Ten years ago, Aaron Brenner came to town and opened a bakery in the alley behind Vinnie’s Deli and the Village Shop. Today, both those businesses have folded, but the bakery is still going strong.

Arron produces all kinds of unique and tasty breads and pastries from family recipes that have passed through several generations for at least 100 years and he justifiably takes considerable pride in the fact that he uses all-natural ingredients and no preservatives. Arron delivers his products to many local restaurants and stores and all around the Puget Sound region from Tacoma to Seattle.

In 2009, he opened a deli and espresso bar in front of his bakery, facing Cole Street, that specialized in his pastries and sandwiches made, of course, from his bread, but he recently closed that part of his operation. The deli wasn’t losing money, but it simply didn’t merit the time and energy it required.

“Enumclaw has enough coffee shops,” Arron says with an insightful little smirk. Then too, his bakery business has recently taken off and therefore needs more of his attention.

A few months before he closed the deli, the adjacent Village Shop also folded up and cleared out its inventory. So, in conjunction with the deli, this left another rather large, vacant storefront on Enumclaw’s main street, which is the last thing our suburban enclave needs.

Fortunately, Kyle and Kari Diercks came to our rescue. They’re currently at work renovating the site for a retro look; that is, they’re stripping the 100-year-old building of its modern trappings and resurrecting its original appearance. When this project is completed, they plan to open the “Mountain Aire Mercantile,” which will feature a natural goods grocery with locally produced meats, cheeses, eggs, produce and other regional goods, including Aaron’s bread and local beers and wines. They’ll also have a deli that will offer homemade soups, sandwiches, other specialties and an espresso bar.

In short, Mountain Aire wants to celebrate local orchards, dairy farmers, fishermen, artisans and the Plateau area in general.   They hope to open in May.

After living in half-a-dozen cities scattered all over the world, from Hong Kong to New York, the Diercks bought a vacation home in Greenwater 10 years ago. Last year they decided to settle down in the Enumclaw area full-time and, after all their worldwide travels, this is quite a compliment for our community. Apparently, they were impressed by the Cascades, convenient outdoor activities, our fine schools and friendly people.

I sometimes lapse into a reminiscent mood and find myself missing, once again, the noise, crowds, hectic pace and savage energy of Manhattan. I guess none of us is ever completely satisfied with our current station in life.

Why do we think we should be?