510752 HWY 95, BONNERS FERRY, ID 83805
What is The Gathering Place?
The Gathering Place is a 3-in-1 business. Sharon’s Store, The Bakery, and The Coffee Shop are unique but still function as one business.
Sharon’s Store is a bulk food store containing everything from raw milk to Amish-made rockers. We have a huge gift selection, bulk food rack, fresh produce, kitchen items, large toy section, outdoor furniture, and much more!
The Bakery is best known for its donuts, baked items, and lunch menu. We have a family friendly dining area, the perfect place for a relaxing time and a quick bite to eat. Outside, we have a playground and water feature with picnic seating for the whole family.
The Coffee Shop which is best known for its breakfast and specialty drinks has a drive thru and spacious dining area. We also serve the full Bakery lunch menu and a limited number of donuts. You can expect high quality espresso drinks and a variety of non-coffee drinks including: Red bull, Lotus, MTN OPS, Zip fizz, Matcha, Specialty Tea, Bubble Tea, Lemonade, Smoothies and More!
Norv and Sharon, and the staff at The Gathering Place, are committed every day to make you feel at home…so come, sit, stay awhile. Let us take care of the rest.
The Gathering Place
Welcome to
THE GATHERING PLACE
“It is something we work on every single day.”
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This isn’t just a quote, it’s a commitment for Norv and Sharon Skrivseth. One that’s shared by the staff at The Gathering Place, to work every day to make you feel welcome, to make you feel at home, to make you feel special.
For our customers, our friends, it starts the moment you walk through the doors of The Bakery; Welcomed in by the smell of fresh coffee, the sight of a glass case filled with doughnuts and pastries, the sounds of community. Step up to the counter and order, smiles are free.
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It continues as you stroll through the barn doors into Sharon’s Store. Toys and candies for the kids, farm fresh eggs and milk for the family, a crafted Amish Rocker for you to slide into. We stock the store with products, bulk and individual, that are for family. And we don’t mind at all if you ask…if we don’t carry something we’re happy to see about ordering it special for you.
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Then there’s our seasonal produce stand, Produce Stand. We maintain first name relationships with growers, relationships cultivated over a decade. We don’t order from companies, we order directly for friends, from friends. This allows us to provide you with fresh fruit and vegetables, purchased directly from our grower friends, at great prices.
…and it doesn’t end when you head off to the rest of your day. Watch folks as they leave, smiles and laughter are plenty. Don’t be surprised to see folks walking out, holding the door open for those coming in, as if now part of the family, they too welcome others. The Gathering Place is not a place you leave, it’s a place – a commitment – just waiting for you to come back again.
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So stop by any day, well, Monday – Saturday. We set Sundays aside to rest, and worship. But we’ll be back Monday morning, continuing our commitment.
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“It is something we work on every single day.”
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Norv and Sharon, and the staff at The Gathering Place, are committed every day to make you feel at home…so come, sit, stay awhile. Let us take care of the rest.
Local News Article
A cacophony of conversation swirls about the room as I walk through the front door. The smell of fresh bread wafts through the air as I move about the bakery. People are talking in normal tones, with patrons at the front of the line speaking slightly louder to order a sandwich, a delectable scone, or donut and a preferred beverage, where a quiet bustling occurs above the chatter of happy people sharing themselves over a meal.
From the back of the ordering line to the back of a large kitchen, employees in the The Bakery happily buzz about in their environment. Everyone is calm, moving in quick, decisive rhythm, without worry or any appearance of being rushed.
With wood paneling, tables and chairs, The Gathering Place feels rustic and clean, offering patrons a comfortable atmosphere leaving me time to ruminate. I could see how one could spend a considerable amount of time working on a novel, reading a book, ruminating over on life’s mysteries or how one could simply take a seat, eat a meal and work out their problems.
Walking from room to room, I wandered into Sharon’s Sore where I found: books, toys, games, textiles, cheese, fruit, meats, candy, ice cream and many other grocery items. One may also find cooking supplies and baking utensils in the back. From specialty syrup and pancake mixes to rainbow of options for colored gelatin; It’s a baker’s dream. Everything at The Gathering Place appears intentional. The open flowing rooms and gives the impression that a great deal of thought and detail has gone into the layout and selection of each item offered.
