The story goes back to February 1990. I found that I had some extra time on my hands one day, when I had taken my two boys to a local amusement galeria. I dropped the boys off to enjoy a few hours of fun and games, and headed for one of my favorite gift stores. Country Furniture and Gifts was a store that sold vintage style giftware and comfortable country furniture. It was a great place to get home decorating ideas. When I reached the store I noticed some unusual buildings placed haphazardly around the property. Small log cabins, dilapidated cottages, and rusty farm equipment made for some pretty unique additions. A sign was posted on the door of a tiny one room log cabin. It announced the intended creation of Gardner Historic Village. It was an invitation to interested entrepeneurs to come join the Gardner Village family. I was immediately taken with the idea and sped home to develop a plan. You may wonder about the boys stranded at the Galeria. Not to worry. I eventually went back and picked them up.

This was the beginning of Sweet Afton's. We opened our door on July 2, 1990. The name comes from a great-aunt of mine, Afton Love (pictured). Aunt Afton was a wonderful influence in my life, and was herself, an entrepeneur in the 1930's. Sweet Afton's has now been in business for over 19 years. We are an old-fashioned candy store with a wide variety of novelty candies, chocolates and gifts. We have grown from a retail space of 720 sq. ft. to just over 2,000 sq. ft. We make over 100 flavors of our own fresh, cream and butter fudge in our on-site candy kitchen.

Gardner Village is a wonderful place to visit any time of the year. Come walk down our brick pathways and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of days gone by.

Hope to see you soon!
Anne