Simple Indulgences
Peggy’s Candies Mary Jarreau was desperate. The mother of five, she suddenly found herself a single parent in the wake of a devastating divorce. “It was a situation of domestic violence and I was in a constant state of fear,” Mary says. The Union County, Pennsylvania, resident was working, but her husband had been the main breadwinner for the family. Fate appeared in the form of a two-day trip to Niagara Falls that Mary won in a contest at work. She was hesitant to go away, but a friend convinced her this was the chance she needed to clear her mind. She was awed by the falls, feeling the roar of water thunder in her chest. “On the road for home I was still clueless about what to do,” Mary says. She and her friend detoured in Wellsboro to get treats for the kids back home. Wandering through town led to a visit to Peggy’s Candies at 82 Main Street. A stroll back down the street brought them to a real estate office showcasing a flier about the sale of the candy store. Mary was rooted to the sidewalk. “I felt that thundering in my chest again,” she laughs. She took a picture of the flier with her phone. Then she thought of the thirteen dollars she had to her name. “It was an impossible idea, but I could not shake it,” she says. One thing led to another and, after some creative financing, Mary became the owner of Peggy’s Candies on December 10, 2016, very near the shop’s thirtieth anniversary. Mary and her children have made a smooth transition to life in Wellsboro and call the reception they received from the community “fantastic, gracious, and welcoming.” They did some renovating and tweaked the offerings a bit, like removing roasted nuts until they can perfect a system for keeping them fresh. But the dime store sweets we all loved from childhood are still here: the licorice, the button candy, the fireballs, all available in abundant quantity in bins. Highland Chocolates of Wellsboro are now available here. The fudge is homemade and the Jarreau family has found a recipe for Himalayan pink salted caramel that meets with their approval. Ice cream is a crowd pleaser any season; come the fall, the plans are already in the works to open a bakery in the store next door. You can follow that progress on Facebook or by calling them at (570) 724-3317. “I came from a place of hopelessness and I took back control of my life. That’s the story I want to share with others. We want to give hope,” Mary says. While they are not getting rich—Mary calls it a “daily bread sort of business”—they can pay the bills and enjoy the strong sense of community in Wellsboro. And what could be sweeter than that?
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