Seirer_170816_7525.jpgOn a campaign swing through St. Francis, gubernatorial candidate Josh Svaty chats with Heidi Plumb, the owner of the Fresh Seven Coffee shop. The Saint Francis Herald editor, Karen Krien, photographs the moment for her newspaper.

Karen Krien, editor and publisher of the Saint Francis Herald, takes a photo of gubernatorial candidate Josh Svaty visiting with Heidi Plumb, the owner of the Fresh Seven Coffee shop in downtown St. Francis. Svaty, who is at about the half-way point of a campaign swing that will take him to all 105 Kansas counties by October, declared that the sandwich and coffee found here is the best he’s found on the campaign trail. Little wonder. This is a serious shop. Plumb roasts her own coffee beans, and sandwiches at the Fresh Seven are made to order with locally grown, organic vegetables. Vegetarian fare is offered. Words such as “sustainability” flow from her lips. Plumb came to Cheyenne County, in the far northwest corner of Kansas with a population of about 2,600, from Phoenix, following her husband who is a native of this area. She took charge of a downtown storefront in sad shape and applied a bit of renovation to turn it into a coffee bar that is colorful, homey, laid back and a bit funky. On this day her mother, from Phoenix, was on a ladder adding yet more bright paint to the interior brick walls. Plumb’s staff includes a sandwich maker who migrated here from Lawrence and also works part-time on a sheep ranch. Svaty, a farmer and Democrat from Ellsworth seeking the governor’s office in next year’s election, found Fresh Seven a delightful place to dine and campaign. It was at about this point in the day when his long northwest campaign swing began to veer a bit off schedule.