Gilbert Block Fundraiser

The Gilbert Block has served as the heart of our town for over 120 years. Twelve decades have seen so many things come and go: horse-drawn transportation and pastel-pink automobiles, small town movie theaters and the sort of good jobs that keep young people local.  But as other small towns have declined around us, Gilbertsville has remained the kind of safe, friendly place you'd want to raise a family. We've withstood a plan to flood the entire valley, and a plan to turn 51 into a wide-shouldered highway, right through town. We've withstood, and the Gilbert Block has withstood, two devastating floods five years apart, in 2006 and 2011. Now we're in the midst of bearing an international pandemic, a pandemic that shuttered our grocery store and has left us without a meeting place, a place to be a community. Where do we go from here? How do we give the Gilbert Block another twelve decades of life? Where do we find a business with gravitational pull, something to bring our community closer together AND bring in day-trippers from out of town? ----- We think the answer may have something to do with chocolate croissants.  We have an opportunity to give Heather Covington's bakery business a new home in the Gilbert Block, and with it, a chance to make some long-needed improvements to the space, always keeping preservation and restoration first and foremost in our priorities. We are planning: - An accessible customer restroom and an employee restroom, both on the ground floor - An access ramp on the west (post office) end of the Gilbert Block building - Substantial upgrades to the building's electrical and plumbing systems, in order to support a commercial bakery/cafe. A fresh coat of paint inside the space and a good cleaning is also planned, and will be accomplished with volunteer help from the Village Improvement Society membership. Success will mean keeping a local business local, and giving it room to grow into a major contributor to Gilbertsville's economy.  Join us as we rejuvenate the Gilbert Block and give Heather's bakery the room it needs to grow! Thanks so much for your support of and interest in our village. Sincerely, The Village Improvement Society Board Greg Watson, President Kathryn Gibson, Treasurer Kristina Strain, Secretary Patrick Strain Doug Exley Lynne Ohl Nancy Callahan