Walking through the garage-sized front storefront I’m punched in the face with the aroma of coffee beans and fresh fruit. As most caffeinated cultist coffee drinking snobs, I’m used to the smell of coffee at coffee shops, but somehow the combination of coffee and fresh fruit is intoxicating. I must admit that the coffee shop lured me in first. Once I have my Americano in hand, I fold into a large leather chair; It’s game over. I’ll be sitting here for a while. But alas… I must move on.
As I walk from store to store, I can’t help but think about The Gathering Place as a special place. I wish I could tell you that the many varieties of confectionary delights, including but not limited to vegan power bars, vegan candy, coffee and specialty dark chocolate make The Gathering Place special. It could be the fresh produce, the vintage piano in the coffee shop, or the Kid’s sturdy wooden playground and babbling brook between the buildings, or the fact that around every corner there’s a comfy couch or rocking chair begging to be sat on for a while, but these are not special solely to The Gathering Place.
After talking with the owner, I realized that The Gathering Place is a success because of the people. They are the community, serving the community. They are just as happy as their customers to be here, and it shows in both their work ethic and dedication to service.
The owners and operators of The Gathering Place, Norv and Sharon Skrivseth, could not stop going on and on about how thankful they are. If The Gathering Place is their love song to the community that has embraced them, consider this article their love note.
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TRAVELING THROUGH?
The Gathering Place is located on Hwy 95, in North Idaho. We are three miles North of Bonners Ferry, and 30 miles South of the U.S./Canadian border.
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So if you are headed north to tour the famous Selkirk Loop, jumping on the Hwy 2 junction towards the Big Sky state of Montana, or coming south from Canada headed towards Coeur d’Alene, stop by and say “hey”!
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Join us for a rich cup of coffee or espresso mixed drinks, a full meal or just snacks, deli meats and cheeses for the road, and gifts for friends or your own home.
Make sure to represent your hometown by adding a pin to the world map in The Bread Basket!
Our parking lot is big enough to easily accommodate 5th Wheels, RVs and trailers.
OUR STORY
It all started in the basement of our home in 2006 as a little sideline business/hobby for us. We soon outgrew that and since we sold our home and had to move out in 2008 anyway, we decided to go with an actual storefront just north of Bonners Ferry in a tiny house that we outgrew again! We moved just up the street to the other half of a building which housed “The Bread Basket Bakery”, a shop that serves coffee, fresh. made-from scratch. doughnuts and yummy sandwiches made from their homemade breads.
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We’ve expanded since then several times, adding handmade Amish-built rocking chairs, fabrics, Christian books, and toys. People are catching on to the convenience of having bulk foods on hand and cooking from scratch which means us stocking up so we can offer it to you! We have had many requests for more gluten – free products, more organic items and also more natural foods with less additives, preservatives and added color!
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New Chapters to Our Story:
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The Coffee Shop: We started our drive-thru coffee shop in the spring of 2020, and since then it we have expanded to include a very comfortable lounge area. Its the perfect spot for hanging out with friends, gathering for a business meeting, or even getting some computer work done while sipping on a hot latte! We take pride in handcrafting our espresso drinks to give you the highest quality beverages!
Produce Stand: We have added grower direct seasonal produce! Continuing 10 years of cultivated relationships with fruit and vegetables growers, the Produce Stand is the place to grab a couple of apples for a snack or bushels of beans for canning! Located just outside the Bakery, stop by and enjoy crisp vegetables and tasty fruits!
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The Gathering Place: The term, Gathering Place, has special meaning to us. We commit every day to creating a place where friends, neighbors and travelers, can gather together and share a cup of coffee and donuts at The Bakery. We are committed to providing great prices on bulk foods at Sharon’s Country Store, making the freshest grower direct fruits and vegetables available to our customers at The Produce Stand, and handcrafting the highest quality drinks at The Coffee Shop. How can we do this? Above all, we are committed to making you feel welcome, to feel at home, and to doing all we can to better your day.
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This commitment has seen Sharon’s Store grow to include The Bakery, and most recently, The Coffee Shop and Produce Stand. Thanks to a sign we hung up next to our Amish rockers, a sign that read “The Gathering Place”, our friends began referring to our three stores collectively as “The Gathering Place”…hmm…We liked the sound of that. So thanks to all of you, we are now officially “The Gathering Place”. Don’t worry, Sharon’s Store, The Bakery, The Coffee Shop and The Produce Stand are still here, joined together as “The Gathering Place”!
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Come…Sit…Stay Awhile – Norv & Sharon and family