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"Barnard, Vt. is home for Meg Johnson. \"It's so beautiful,\" she told New England Cable News Wednesday. \"You just feel at peace.\"She said she loves living in the community that is home to Silver Lake, a tiny post office, and an old church that looks like it could have provided inspiration for Norman Rockwell. But there's not much else here. There are no stop lights, no cell phone service, and fewer than 1,000 residents in this town that's busiest in the summer tourism season with second home owners and guests at the state park.So when the Barnard General Store, the one store in the town, closed in May, 2012, after 180 years in operation, the seemingly stress-free village felt the sting. \"It is the heartbeat of the town, and you felt it going,\" Johnson remembered. \"It was hard. It was hard to see it go.\"Failing finances for the previous owners meant the business that opened in 1832, during Andrew Jackson's presidency, finally had to shut its doors. That forced regulars like Steve and Janet Andersen to drive to the next town to get a gallon of milk-- a round trip of at least 25 minutes. \"We didn't see as much of our friends and neighbors, so we really missed the social aspect of being able to come to the store and see people you know and catch up on what's going on in town,\" Janet Andersen explained.The community missed its store so much, individuals donated a total of about $500,000 to buy the property and operate it through a trust called the Barnard Community Trust. Joe Minerva and Jillian Bradley were picked to lease the business from the trust. \"I haven't slept in days, to tell you the truth,\" Minerva chuckled, describing how busy he's been preparing for the May 1 opening date.Between them, the couple has a background in pretty much all aspects of running a grocery store, they said. Bradley told NECN she knows there's a big responsibility in caring for a place that's so critical to a small town. \"I hope to be here for a long time, for sure,\" she said, smiling.The Barnard General Store sells groceries, including fresh produce, canned items, beer and wine. Its deli serves breakfast and lunch, and now offers fresh seafood. The store is also famous for its ice cream counter, which gets busy in the summer with visitors to Silver Lake.Customers said Barnard is beginning to feel like Barnard again with this store, meeting place, and local tradition reopening and starting a new chapter. \"You feel kind of whole again,\" Johnson said, as she picked up a sandwich from the store's deli and took it outside for a picnic lunch.Using the WPTZ app? Click here to watch \"Marking a new start, 180-year-old Vt. store reopens."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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