February 15, 2021
[caption id="attachment_124325" align="alignnone" width="770"]
Photo by John Fischer[/caption]
At the end of the road past Hanalei on Kaua'i's North Shore, weary travelers will find the Wainiha Country Market, a local store that brings good food and creates a strong community in a region that's often left inaccessible.
"We're out here in what folks like to call the Deep Country," says Joell Edwards, the market's new owner. "This outpost has been active for over a hundred years in Wainiha, with the previous owner spending nearly 45 years running what was called 'The Last Chance' market." According to Joell, the locals always need provisions of some kinds, and with seven one-lane bridge crossings heading east to the town of Hanalei, people like to stay close to home.
It was that very same passage of twisting and turning coastal roads that trapped Wainiha in 2018, when a historic flood cut off the town. Joell helped her small community work together to get through the wake of the flood, and she knew she wanted to do something more to help.
"The people that had the market prior to us had it for 45 years. They decided to retire in 2014, and they passed it to their kids," says Joell. "Then came the historic flood in 2018 that brought 52 inches of rain in 24 hours and created 17 landslides on the highways, shutting down the town completely. We were helicoptering in food and supplies." That's when Joell started thinking about the market and how it could be a community space.
[caption id="attachment_124327" align="alignnone" width="770"]
Photo by Joell Edwards[/caption]
"I am a food access coordinator, and food insecurity is my thing," she says. "When the market closed, my family and I wanted to bring the food back into the area and have it be a gathering spot." They contacted owners and re-leased it and did the work on the integrity of the building after the floods.
It's a family endeavor, as their daughter works the market, her husband is fixing up the place has been working every day since July 2020 on the property and now her son and daughter in law have opened an organic shave ice stand next door to the market. "The reception has been overwhelming," said Joell. "People don't want to drive two miles away and cross bridges and it's kinda a curvy road, so now they can stay close to home next to the ocean. We're in one of the best locations on the islands."
There is also a home school education facility on the property known as The Makana Learning Center that is free for kids to support for distance learning and tutoring.
Photo by John Fischer[/caption]
At the end of the road past Hanalei on Kaua'i's North Shore, weary travelers will find the Wainiha Country Market, a local store that brings good food and creates a strong community in a region that's often left inaccessible.
"We're out here in what folks like to call the Deep Country," says Joell Edwards, the market's new owner. "This outpost has been active for over a hundred years in Wainiha, with the previous owner spending nearly 45 years running what was called 'The Last Chance' market." According to Joell, the locals always need provisions of some kinds, and with seven one-lane bridge crossings heading east to the town of Hanalei, people like to stay close to home.
It was that very same passage of twisting and turning coastal roads that trapped Wainiha in 2018, when a historic flood cut off the town. Joell helped her small community work together to get through the wake of the flood, and she knew she wanted to do something more to help.
"The people that had the market prior to us had it for 45 years. They decided to retire in 2014, and they passed it to their kids," says Joell. "Then came the historic flood in 2018 that brought 52 inches of rain in 24 hours and created 17 landslides on the highways, shutting down the town completely. We were helicoptering in food and supplies." That's when Joell started thinking about the market and how it could be a community space.
[caption id="attachment_124327" align="alignnone" width="770"] Photo by Joell Edwards[/caption]
"I am a food access coordinator, and food insecurity is my thing," she says. "When the market closed, my family and I wanted to bring the food back into the area and have it be a gathering spot." They contacted owners and re-leased it and did the work on the integrity of the building after the floods.
It's a family endeavor, as their daughter works the market, her husband is fixing up the place has been working every day since July 2020 on the property and now her son and daughter in law have opened an organic shave ice stand next door to the market. "The reception has been overwhelming," said Joell. "People don't want to drive two miles away and cross bridges and it's kinda a curvy road, so now they can stay close to home next to the ocean. We're in one of the best locations on the islands."
There is also a home school education facility on the property known as The Makana Learning Center that is free for kids to support for distance learning and tutoring.