Final Push to Open Jimtown and Then Sum

Greetings and Happy New Year!

Many of you are waiting with bated breath for the long awaited reopening of Jimtown. So biggest question I am asked

• When are you opening?

I cannot give a firm date until I have more directive from the county agencies, but it is coming soon.

• What will be on your menu?

There will be a wide range of menu options to please the masses

• Is there anything I can do to help?

Yes! Please see how below.

First, it is important for me to share this journey with you all as I know what Jimtown means to all of you in the community. The long story short is, bringing an over 100 year old building that hasn’t had much brought to code in thirty years has been a process that is more than anticipated.

As the time passed with starting on the renovations required, every turn had us faced with set backs, delays in the delivery of the right hood to fit in the kitchen to the dry storage room needing to be completely gutted, to the walk in cooler found to be inoperable and needing an exorbitant amount of work to bring to current code, the retail refrigeration not working, to there not being a grease interceptors for the kitchen requiring a lot of additional plumbing and drilling for installation. So as to not bore you with any more details, the biggest challenge is the time it has taken to get to where we are now, waiting for county approvals to perform the final work needed to pass code and then request final inspections.

I have been burning up the majority of my working capital paying the mortgage and construction loan amongst other unexpected expenses leaving very little to open the doors with. I am just one woman who grew up in NYC and CT poor from immigrant parents (and yes they came legally the right way) that did everything to give us the life we had. My life as a scientist and athlete somehow led me here, to Sonoma County and now to the beautiful Alexander Valley. My dream of reopening Jimtown is equally as important to my community as it is to me personally. It is a place where people feel a sense of home. I know I did when I was a customer for many years. I have some small investors that have come through (they are truly appreciated) but ultimately I have taken my life savings along with some help from my amazing family to purchase Jimtown and get it operational. Just recently, I have a new partner that has come onboard and couldn’t be more thrilled to have Colleen Falconer on board. She has been a small business owner for many years and currently runs Colleen’s Coffee and will bring her wealth of knowledge to support us at Jimtown and Then Sum.

My love and the love and encouragement of all of you in the community for this place has kept me going but these final hurdles are being completed, I must ask for help. The people that know me best know that asking for help is likely my biggest weakness.

For those of you who attended one of my two mini fundraisers or donated already to my early on gofundme, and especially those who have stepped up and volunteered time at Jimtown, I am truly grateful. The small amount that was raised has been helpful, to pay for utilities, taxes and other county fees mounting during these months of construction.

Funds will go to support final expenses required to bring the kitchen up to code.

Flooring - $10,000

Refrigeration - $10,000

Plumbing for Grease Interceptor Install - $15,000

Beverage Refrigeration - $6000

ADA Compliance Upgrades - $10,000