To: The Village Crew:

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There is one part of saying goodbye to The Village Board Shop that deserves its own post: our crew. Anyone who really knew this shop knows it was never built by just two people. Over the years, we were lucky enough to have some of the most loyal, hilarious, hardworking, completely unhinged people imaginable become part of this place. They were never just employees. Somewhere along the way, they became lifelong family. The truth is, our crew did things nobody should reasonably be expected to do at a job — and things most people simply would not do unless they were truly in it for the team. They showed up in the middle of winter on snowmobiles. They worked on old vehicles in the driveway. They stayed late when everything went sideways. They showed up for events in the rain, handled emergencies, rolled with last-minute chaos, and somehow made completely unreasonable situations work because that was what needed to happen for the shop. 

There were plenty of moments where all of us looked around and  thought, “How the fuck did we get here?” And then we figured it out anyway. Not because anyone had to. Because they cared. They cared about the shop. They cared about us. And most importantly, they cared about the community and culture of snowboarding. But....somewhere in between all of the work, responsibility, stress, and complete insanity came some of the wildest, funniest, most unforgettable years of our lives. The parties. The debauchery. The inside jokes. The drama. The absolute chaos. The laugh-until-you-can’t-breathe moments. The events that somehow turned into stories we would be telling for years. And more than a few situations where the details probably do not need to be made public.

Thankfully — or unfortunately, depending on who you ask — there is plenty of photographic and video evidence. As we have started going back through the archives, it has become painfully obvious just how much life happened inside and around this little shop.
People grew up here. People met lifelong friends here. People went through hard seasons here. People celebrated huge moments here. People came in having terrible days and left laughing. And through all of it, this crew somehow stayed close. That might be the thing we are proudest of. Because you can close a storefront. You can sell the inventory. You can turn off the lights and toss the keys. But you cannot undo what was built between people. The Village Board Shop gave us some of the hardest years of our lives, but it also gave us some of the absolute best ones. Some of the biggest laughs we will ever have. Some of the most ridiculous memories we will ever tell. And friendships that will last long after the shop is gone. 

To everyone who ever worked here: thank you.Thank you for showing up when it made absolutely no sense to show up. Thank you for doing things nobody could reasonably put in a job description.Thank you for caring enough to make the impossible shit happen.Thank you for the creativity, the energy, the loyalty, the patience, the laughs, the parties, the ridiculousness, and all the stories we will probably still be telling when we are old. You did not just work at The Village Board Shop. You helped make it what it was, and more than anything, you helped make it home.

We love the absolute shit out of you guys, and there is no version of this story that exists without you. Positive vibes and critical thinking.