In Our Winter 2016-2017 Issue

EAT YOUR VEGGIES: ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF EDIBLE’S APPEAL

It’s a wonderful feeling when you’ve had a significant positive impact on another person. We do a lot of small things that momentarily brighten someone’s day. It can be a smile or a wave. Maybe picking up the tab for a cup of coffee. But think bigger than that.

Back in September, Gina, Leslie and I had one of those rare impactful moments that we never saw coming. You know you’ve picked the right publication when you come face-to-face with somebody who credits you with changing the course of their life. All of us who publish an edible hope that our content will guide people to a path of healthier eating and a more sustainable lifestyle.

But not like this.

This was different and took place at September’s edible Communities annual conference in Chicago. At the welcome reception, Gina was approached by a young lady who was drawn to Gina by her name tag.

Her name is Stephanie Burdos and she was launching one of the new edible titles in western New York state.

After confirming with Gina that she was, in fact, Gina, she told her, “You are the reason I am here.” “You must be thinking of someone else,” Gina said. But when asked if she was from Door County it became clear that she was, in all likelihood, the only Gina from Door County at the conference. Stephanie went on to explain that she went on a road trip to figure out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She conveyed to Gina that she was thinking she might want to move to Rochester, MN, so she drove there. I could have told her that wouldn’t have worked out. Sorry, just a little border-state rivalry trash talk that surfaces now and then. I’m not particularly proud of myself for it.

She then told Gina that she crossed over the state line into LaCrosse before deciding to drive across the entire state to Door County. She stopped at Renard’s Cheese and picked up our spring issue. I certainly hope she also picked up a fresh bag of cheese curds. It would be a shame if she didn’t.

She read my welcome column, just like you are now. It just so happened that the piece I had written for that issue reflected on how the Gina, Leslie and I had come across the edible brand and started edible Door a few years earlier. Can anyone spell serendipity?

Stephanie went on to tell Gina that she then toured the county and decided she was going to forego Rochester and head east and start edible West New York.

Gina made a beeline to Leslie and I with Stephanie in tow and recounted this miraculous tale of this young woman traveling the Upper Midwest and ultimately finding her calling in Door County. That’s not too unusual because the alluring beauty of the Door Peninsula normally has magnetic qualities, having lured more than a few settlers. But Stephanie wasn’t staying.

Just like us, she was drawn by this unique publication and the impact it could have in upstate New York. Besides, we already claimed Northeastern Wisconsin and it would take a hefty offer to pry it out of our hands.

We certainly wish Stephanie well and are thrilled in the roll we played in meeting her at the conference. Come to think of it, edible Rochester does have a nice ring to it.

-Jon Gast, Co-Owner/Editor of Edible Door