EnjoyBellevue.com

An excerpt from The Bellevue Beacon (www.bellevue-christian.com):

Spring, 2008. Volume 1, No. 1.

In 1977, a humble servant of the Lord answered God’s calling to open a Christian gift and bookstore in Bellevue. Ann Farrell opened The Shepherd’s Door and hoped it would be a blessing to the community and indeed it was. After 30 years of owning and managing the store, Ann decided to retire. But she didn’t want the store to close its doors for good. In November of 2007, Bellevue Christian Church purchased and relocated the store.
The decision to relocate the store has proved to be the right decision, but it was a move that required hard work and dedication. The volunteers at Bellevue Christian Church rose to that challenge and exceeded expectations. The team of volunteers led by project manager Ed Hain removed a dropped tile ceiling, ran electrical wiring, installed light fixtures, hardwood flooring and so much more. The transformation took hundreds of volunteer hours but the end result was worth it, and their hard work saved the store thousands of dollars. The new location seems to be symbolic of a new beginning. The space is much larger than the old store so there is more room to carry a wider variety of items.
Previously, the store carried mostly Catholic items, but the larger space of this new location has allowed for an expansion of Protestant items as well. There is also a children’s area full of books and toys, as well as a childsized table with coloring books and crayons to keep the little ones occupied while mom and dad shop. Another new addition to the store is the support of local, regional and global missions. The store will be donating a portion of its monthly sales to various charitable organizations. There is no doubt that God provided this opportunity to Bellevue Christian Church at just the right time.
Over the past year, BCC has focused on serving the local communities of Bellevue and Avalon. The purchase
of The Shepherd’s Door is a great way to meet the needs of our neighbors while also providing opportunities
to serve by volunteering at the store. The challenge of operating The Shepherd’s Door will no doubt be difficult at times, but God has provided this awesome responsibility for a reason. And through this ministry, He will most certainly bless the community in ways we could never imagine.

I think most of us have marveled at the opening of Bellevue Beer down on Route 65, but it appears many people have already become fast fans of this new distributor. The place is clean and well-lit, with a great selection of domestics and imports. In fact, if they’re not already the largest beer distributor in the north Boroughs, they will be soon. They carry over 400 varieties of beer, and have two computers on-site for customers to browse BeerAdvocate.com if they can’t decide what’s right for them. I found them particularly helpful, as I’m not much of a beer drinker, but wanted something refreshing for the afternoon. For those of you who aren’t beer drinkers at all, they have other things too—candy, ice cream, cigarettes, lottery, and a great selection of UTZ chips. They also have an ATM on location.
Before it was Bellevue Beer, the building housed Suburban textiles, which offered repairs on washers and dryers. Christian Stein bought the building and opened the doors April 15th of this year. Bellevue’s dry town law only regulates the serving of alcohol, so there was no legal impediment for them. Mr. Stein also owns the Shell gas station on Route 65. Future plans for this business include a comprehensive website, a drive-thru which should be open this summer, and delivery services by the fall. They run sales on certain beers each month, and June’s specials include:

~ Heineken/Heineken Light 24pack cans, $18.99 with a rebate
~ Coors Light 24pack cans for $9.99
~ Bud Light 30pack cans, $15.99
~ Yuengling Lager 24pack bottles, $15.99
~ Yuengling Lager 24pack cans, $13.99

So if you haven’t stopped in yet, go down and check out Bellevue’s newest business venture!