To talk with Tim ’93 and Becca Lindenmeyr in the space of their newly renovated Elmore Store, with the views of the town’s lake and eponymous mountain on the other side of wide windows, is to have a sense of the heart of Vermont.
That one of the nation’s last one-room schoolhouses sits across the street, and the town buildings, farm fields and a maple sugaring operation are also right within a stone’s throw helps complete a picture of vibrant Green Mountain happenings.
We were excited (but not very surprised) to learn that there were UVM connections within this inspirational rural community development project. And we’re thrilled to get to share the story of a Catamount active in their local community in such an important and inspirational way.
About the Elmore Store
The Elmore Store is a hub of community life for the town, as rural general stores often are. The warm space that combines old and new features, wooden floors and walls, pressed tin backsplashes, and a lakeshore location, has been in continuous operation since the early 1800s. Over those many years, it has served as a resource for staples, a post office, a café, and a vibrant meeting spot for social connection.
The store is so important to the town that, after the two most recent operators of the business transitioned away, the Elmore Community Trust made finding the next manager their top priority.
Tim and Becca (a busy couple who also own FarmCraftVT, and are parents to daughters Elsa and Gabbie, the latter of whom is a Wildlife and Fisheries Biology major in UVM’s Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources) responded to the public application, and it was far more than a career or business decision. It was a courageous but natural step for Tim, who had treasured childhood time right there in the historical space.
“I got picked up there every day after school, after leaving the one-room schoolhouse,” he remembered, laughing. “I would sit out on the front deck waiting for my ride, with my pretzels and my chocolate milk.”
“So that was a routine - just part of what I did after school. After the teachers were gone, I could come over here and my mom trusted (store owners) Warren and Kathy to be watchful and mindful.”
That’s the kind of community cohesion he and Becca now want to be part of providing, for children and adults, whether they’re residents or visitors.
The family and their team are offering, “a place where everybody feels welcome. Everybody can get what they need, whether that's a hot cup of coffee and a conversation or a pizza for dinner, or something to take home, or if they want to come by to just sit by the lake and watch the loons or fish off the dock.”
Powered by a community-focused vision expressed in a singular location, the store re-opened to streams of grateful customers and visitors on July 4 weekend. In a complex cultural moment, the store’s Independence Day celebration provided a moment to consider the interdependence of community, as it is expressed in Vermont.
And for the UVM alumnus at the heart of the project, that built on experiences and values built right on campus.
UVM Helped Build Lasting Relationships
Tim came to UVM as a transfer student from St. Lawrence University in 1991. He remembers how many of his Elmore friends were at UVM, and what a strong draw that was for him. And he loved the fact that he could live off-campus in Burlington, which gave him a chance to learn from a diversity of neighbors than he had before, either in Elmore or in “the middle of the woods” in Canton, New York.
Even more than classes, more than campus activities, for Tim, UVM was all about the people. He affectionately said that “being [his] mom’s kid,” school was always more about the social relationships than the actual academics.
That mom was Jill Lindenmeyr, something of a local force of nature, who came to Vermont from Pennsylvania, taught skiing, founded the Elmore Community Trust, had a family, made many, many friends across the generations, operated a small farm, and devoted herself to the wellness of her community. Jill passed away in October 2023.
Tim was inspired by his mother’s devotion to community, as well as the way she combined a love of learning with her own creativity and with social connections. He laughed as he said he especially inherited her social sense, “I mean, I did well enough in school, but it wasn't like, ‘Ooh, I can't wait to study some more!’
Fortunately for Tim, and for those around him, the sociology he explored while at UVM was a natural extension of his passion for people and a curiosity for understanding how groups work.
And many of the people who he was connected with through UVM helped him grow into the community leader he is.
“I remember (former Director of UVM Extension) Chuck Ross ’78, who I worked for over summers, and that he was just one of the UVM people who I built connections with over the years,” he shared.
By the time he came to consider becoming proprietor of the Elmore Store, many others would play a key role in realizing the vision.
UVM supported us “in making and building connections. Some felt like they had always been there. This store project is built in spades from that foundation.”
He mentioned the many community members who helped physically rebuild the store to realize their vision for a beautiful and homey “third space” for the community to enjoy – the neighbor who drywalled the place, and the other crews who offered their services at cost because they believed in the community good they were supporting.
“It's been that way with everything in this whole project. It seems to go along like, “Oh, I need to do this. So then maybe I'll reach out and see who knows this person or that person who can help.. Going to UVM, where a lot of the local community goes or had gone, strengthened all those relationships, I think,” he said.
It’s that ethic of interconnection that lets Tim and Becca articulate a core philosophy of "purpose before profit." The business needs to be profitable to be sustainable, of course, but fulfilling the community's needs means more.
Another expression of this is their determination to provide healthy, nutrient-dense food to their customers, and to keep prices affordable. They’ve been creative in their approaches to buying and sourcing the basics on their shelves so they can balance the high demand but sometimes more expensive local items with popular things that customers also demand.
A Uniquely Vermont Project?
It’s hard to deny that Vermont is a special place where extraordinary things happen. We wondered whether a store that places community values over all else would be likely to happen anywhere except the Green Mountain state.
“Well,” Tim reflected. “Part of our business model caters to all these pieces (of community life). We think that offers a lot of opportunity for building community. And we're at a point in our life where that's what we want to be doing, and that's what makes us feel good about doing what we do. And sharing it is a huge thing for us.
And they’re putting all this together in a way that isn’t just serving customers, but also is actively being good neighbors to other area businesses. Just one example of which is that their creemee stand will not include iconic Vermont maple as a flavor as long as the nearby sugar shack is serving their own. “We’re sensitive to it. We all want to be protective of our local folks, so there isn’t really a need to compete,” he offered.
But one thing customers will soon be able to look forward to is a Chilly Jilly, which - like, so many elements of the store, has its origins right in the Lindenmeyr family. Tim explains: “Well, our family really loves creemees. And mom (Jill) would always put a little pretzel twist or other special something at the bottom of the cone when she’d give one to her granddaughers, just a little something extra. So here at the store, we’ll be doing that. It’ll be just a fun surprise.”
Which we thought was probably a perfect metaphor to describe what the Lindenmeyrs, together with their community of friends and supporters, are offering to Elmore.
And it’s a sweet story with UVM roots.
Read More
More recent stories about the lives of UVM alumni:
Alumni Spotlight: Tim Lindenmeyr '93 and the Elmore Store
Cheryl Carmi
Aug 20, 2025