Rachel Creech & Terri Reynolds Share

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Over the past sev­er­al years, a daugh­ter and moth­er who played an instru­men­tal part in reen­er­giz­ing down­town Mar­i­on have become Cham­pi­ons for hard work, both in and out­side of the kitchen, to help the community. 

Expand­ing from mak­ing jams and jel­lies to bak­ing breads and cakes, Rachel Creech with the help of her mom, Ter­ri Reynolds, began the Coun­try Café & Bak­ery busi­ness in a lease-to-own city build­ing at 100 N. Wash­ing­ton St., over­look­ing the Mis­sissinewa Riv­er. The vacant brick and mor­tar became a charm­ing cot­tage-like café open for break­fast and lunch inside a store­front for baked goods, jarred recipes, and more. Three years after it opened in 2015, Coun­try Café own­ers offi­cial­ly bought the build­ing, then paid off their mort­gage in 2020.

The café became a bea­con of hope in the down­town, and in the few years fol­low­ing, more and more restau­rants start­ed pop­ping up such as cur­rent icons Los Amores, Obi’s Bar­be­cue, Sender Café, and Ashley’s Ice Cream. Today, there are near­ly a dozen places to eat down­town Marion.

Creech and Reynolds have abun­dant­ly giv­en to the com­mu­ni­ty in addi­tion to their own time to run the busi­ness. Their biggest char­i­ta­ble con­tri­bu­tion each year is pro­vid­ing the entrée for the Grant Coun­ty Res­cue Mis­sion East­er Din­ner. They also bake and cook for the Train­ing Center’s ​“Cup­cake Wars” and ​“Chili Cook-Offs” with many oth­er con­tri­bu­tions each year. In May of 2022, they spon­sored Marion’s 190^th Birth­day Par­ty by bak­ing 190 minia­ture cupcakes.

Creech devot­ed near­ly five years with Main Street Mar­i­on on the board and pro­mo­tions com­mit­tee. She and her mom for the past sev­er­al sea­sons help plant flow­ers in the down­town planters. Creech was a mem­ber of Tri Kap­pa soror­i­ty for about four years fos­ter­ing edu­ca­tion and the arts. She also vol­un­teers with Gilead Min­istries’ prayer program.

In the spring of 2022, Coun­try Café closed its doors to allow Creech to pri­mar­i­ly focus on her health. The busi­ness, like many oth­ers, was also strug­gling due to sup­ply issues and inflation.

She has agreed to han­dle some bak­ing orders from home, and even on-site kitchen catering.

Creech is Iowa-born but raised in Mar­i­on, IN, grad­u­at­ing from Mar­i­on High School, with a med­ical tran­scrip­tion cer­tifi­cate and para­le­gal associate’s degree from Ivy Tech. Reynolds is a Hoosier from Black­ford Coun­ty who grew up in Gas City and went to Mis­sissinewa High School.

“Throw­back” pho­to by the City of Marion