Last Tuesday, Andy and Mary Buxton announced in a Facebook video that they planned to close their general store by the end of the month. The financial burden of owning a store in a small, rural town had become too much to bear.“We are just, unfortunately, not sustainable,” Andy Buxton said in the video. “We’ve also learned that, through years of doing our own market research, sadly, we’re just not essential to all the community members in this town and that too affects us.”But that may not in fact be true. Within days of the announcement, Orwell community members had launched an online fundraiser to raise money to buy the store and convert it to a nonprofit community center.After learning of the pending closure, Joseph Andriano, a state representative for Orwell, approached the Buxtons with an idea. Meanwhile a group of community members launched a GoFundMe page. “I found out just the same way that everyone found out,” said Andriano, currently the area’s representative to the Legislature. “I saw that there was a notification on Facebook and I watched the video and like everyone in Orwell, I was devastated.” “Even more than the store, we love Andy and Mary,” Adriano said. “They give so much to the town and they are such an essential part of this community.”According to Andy Buxton, the response to the Facebook video has already exceeded their expectations.Andy Buxton, who owns Buxton’s Store in Orwell with his wife Mary, has decided to close the business established by his grandparents in 1967. Buxton is holding photo of him, his father and grandfather (obscured) in the store when Buxton was a child. Seen on Wednesday, October 2. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger“It’s overwhelming, it’s heartwarming. These are our friends, our community members, our family, and even strangers who have reached out,” he said.The GoFundMe effort aims to raise $103,000 to cover ongoing costs like taxes, utilities, and insurance. Securing grants to purchase Buxton’s General Store will take time, said Rep. Andriano.What form the community space will ultimately take is still unclear, Andriano said. The group’s current top priority is getting the community’s input. He wants the  project to focus on what residents want and need from the space, reflecting the community’s priorities.“Maybe they still want a store there, maybe we’ll have a cafe with a little store, or something I’m not even thinking of, but it’s really important to me that this be a community driven project,” said Andriano. Andy and Mary fulfilled their long-standing dream of buying Buxton’s Store in downtown Orwell in January 2017. The store holds deep personal significance for Andy, whose family has called Orwell home for generations. The history of Buxton’s Store stretches back to 1967, when his grandparents bought the existing country store and operated it for decades. After their retirement in 2006, the business was sold to an unrelated owner who kept the name. In 2017, Andy and Mary, drawing on their combined 35 years of experience in the hospitality industry, took over the store, eager to continue its legacy. After the store closes at the end of October, the Buxtons plan to focus on finalizing the year-end financials and cleaning up the store before looking for new employment. They anticipate getting back into the hospitality industry again.Andy Buxton said that the community’s efforts would not affect his plans to close, but they may have an impact when they try to make a sale. At first, the couple had no idea that the community had launched the fundraising campaign, he said.Buxton’s Store in Orwell on Wednesday, October 2. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDigger“After a few days of really thinking about it, we want to get on board with this nonprofit organization,” Buxton said. “The community has the opportunity to make decisions on what the future of the building can be as opposed to myself and my wife just putting it up for sale and letting the highest bidder come in and do whatever they want.”Buxton’s Store offers staples to the town of about 1,200 residents, like general groceries, fresh cut meats, cheese, craft beer, local wine, sodas, chips, baked goods and take out meals. On Reddit, people seem to agree they will mostly miss one specific sandwich – the Miss Hannigan, a sandwich named by the Buxton’s daughters years ago after seeing the movie “Little Orphan Annie.” The sandwich consists of McKenzie Oven Roasted Turkey, apple with smoked bacon, homemade pickle red onions, sliced local tomatoes, Vermont cheddar cheese and homemade garlic and mayo on a ciabatta roll.  “That’s our number one selling,” Buxton said.The Facebook video has received over 47,000 views and 370 comments from those saddened by the couple’s decision to close, with many sharing their favorite memories of the store in the comments.“I wanted to get a sandwich, I went in there, I ran into the select board chair,” said Andriano. “I saw the owner of our local plumbing company who was outside talking to people, you know, it is a community and throughout the day people come in and out.”Read the story on VTDigger here: Orwell community has started fundraising to buy Buxton’s Store.