Recently it was announced The Alna Store is for sale, which concerned its many patrons. The good news is that the owners plan to keep the store and lunch counter open until the store sells. According to co-owner Amy Preston, she and her husband, Mike, are in no hurry to sell the store and are hoping whoever takes the store over will continue the same traditions and practices the store has maintained over the past several decades.
The Alna Store has been part of the town’s history dating back to before World War II and still provide many of the same services as it did over 70 years ago. The Alna Store has continued to provide much more than store-bought goods. It is a place where old friends meet to discuss world affairs over a cup of coffee, a tagging center for hunters, and a community message center with notices of announcements of local events, death notices, births, and other information posted on a beam in the center of the store. It serves as a place to have breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and is open six days a week from early morning until 7 p.m.
Preston said during a recent interview the beam in the middle of the store is used to post community notices. The front of the beam facing the customers as they come in is used for positive messages, and the death notices of their customers are posted on the back side of the beam.
The Prestons moved to Alna from Boston and purchased The Alna Store 11 years ago, a decision neither has ever regretted, according to Amy. They originally come from Detroit. After moving to Boston, she worked in sales marketing for a travel agency and Mike at Harvard as a research scientist.
The decision to sell the store was a difficult one, Amy said. “We are going to stay in the area. We couldn’t imagine living any place else. We have a lot to take care of right here in Alna.” The Prestons own Windy Ledge Farm, which has 180 fruit trees and 18 acres of wild blueberries.
During the interview with Amy, former owner and store manager Doreen Conboy came in for a few items. During her brief visit to the store, Conboy said the Prestons have done a great job with the store and credited them with the continued success of the business and its popularity in the community.
The Alna Store is an important meeting place for residents of Newcastle, Jefferson, Whitefield, Wiscasset, and other surrounding towns to meet and discuss the issues of the day, “Politics usually finds its way into the discussions,” Amy said.
She recalled a time when an Alna citizen came into the store with a petition, and she was the only Alna resident in the store to sign the petition.
Amy also recalled some of her deceased customers who used to come in often for community gatherings, such as Walter Sherman, Ken Merry, retired Maine State Police Col. Allan Weeks, Dr. William Wanger, and lifelong Alna resident Walter Miete. After Miete’s death, his wife gave the store a deer head that Walter had shot several years before. The deer head is mounted on the wall at the store.
At The Alna Store, the people who come in are not called customers. “They are our friends,” Amy said. “When one passes away we also mourn their loss.”
The Prestons also host community events at the store, including an annual Halloween party, a blueberry pancake breakfast every year, a Christmas wishing tree, and other community fundraisers through the year.
Besides the nostalgic atmosphere of The Alna Store, there is their lunch counter, where people can go in anytime and have a lunch at a reasonable price. “We want people to be able to afford to eat here,” Amy Preston said.
Judging by the number of customers, the food is good. David Hodgkins, of Jefferson, who stopped in after a day of turkey hunting, said, “It’s the best food in town.”
The store hours are Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Although the store is closed on most holidays, the store will be open on Thanksgiving day from 5 to 11 a.m. These hours will allow hunters to have breakfast, if a neighbor needs an item at the last minute they will be there, and their staff will still be able to have dinner with their family.