You Haven't Seen Anything Yet: An Excerpt from Here All Along

Most people don’t know that thirty-five years ago, Glen Arbor wasn’t anything like it is today. It was on a dusty stretch of M-22 where motorists parked on gravel shoulders because there weren’t any curbs. There was a dump next to the post office in the center of town and a spooky half-fallen-down old storefront just to the north of it.  

Cherry Republic started out in one of the worst locations in town: a lot with two decrepit old cinder block buildings and a “septic system” that was really just a pipe that sent toilet flushes out into a low swampy area of frogs, thinly covered-up rusty cans, and old bedsprings and car parts. 

The property only cost me $300 down: This was my chance. After the down payment, you’d think my mind and body would have focused on paying off the other $99,700 I owed, but no. I immediately started spending thousands of dollars getting rid of the ugliness that was everywhere, which seemed like the most good and holy use of money that I could ever imagine. 

Beautification became a giant mission for me. I focused on capturing the beauty of northern Michigan in the flowers, trees, pathways, and architecture. I took seven trips to a special quarry in the Upper Peninsula to hand-pick all the rocks used in our pathways and buildings. The wood on our great hall is from a giant white pine with twenty-seven-inch-wide planks.  

One summer in those years of renovation after renovation, I was out in the Cherry Republic gardens running between the newly remodeled store on the corner and the new cafe where the old store used to be. A customer who had watched me since my humble beginnings caught me by my favorite flower, the rugosa rose, and said, “Did you ever dream that Cherry Republic would become so big?”  

That question caught me off guard. I felt my tongue twist into several knots. Sure, I dream, and I love all my dreams, but the reality was that all day, every day, my energy was focused on keeping Cherry Republic’s doors open. When I looked around the grounds, all I saw was so much more to do. But then, amid the swirl of emotions and thoughts that the question raised in me, a feeling rose from deep inside my gut, so strong and clear: You haven’t seen anything yet. 

-Bob Sutherland, author of Here All Along: Finding My Way to Cherry Republic