PENN YAN — Milly’s Pantry has been evolving since its founding in 2008, and that evolution is now becoming impossible to overlook.

The Pinwheel Market & Café, located on Main Street, underwent some physical changes earlier this year, beginning with new paint, lighting and shelving that made it a brighter and more attractive place to browse for local art and artisan food, and to enjoy the old-fashioned soda fountain, an espresso bar, and a variety of baked treats.

Market Renovation Volunteers - The market is particularly grateful to Lori Fleet, Sam Castner, Jen Hoke, Anna, Emma and Eva Fleet, Piper Castner, Kyle Wheeler, Nate Wright, Fran and Ray Willis, Anne Meyer-Wilber, Dave Mastroberti, Chuck Georgia, Char Wilkinson, Bradley Pielaw, Andrea Cornett, Marely Feriateon, Kelley Reynolds, Jackson Arnold, Carter Bentley, Irene Worth, Sharon Osborne, Scott Steele, Pauline Young, Bob Kayes, Dave Kayes, Mike and Karen Marshall, Diane Irwin, Deborah Koop, Paulina and Nina Reed and everyone else who has taken the time to show their support for the mission of Milly’s Pantry. A special thanks too to Pinckney Hardware, Bee Hive Antiques, Habitat for Humanity, Lowes Hardware (Waterloo), Schuler Electric Corp (Painted Post), ServU Credit Union (Painted Post), the Penn Yan Moose Club, the Penn Yan Elks and The Lions Foundation for all they have done to support this process.

Now that renovations are complete, The Pinwheel Market & Café will be renamed to bring it in line with the tribute paid to Milly Bloomquist through the organization’s name – the storefront at 19 Main St. will be known from here on as Milly’s Market & Café. New signs over the door and in the windows will announce the new name.

The Board of Milly’s Pantry, its volunteers and staff invite residents of Penn Yan and visitors to the town to join them on Saturday, Aug. 13 to celebrate the renaming of the Market & Café at an all-day open house that will feature tasting of some of the house-made desserts and beverages available year-round as well as many of the artisan foods that are available from a large variety of local food producers. Raffles will be held for a gift certificate and a house-made pie – anyone purchasing at least $20 in a single visit to Milly’s Market & Café during August will be an automatic entrant for the prize of their choice.

Milly’s Pantry was founded in 2008. Its original mission was to raise funds for a Weekend BackPack Program that provided packs of supplemental weekend food for 27 children in a pilot program. The non-profit has grown to an organization that, with assistance from local private grants and the generosity of donors from Penn Yan and far beyond, provides those food packs for 3-400 Yates County children weekly. Several years after its founding, Milly’s Pantry adopted a small program that sought to enhance students’ academic readiness by distributing limited school supplies to about 400 local children – and has expanded that program to provide backpacks and school supplies for nearly 1500 Yates County students in pre-k through high school levels.

In purchasing the abandoned historic building at 19 Main St. in 2008, the founders of Milly’s Pantry envisioned a place where the community could come together to support activities and businesses that would, in turn, fund the Milly’s Pantry programs that benefit the community’s children. It was the long-term goal of the organization that Milly’s Market & Café would become both a community hub on Main Street and a practical demonstration of the power of that community to support its own.

In 2019, Milly’s Pantry was supported by the community and selected to receive some of the funds made available in the Governor’s grant of $10 million for the Penn Yan Downtown Revitalization Initiative. While COVID-19 delayed the early stages of the project, and the passage of time has made the ambitious construction project more expensive, efforts have recently re-started to add an elevator to the Milly’s Pantry building. This will make the second floor offices and commercial kitchen/great room complex as well as the third floor ballroom accessible to the community. Business incubation opportunities as well as venues for private and community events are planned. Architects and contractors have been enlisted to help the organization move from imagination to reality – the next step will be to embark on a capital campaign to raise funds to fill the gap between the original-estimates for the project and its current likely cost.

Throughout its life, whether on large projects like the elevator construction or the day-to-day work of welcoming and serving visitors to Milly’s Market & Café or the invaluable assistance provided by large and small donors, Milly’s Pantry has been dependent on the participation and generosity of the Yates County community. Anyone interested in joining the organization in any capacity will be welcomed.

As Milly’s Pantry continues to evolve, the Board, staff and volunteers never fail to remember that at the beginning of Milly’s Pantry was Milly Bloomquist – who moved to Penn Yan as a young woman, and then spent her lifetime making life better in the community around her – and particularly for its children. She was rewarded in 2011 with a Presidential Citizens Medal – nominated by her granddaughter for the honor, and awarded with the medal by President Obama. She has been honored by many organizations locally, and is remembered fondly by generations of the people she knew and families she helped. She remains at the heart of the organization as she is indelibly a part of the character of Penn Yan.