Jorgensen's Café: Brewing with Activity
by Michelle Troutman

Since its opening 20 years ago, Jorgensen's Café has been a downtown hotspot. Like the coffees and teas they serve, it's brewing with activity, yet relaxed enough for someone to sit down and drink a cup and eat a sandwich while reading the paper or browsing the Internet on a free wireless connection.

Menu boards, handwritten in rainbow colors of chalk, brighten the servery, hanging above cases of gelato, candies, desserts from Acadia Cakes, and Kennebec Chocolates, a recent addition after the closing of the downtown business.

Jon Jorgensen opened the café in August 1990. Current owners Steve and Ginny Bolduc bought it in November 2007 from their nephew, Jeff Gordon. "It seemed like one day we were looking into it, and the next day we were owning it," says Ginny. Through Gordon, their ties extend to his parents, original Maine Made Shop owners George and Paula Gordon; Paula is Ginny's sister.

Ginny worked in the office at the Maine Made Shop for 15 years. Steve has kept his day job, working at Sappi Fine Paper, as he has for almost 30 years, as a machine supervisor. Ginny graduated from Winslow High School; Steve graduated from Waterville High School and went on to Kennebec Valley Technical College for an Associate degree in Pulp and Paper Technology; they met in 1977, when Ginny had just graduated high school. They married the following year. "And she stuck with me all this time," jokes Steve.

The Bolducs have four children: two girls and two boys. The youngest daughter, Courtney, 24, works for them; the oldest, Kelly, 28, is a schoolteacher in New Hampshire. They adopted their sons Teoma, 17, and Ilya, 15, in 1999.

"We had talked about adoption for a long time," says Ginny. The boys were part of a group of orphans visiting Waterville from Russia. "A family in our church actually had them staying with them, but they were a handful, to say the least." Then ages four and six, they didn't speak English. The Bolducs took them in for the rest of their visit, fell in love with them, and decided to adopt them.

Like managing parenting, managing a business involves prioritizing. "Monday is very different than Friday. The beginning of the week is very quiet here in the café. That's when we do all of our food orders," says Ginny. By payday, usually the end of the week, people are ordering out, and the Bolducs do most of their lunchtime caterings. "We're here, everyday, in and out, in the background, doing the errands, picking things up."

The Bolducs haven't changed the menu much. Their Italian mozzarella sandwich and the chicken ranch wrap are among the steady sellers. They have decided to keep offering lobster rolls throughout the summer, and if they prove popular, they will stay.

They believe the friendly, personal service and cozy and inviting atmosphere set Jorgensen's apart, along with Carrabassett Coffee roasted in Maine, which allows them to offer a greater variety of flavors. They can be bought by they pound or by the cup. Re-fills are free.

Much of their customer base also comes from the Colby community. Students "like to bring their laptops in, especially during finals. It gives them a chance to get away from the college," Steve says.

"Then we get calls from their parents, saying, 'Could you deliver a birthday cake? Could you deliver a basket? It's finals and we want them to have some snacks.' We do a lot of deliveries up to Colby for the young adults as well. Colby parents also call ahead for platters for tailgating parties," adds Ginny.

The Bolducs do a lot of catering for doctor's offices and for hair salons. They cater regularly for the Thayer Unit of MaineGeneral every Thursday, and serve lunch during monthly seminars. They also provide catering at the Robert LaFleur Airport in Waterville. "The airport will call, or NetJet, the company they rent the planes from, will call and order specific things for their clients. We've done everything from filet mignon dinners to pillows and blankets. You name it, we've bought and delivered it," says Ginny, laughing.

After buying the cafe, "One thing we really wanted to do was make customers feel welcome, and we've really stressed to our employees to be upbeat, and smile, and talk to the customers, and call them by name," says Ginny. "We've always had our customers order and give their name, so that we can bring the food out to them , and when we bought these new registers, we had the opportunity to either give them a number, or a name. A number would have been easier , but we absolutely didn't want to do that. I think it's great to know your customers by name. "

As for future plans for Jorgensen's, stay tuned. "August will be our 20th anniversary, so we're trying to figure out what to do for the month of August," says Ginny. "We're tossing around some ideas."

Jorgensen's Café at 103 Main St. is open from 7:00am to 6:00pm Monday through Saturday, and from 7:00am to 4:00pm on Sunday: 872-8711

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