By: Simon Cushman
Two weeks ago, I visited Elk River Books and Wheatgrass Saloon on the Main Street of Livingston to ask Marc and Lisa Beaudin and Andrea Peacock a few simple questions about upcoming events in their building. Specifically, I wanted to learn about the Holiday Stroll book signing they’ll be hosting on December 4th and local novelist Shann Ray’s reading from his new novel American Copper on December 12th.
The latter of the two events intrigued me especially since I’d read and enjoyed Ray’s gripping, Western epic, but, while I sat and interviewed Marc, Lisa, and Andrea, they told me another story, which I found just as interesting. The story pertained to their businesses and all they’ve been doing in our community. It was fast-paced, complex, hopeful, and inspiring, and, unlike most stories, it didn’t end. Elk River Books and Wheatgrass Saloon have cohabited the same building at 120 North Main Street in Livingston for only eighteen months.
Up until May of 2014, they were just friendly neighbors on Callendar Street, but, as a result of a mutual need for more retail and event space, they decided to move to Main Street together. “We would joke about knocking down the walls between the two stores,” Lisa Beaudin, owner of Wheatgrass Saloon, remarked, “And then it dawned on us that we could buy a building large enough to hold both the saloon and the bookstore.” Although the bookstore and saloon have remained commercially independent of one another, they’re linked in a number of interesting ways. Most notably they share an unflinching sense of responsibility for the well-being of their local community. This strong community ethic pervades every aspect of these two businesses; the products they sell, the events they host, and their non-profit components are all geared towards locals. At Wheatgrass Saloon, Lisa Beaudin offers the community a unique combination of ultra-nutritious food and a wide selection of high quality artisanal goods.
While the gourmet juice bar serves locally-sourced juices, smoothies, and noodle bowls, the adjoining eco-boutique offers a charming assortment of jewelry, clothing, scarves, totes, and much more. Many of the goods are made by Montana artists, and the majority of the goods not made in Montana come from fair-trade, environmentally conscious co-ops in India and Bolivia. As Wheatgrass Saloon’s website explains, “The goal is to support individuals and villages that in turn support the planet and the people upon it.” In addition to selling goods that benefit the community, Wheatgrass Saloon Gallery Upstairs hosts exhibits on the second floor of the building. The exhibits feature gifted regional artists, such as the self-taught female Cheyenne painter Alaina Buffalo Spirit whose work was on display from October 28th until November 20th. Although the most recent art exhibits have been geared towards Livingston’s Art Walks, the last of which took place in early November, Lisa plans on featuring a local artist each month until the Art Walks resume next year. In order to promote awareness of the organizations that are doing great things in the community, Wheatgrass Saloon has begun donating ten percent of its sales on the fourth Thursday of each month to a local non-profit. Because the fourth Thursday in November fell on Thanksgiving, the saloon waited until Small Business Saturday to donate a portion of their sales to Montana Roots, a local organization which grows produce year round using a 6000 gallon recirculating aquaponics system. Wheatgrass Saloon is yet to choose a non-profit to feature on the fourth Thursday in December, but they’re open to suggestions from anybody who has one.
Like Wheatgrass Saloon, Elk River Books seeks, above all else, to nurture and support the community in which it operates. Co-owner Marc Beaudin summed up what he and Andrea Peacock are aiming to accomplish at Elk River Books with the following statement: “Really we’re providing three different types of services: antiquarian trade for valuable books, hosting events where community members can gather together to hear someone read, and providing a community bookstore where someone who wants an inexpensive copy of a quality book can find it.” Elk River Books offers a curated selection of high quality used books kept in excellent condition, and, since moving to the new building in May of 2014, the bookstore’s rare book selection has grown significantly. Marc concedes that it’s primarily his colleague Andrea’s interest in the antiquarian trade that has led to this influx of rare books. “I don’t enjoy the antiquarian stuff as much as Andrea. I more enjoy working with writers and organizing events.” This division of labor between the bookstore’s owners has had a positive effect on the business’s development; while the rare book selection has grown steadily, so has the number of events put on by Elk River Books. Book readings especially have increased in frequency, and the readings have been remarkably well attended. Andrea Peacock described the bookstore’s intention to provide a welcoming gathering place to literary locals: “We’ve borrowed from the idea of a Third Place: a kind of hybrid public-private space beyond home and work that exists to nurture the intellectual life of the community.” Along with Wheatgrass Saloon, Elk River Books has extended its community mission beyond its own doors.
With their non-profit arm, Elk River Arts and Lectures, they’ve successfully broadened Livingston’s literary horizons. By hosting authors who wouldn’t normally come through Livingston, and having them speak to students at Park High School, Marc and Andrea have combined opportunities for entertainment with opportunities for education in an exciting way. On top of hosting nationally-known authors, Elk River Arts and Lectures has begun offering literary workshops. The first ever workshop took place at Chico Hot Springs in late October, and it proved to be a major success. At the end of the workshop, ERAL held a faculty reading which raised over 3,000 dollars to support the lecture program. While ERAL intends to support touring authors and provide them with a comfortable stay in Livingston, its primary goal is to expose high school students to new modes of thinking and foment their global and cultural awareness. “There are kids at Park high who have never been out of the county,” Andrea explained, “and our goal with these lectures is to expose them to a wider world, to cultures and people they wouldn’t otherwise encounter, and give them a sense of their place in this context.” So with ERAL, as with Wheatgrass Saloon and Elk River Books, the focus is on the members of the local community. With a uniquely creative brand of generosity, these businesses and their three owners are making a difference. In a world where people are prone to throw money at problems and hope they’ll go away, Marc and Lisa Beaudin and Andrea Peacock provide a refreshing example of a more thoughtful and comprehensive form of activism. •
