WILLOW CREEK — When Maeve O’Donnell took over the Willow Creek General Store from her father this week, she made one thing clear: the coffee situation was about to change.

“I love my father,” O’Donnell told the Gazette. “I love the store. But I cannot sell one more cup of instant coffee to a person who has just driven forty miles through January and deserves something better.”

O’Donnell, 31, is the third generation of the O’Donnell family to run the General Store, which was founded by her grandfather Seamus O’Donnell in 1923. Her first act as owner: the installation of a La Marzocco espresso machine — the first commercial espresso machine in Willow Creek’s history.

“I was skeptical,” admitted her father, James O’Donnell. “I told her, ‘Maeve, people come here for fishing licenses and canned beans, not fancy coffee.’ She told me, ‘People come here because it is the only place in town. Give them a reason to stay.’”

The machine required a dedicated 220-volt circuit that the store’s electrical panel had never supported. Ray Thibodeau installed the wiring and built a custom counter to house the machine.

“Ray understood immediately,” O’Donnell said. “He said, ‘This is not a coffee machine. This is a statement.’”

Clara Winslow, a daily customer at the coffee corner, wrote a front-page editorial hailing the addition as “the most significant culinary development in Willow Creek since the invention of the lobster roll.”

“If Maeve O’Donnell can convince Willow Creek that a $3.50 latte is worth the investment,” Winslow wrote, “she may convince the rest of the world that Willow Creek is worth a visit. It starts with coffee. It ends with a town that believes in itself.”

The espresso machine proved prophetic. Within two years, the coffee corner had become a gathering place for trail users, a meeting spot for the revitalization committee, and a stop on the Route 11 tourist circuit.

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