Hometown Gem: Fair Haven Barista & Friend, Trudi Williams

Photos/Kathy Watson and Elaine Van Develde

You haven’t truly gone home in Fair Haven until you’ve had a quality pop-in hug, chat and cup o’ Joe with Trudi Williams at Booskerdoo.

One minute with the hometown neighbor, friend, barista and all-around gem lets you know that you’re right back where you belong with a welcoming vengeance. Trudi embodies the reminder that it’s still your Fair Haven — always will be. No one knows better than her. After all, she’s a hometown anchor. A no-frills fixture. A legend that defies millions of dollars in cold pretense and property values with a warm smile. She comes with the building at 793 River Road. Really.

Oh, there have been plenty of changes at plenty of businesses in Fair Haven, especially lately. Yet, Trudi has a permanent parking spot in hearts. She’s the original brew. No replacements. Brick and mortar can’t compete with heart and soul. She has been at the shop for nearly 20 years, no matter what it’s been called.

“Build it and they’ll come” be damned. Put Trudi there and they’ll come. And they have. And they do. Millions of times over — well, close, at least.

Former Fair Havenite Kathy Watson recently popped in for a visit with Trudi. Her old barista and gym buddy. The moment was a 24-karat one for her on her homecoming. “She’s always so nice to see when I come back to visit Fair Haven,” Watson said. “(She) always asks about how I am and where I’m working out.”

And when going home is hard, because you’re paralyzed with searing homesick pangs, Trudi’s smiling face and hug makes it all better — like seeing your mom waiting for you at the door and smelling the coffee brewing at home.

After a year of living away from my Fair Haven home of 54 years, the return for the holiday tree lighting of 2018 was a bittersweet one. All I wanted for Christmas was home. I arrived early to calm a mixed up mess of emotions and muster up the strength to mask the chaos in my heart with a smile. Yeah, that was a mouthful. Imagine my brain at the moment. Like a frightened child grieving the loss of her first stuffed animal, I made my way to Booskerdoo.

Worse yet, fearing I’d make a fool of myself and burst into tears, which seems to be a habit since leaving home, I bit my lower lip (not upper, because that would be entirely too ugly) and opened the door to the coffee shop. I did have a twofold mission, after all: Festivus blend coffee and a homecoming with a neighbor.

I chatted with the young, sweet barista, whom I did not know, as I found my Festivus. From behind the counter, I saw Trudi’s head pop up. She hadn’t seen me in the Acme for a while or driving down the street. I hadn’t come in for some good beans. I looked at her and said, “It’s been a year … (that damn tear welling up and a lot of lip biting going on).”

She didn’t say a word. She recognized a longtime neighbor from down the street in a bit of a struggle — no longer that happy-go-lucky, impervious kid playing Dodge Ball in the road or, worse yet, busy adult beeping and waving without taking the time to stop and chat. She smiled, walked around to the front of the counter, outstretched her arms and have me a hug. I was home.

This gem named Trudi Williams truly is home. Take the time, make the time, like she does, to offer an “I give a crap” smile, hug, or kind word with that cup of coffee.

It matters. Hometown gems like this matter. When you go home to another astral plane, no one is going to be eulogizing the value of your property. It’s the Trudi-isms that they’ll remember.

Thank you, Trudi, for making the day better for so many and for making coming home the greatest comfort by letting us all know that we still belong!