A reception in the backyard of the Painted Bear in Green Mountain Falls this month was a farewell and a new beginning for the little shop on Ute Pass Avenue.

Recently sold by Margaret and Mike Frey to the Chrisman family, Andrea, Trent and their daughter Mya, the Painted Bear is a landmark building on Ute Pass Avenue.

Known as a place for locals to gather on the patio in front, the new owners plan to focus on the backyard, with the ambience of trees and sounds of nearby Fountain Creek.  

On a snowy day last week, Mya Chrisman was cleaning and arranging the shop to accommodate the coffee/ice cream aspect of the business.

“We want people to hang out in back,” said Mya, who will manage the shop. By June, the Painted Bear will be the Wild and Kind Cofree Shop.

With monthly specials, drip as well as flavored coffees, the shop features coffee roasted by Model Citizen of Woodland Park.  

Experienced in managing a shop in Grand Island Neb, Mya has found her niche.  

“I loved it, a really cool small town coffee shop,” she said.

Along wth the coffee, Mya will continue stocking some gifts, to include Margaret Frey’s artistic postcards and ornaments, for instance,  a shelf of recycled books, and Mya’s own crocheted headheads, coasters and “koozies,” for hot and cold beverages.  

The building itself, decorated as a kind of little cabin in the woods, has always been a main attraction.

“I love the wood, the windows,” she said. “It just feels like a coffee shop.”

While the new signs are not in place yet, the shop is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with earlier hours when the coffee part of the business is ready to go. “I’m lovng it here; it’s so beautiful,” Mya said.