiny roadside stand, with a cooler and a little counter and pickles and salsa and jams,” Cheri says. “But we decided it was a little too dusty. So we kicked out the spiders from the barn and took that over.”
Greater space allowed the couple to not only sell more desserts — decadent homemade cream puffs with chocolate ganache, lemon squares and carrot cake — but also more of their award-winning jellies, chutneys, pickled vegetables and salsas, as well as garden art and produce from their garden and local organic farms. And the doughnuts? “Those really took off, people really love those ... It’s a family recipe,” says Cheri. “It was one of my grandfather’s favorite things to eat, right out of the bag, warm.”
They also added items that evoke childhood nostalgia for many customers — vintage home décor, antiques and kitchenware from the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s.
“As we gained more space,” says Cheri, “we started to turn into serial collectors.”
The small shop is packed from floor to ceiling with one-of-a-kind finds that the couple picks up at flea markets and auctions on their travels. Cheri’s signs, labels and tags — little pieces of fine artwork featuring drawings of food and people, jokes and cool lettering — adorn the jars, knickknacks and shelves and lend a cheery personality to the store. Furniture and housewares from the store overflow onto the grassy lawn and brightly painted Adirondack chairs (perfect for lounging with coffee and a doughnut) line the tranquil Barton River.
Phinneus Sonin, owner of Junktiques in Burlington, regularly visits Glover in the summer to go to shows at Bread and Puppet Theater.
“I was driving around and I stumbled upon them. That’s why it was so exciting. They have the best doughnuts in the world, and when I saw it was an honor system for payment, that made me fall in love with the place — and that was before I even ate a doughnut,” says Sonin, who’s confessed to driving to the store from Burlington just for the sweets.
“Their collection of vintage kitchenware is all crammed into such a small place, it has the feeling of stepping into this abundant past where products were just flowing off the shelves,” says Sonin. “They have a serious collection. I think that stuff is harder to find, especially now.”
The Saffords’ collectibles speak to Sonin’s aesthetic and their honor system appeals to his values. It’s the kind of trusting, open atmosphere he’d love to have at his shop — but it’s different in the city, he says.
“Everybody I’ve brought there has agreed it’s a truly unique experience going on there — tasty and special,” Sonin says. “A place with such cool stuff and gourmet foods — it’s just so quintessential Vermont.”
Mosey on over
Any trip to the Northeast Kingdom is worth prolonging. Some places to spend the night:
WilloughVale Inn, Westmore
(802) 525-4123
www.willoughvale.com
Well-appointed guest rooms and suites, lake-view and lakefront cottages are available at this gracious inn on the shores of Lake Willoughby.
Maple Manor Bed & Breakfast, West Glover
(802) 525-9591
An in-ground pool, marble patio, and sitting rooms with fireplaces are just a few of the amenities at this farmhouse estate on 250 acres overlooking Lake Parker.
Rodgers Country Inn, West Glover
(800) 729-1704
www.virtualvermont.com/rodgers
Country charm abounds at this 1840s farmhouse on 350 acres. Lodging options include guestrooms at the bed and breakfast and two private cabins.
Lakeside Haven, Glover
(802) 525-3196
www.lakesidehaven.net
Pet-friendly bed and breakfast on Shadow Lake features guest rooms with satellite television and an outdoor Jacuzzi in a lit gazebo.
Highland Lodge, Greensboro
(802) 533-2647
www.highlandlodge.com
Family-owned country inn with guest rooms and cottages overlooks Caspian Lake. Trails for walking and biking, a sandy beach, paddle boats and canoes, and a tennis court provide lots of outdoor recreation options.
