Some towns have a place everybody knows.
You know which mornings to go. You know what to order. The counter where a fireman and a farmer and a teacher all become, for a few minutes, just neighbors.
Carmen’s is one of those places.
Elle Winterrowd learned to bake from her grandmother. Her grandmother’s name was Carmen. When Elle finally had a space to call her own, she put her grandmother’s name on the door.
People asked her to make cream horns from the day she opened. She said no. She knew it wasn’t hers to bring back.
So she built her own thing. Something that belonged to her and to this town in its own right.
Meanwhile JoAnn was baking from her kitchen. Quietly. Taking orders from the people who still remembered. She grew up in Wehner’s. When it was gone, she just kept going. Some things are worth keeping alive.
She and Elle found each other. Nobody planned it. It just felt right.
JoAnn has pastries at Carmen’s every Saturday.
The cream horns are back.
When we reached out about the Hope In Action Awards Banquet, Carmen’s said yes before we finished asking. Of course they did.
They already know what it feels like when a community decides you belong in it.
You don’t find that kind of place. You build it. Together.
In the Ozarks, this is what community looks like.
Partners
This community is built by the people and businesses who show up, not because they have to, but because they belong to something. These are the neighbors who make everything possible.
Meet our neighbors →
