Although the monks have expanded their efforts and product offerings by opening a gristmill museum and general store on April 6, preserving their heritage remains the mill's focus. This was something we wanted to do. But a fire in 1963 destroyed the bakery, and flour and bread production waned. Now the store provides a place for consumers to buy the wares. The cozy shop is fragrant with the sweet and spicy scents of candy and candles arranged with a variety of coffees, jellies and greeting cards to frame a central display of the bread and flour.
Volunteers help stock shelves and wait on customers.
The idea for the museum, according to Rev. Taylor, was to create a place where people could learn about millers, monks and the region's history. The gristmill was built in 1854 when St. Vincent's founder, Boniface Wimmer, decided to recreate the kind of monastery found in his native Bavaria. Those monasteries were self-sufficient schools for educating priests, so Mr. Wimmer set about establishing the college and a host of peripherals, from the mill and bakery to a farm and brewery. The brewery is gone and the monks now lease the farm land to local farmers who grow wheat, rye and corn for them. But the mill soldiers on, grinding about 25 tons of grain to flour every year.