On any given day,  a different group might meet at The Clever Cup—but whether it’s for scrabble, knitting or simply the solidarity felt amongst fellow new moms, they all find the same thing at the coffee shop: community. Newborn or senior citizen, snowbird or local, professional or retiree, The Clever Cup welcomes all demographics, like the Pine View School Poetry Society who meets there once a month, or Sean Daniel, a local musician, who found his home office at The Clever Cup. He started out as a customer, enjoying a cup of cold brew in the morning—the world’s finest, he says—and responding to comments on his YouTube channel, where he shares guitar tutorials and covers. As a regular performer at the establishment, Daniel enjoys the close atmosphere. “It almost feels like you’re having a party with your friends,” he says, compared to the more touristy gigs he plays in town. “It just seems more like a local group that is more supportive on a personal level of what you’re trying to do.” Tracy de Chevron Villette, an artist and jeweler, co-founded the business back in 2015, bringing an art gallery element to the coffee shop while her partner focused on the joe. Created as a place for patrons to enjoy organic, fair-trade, locally roasted brews, with pastries made fresh every morning and special espresso drinks like the favorite Honey Latte, the coffee shop has slowly grown into a vital part of the community, something Villette didn’t notice for a while. “The coffee shop has become more than just coffee,” she says, recalling regulars who have established their social lives there, who visit the store at least once, and sometimes twice, a day, just to see friends.  “I was just having a lot of fun doing what I was doing,” she says, like painting portraits with diluted coffee. “But when the customers start to tell you how important you are to them, then all of a sudden it takes on a whole new shape and form and you’re just in love with the place all over again.”