Dear editor:
Living in Calgary, as I do, there is no need to travel to Cochrane to access a Starbucks, Tim Hortons or Wal-Mart. However, over the past several years, my family, neighbours, friends and I have made Java Jamboree (and their choice of special coffee beans) a treasured destination almost every week while the weather and roads cooperate.
It has become a hub of sorts for some of my other shopping. I’ve discovered the little Dollar Store next door, which carries all sorts of mats and framing options for my art work, the Paisley Boutique, which carries clothing that is quite unique, and while Mark’s Work Wearhouse, Safeway and Canadian Tire aren’t unique to this little shopping centre, they have the advantage of being in close proximity with ample parking. However, without Java Jamboree, there would be fewer trips to Cochrane in the first place.
I don’t know whether residents there know what great ambassadors Jess and her staff at Java Jamboree have been to the town. I have yet to see a Starbucks or a Tim Hortons using their wall space to showcase the work of local artists and photographers, including work by a local high school, as Jess has done.
One year, her baristas participated in a coffee-making competition, which put Cochrane on a different sort of map. When I was searching for a source of bison stew meat, one of the baristas gave me directions to the Cochrane Farmers’ Market and the great products from the Buffalo Horn Ranch. What a find!
Hopefully, Jess will find another location that will allow Java Jamboree to flourish. If not, it will be Cochrane’s loss in more ways than one.
Lorraine Cockle
