Why a small town, it came down to the grocery store – Michael Rheiner

“Welcome to Stromsburg!” A phase we have often heard since our arrival and regularly followed by “what brings you to our community?”

After blending and raising our 8 children, with just 1 remaining at home, it was time to say goodbye to the big house, big taxes, and big city.

Through our work as traveling realtors, Tammie and I have seen many towns and villages that are not much more than a group of people who happen to live in a similar county defined boundary. The only connection is the town name, a Casey’s, maybe a Dollar General, and one
bar and grill. Neighbors will know and look out for each other, but nothing keeps the community thriving.

When Tammie and I decided, on May 5 th of 2023, that it was time to sell we started looking. After just a few clicks through Zillow, I happened upon one house in Stromsburg. A few days later, after a client appointment in York, we made our first drive to Stromsburg.
The home had everything we love in a home. And given that we have seen thousands of homes all over, we knew this was an excellent home. What sold us on Stromsburg?

The grocery store.

Grocery stores provide more than just essentials to survive. They provide the flavors and essentials of life that bring family and people together. When we stopped by that first time, the young employees answered a few questions we asked with a kindness and warmth towards this community. You could see and feel a spirit of commitment and service in their voices. On the shelves, we could see the quality and variety of the products which spoke to the commitment of the owners. And despite the shops being closed, we could see commitment from each of the stores surrounding the square to provide services that help make people feel at home.

Now that we are here, we’ve found ourselves taken care of by the former owner of our home, the builder of our home, by plumbers, the community soft water company, and the Polk County News. Our neighbors have waved, provided a Swedish welcome gift, dropped by with cookies from the festival we missed, and Jack and Judy stopped by as unofficial Greeters for the community to welcome us.

And within the center of it all, are Mike and Roni at the grocery store taking care of the community.

I have no doubt that we will find that Polk County has many of the same kindness traits of Stromsburg, but for now, thank you to Mike and Roni, and to the entire Stromsburg community, for actively caring about the community and finding your own way to contribute to its vibrancy. We look forward to being active participants and using our own talents and God given gifts, to ever be active within the community we now call home….Stromsburg.