WENDELL — Deja Brew Cafe & Pub will mark 20 years of existence with a celebration on Saturday, Sept. 6.
Owner Patti Scutari opened the establishment with her late husband, Vic, on Sept. 1, 2005 — 12 years after purchasing the adjacent Wendell Country Store. The business has survived the Great Recession, the COVID-19 pandemic and Vic’s 2013 death, leaving Patti with a desire to thank her customers and neighbors for two decades of support.
“When my husband and I first bought the [Wendell Country Store] in 1993 … we were standing in a part of the store and my husband said, ‘We need to make this a spot for the people who work in town,'” she recalled, explaining Vic wanted a place that would serve a nighttime function similar to what the store offers during the day.
The 20th anniversary celebration, which will be held rain or shine, is scheduled for 4 p.m. to midnight. It will include a bonfire, a children’s activity tent, reiki, a gourmet popcorn vendor and live music by Eric Love, The Hendersons Blues Band and The Shadow Twisters. Chef Myron Becker will also offer an eclectic menu of food.
“I can’t even pronounce half of the things he’s making,” Scutari said with a laugh.
Becker said he will be cooking elote (commonly called Mexican street corn), Japanese yakitori skewers, vegetarian mapo tofu and his wife’s cookies. Food will be served from 4 to 8 p.m.
“We’ve been fans and patrons and supporters of the Deja Brew from day one, and we’re friends with Patti and her now-deceased husband, Vic,” Becker said. “We know how to do this and we’re good at it, if I do say so myself.”
He mentioned that he and his wife, Kathy-Ann, will be assisted by Paige Riddering and Ethan Schmidt.
Patti and Vic Scutari bought the Wendell Country Store from Cheryl Perkins, and took on all of her employees. Avid political activists, the two Long Island transplants fell in love with western Massachusetts in 1992 when they participated in a 1½-year vigil in Colrain in support of Randy Kehler and Betsy Corner, whose home was seized by the IRS due to war tax resistance.
The Scutaris rearranged the entire country store to accommodate Deja Brew “and little by little, it’s evolved.” The business served food until 2017, but moved away from that amid high food costs and some health issues. It also closed for 2½ years during the pandemic and now is open only on Friday nights with live music and a bonfire.