Dear shareholders and friends of the Community Store,

The store needs a new roof, and we need your help to make that happen.

We all know how valuable it is to have a grocery store in Frederick. Many people in town would find it difficult to make it to Ellendale or Aberdeen for groceries, and we all appreciate it when winter weather makes driving elsewhere inconvenient or even impossible. Moreover, if we want to attract new families to Frederick, we need to keep our store open—the lack of a grocery store is a major detractor for a town when people are deciding whether to move there.

The Community Store building itself has value—both historical and future. The building (originally the Marttila-Pettingel-Gorder General Merchandise Store) is on the National Register of Historic Places. It also has potential for future use beyond the store itself—the second story could be used for apartments or office space, and the (newly cleaned out) basement could house small industry of some kind.

Above: The caption on this photo says "4000# Coffee sold in two days by Frederick Coop. Merc. Co. Store, 1924." Yes , coffee goes over well in a Finnish community!

Above: The interior of the Marttila-Petingel-Gorder General Merchandise Store.

Unfortunately, without your help to fix the roof, we will not be able to preserve its historical value, nor will it be available for any future use. Beyond a small checking account balance, the store has no funds in reserve. The last of its savings was spent on replacing broken coolers. In two of the last three years, due to fewer customers and increasing energy costs, the store has operated at a slight loss.

We have received several estimates for the fixing of the roof. They are in the neighborhood of $14,000 to $18,000. We are looking into grant opportunities, but they often require a matching amount from the organization seeking funding. Even if we did get a grant, the money would not come for some months, and the roof needs replacing as soon as possible.

Please consider how much having a local store is worth to you and give generously. Some will only be able to give $10 — and that $10 will be welcome. But we need more of you to consider a larger donation. Please consider whether you can give a donation of $500 to fix the roof. Your gift would help preserve a historical building, and keep a valuable business going in our community.

Donations will be made through the Frederick Area Historical Society, which is a 501(c)3 organization, so your donation is tax-deductible. Please designate your gift to the Community Store Roof Renovation (and consider giving a little more to the FAHS, a worthy cause itself).

Here are two ways you can donate:

• Click here to go to www.justgive.org to give securely online. Search for Frederick Area Historical Society. Click on “Donate” and fill out the form. BE SURE to designate your gift to the Community Store project — where it says “Designate my donation” enter “Community Store Renovation”.
• Send a donation to the Frederick Area Historical Society, PO Box 523, Frederick, SD 57441. Make your check out to “Frederick Area Historical Society” and be sure to write “Community Store Renovation” in the memo field of your check. You can also drop off a check at the store.

Please do not delay in making your gift — we need to get on the contractor’s work list as soon as possible, and to do so we will need enough funding to make a deposit.

Thank you very sincerely for your support of the Community Store in the past and for your commitment to ensuring its future in our community.