CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore. — On Whiskey Hill Road near Hubbard, you'll find the Whiskey Hill Store.
"We hear it every day," said co-owner Amy Lenhardt. "'I drive by here all the time and today's the day I'm going to stop!'"
Amy and her husband, Darryl Lenhardt, opened their business in January after a two-year-long renovation. The general store serves breakfast, lunch, ice cream and coffee. There's a cozy space in which guests can enjoy their treats and an assortment of gifts made by local artisans. The Lenhardts re-built the living quarters and moved in. They also added two guests rooms that people can rent. They feel the store has become what they hoped it would be.
"We're the heart of the community," Amy said.
The store wasn't always a store. About 100 years ago, the town constructed the building as a two-room school house across the street. It was called Whiskey Hill School. Darryl's father, Floyd Lenhardt, was a second-grader there in 1939.
"I was the little blond boy," said Floyd, pointing to an old black and white school photo.
In 1948, Whiskey Hill School closed and crews moved the building across the street. In its place, they built the larger and enduring 91 School which remains part of the Canby School District. The old school building then became the Whiskey Hill Store.
"We put everything on a tab and I only paid once a month!" Floyd said.
Each generation found new reasons to love the store, including Darryl.
"Meeting our friends here, riding on my bicycle, buying candy, buying soda," Darryl recalled.
Darryl has his old school pictures too, from 91 School and Canby High School. Twelve years of feathered hair, groovy glasses and a girl whose name at that time was Amy LaBare.
"Amy was one of the most beautiful, fun-loving girls in the class that I grew up with," Darryl said.
Retired teacher Ken Beachy was Darryl and Amy's fifth grade teacher.
"There wasn't much romance going in the fifth grade," laughed Beachy. "I don't think they had anything going with the two of them."
Just the start of a life-long friendship.
"We would meet on summer nights at the big swing set," Amy recalled.
Right before graduation, Darryl said he thought about expressing his feelings for Amy.
"Of course it did," laughed Darryl. "I'm no dummy!"
But young love for the couple was not meant to be. The two parted as friends and went their separate ways. After college, Darryl joined the Navy. He and Amy married other people, had kids, and eventually divorced. Then nine years ago, Darryl came home to visit Whiskey Hill. Amy reached out and invited him to coffee. Just a couple of old friends, or so they thought.
"She said she wasn't married anymore. I said, 'OK stop the track, what did you just say?'" Darryl said.
The two began to date. A year later, they were married not far from the Whiskey Hill Store.
One day, the new couple decided to go by the store and see how it was doing. They found that property in shambles. The building was falling apart and garbage and junk were everywhere.
"It's so sad because we had so many wonderful memories as children coming to this place," Darryl said.
The store was in foreclosure, a process that dragged on. The couple wanted to buy the property, but had to wait a long time before it became available.
"We had been waiting, praying and hoping for two years," Amy said.
Finally in 2019, the couple's dream of buying the store, came true.
"I just started sobbing," said Amy.
Then, they got to work.
"I was sort of amazed when they took this project on," Floyd said. "Where we are sitting, it was a big hole."
From start to finish, Amy and Darryl kept their project goals centered on the community.
"The two of them held a meeting over here at the school and invited the community," Beachy said. "They raised the question of, 'We're going to buy this store, what would you like to see it be?'"
Darryl said they have never regretted making that their focus.
"We wanted to give back to the people around here that made such an impact on our lives when we were young," said Darryl.
Amy added that support from the community has been overwhelming.
The Lenhardts said friends and neighbors volunteered more than 500 hours of work. On some nights, the couple was too exhausted to even cook, but help was always there.
"Somebody would just say, 'I'm bringing you dinner,'" Darryl said with a smile. "It was just, almost like God's hand to go, "I just want to show you that this is bigger than just you two.'"
Since reopening Whiskey Hill Store in January, the Lenhardts said that every day feels like an impromptu class reunion for guests.
"They turn around and they're like, 'Ken Beachy, I haven't seen you in 25 years!' And then they'll sit and talked for half-an-hour," Amy said.
For the Lenhardts, some days it's all still hard to believe.
"I walk out to the street to get the mail, turn around and look at it and go, 'This happened!'" Darryl said.
"It's grueling but it's wonderful," added Amy.
A true labor of love.
"It is good to be home," she said. "It's beautiful out here."
This story is part of our new series, Pacific Storyland. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, we'll bring you the most heartwarming and inspiring stories from where you live. Know someone you'd like to see featured? Let us know! Email us at pacificstoryland@kgw.com or text your story ideas to 503-226-5088.
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