This week for Faces of Kingston, as we dive (or are pushed) into the Holiday Season further, it felt like time for a chat with true humanitarian Diane Reeder of the essential, fun and very happy sweet tooth all-in-one stop shop, Kingston Candy Bar.
Morgan Y. Evans: What is your earliest memory of Kingston? You didn’t grow up here initially, correct?
Diane Reeder: My earliest memory of Kingston was getting lost in the one-way streets Uptown. I was looking for the mall with friends from SUNY New Paltz. None of us knew the area at all, and spent a few hours on a Kingston adventure!
I was born on the naval base in Connecticut, grew up in Far Rockaway, Queens, and later in Long Island until I was excommunicated for not being able to accessorize. In 1986 ended up in the Hudson Valley to go to school. I fell in love with the area, met my husbands — former and current — and stayed. Never looked back, not a single regret.
I love that attitude. You have such a cool and well-loved candy store that is a very fun part of our city. What has been the most rewarding aspect of the business for you?
I think that The Candy Bar has been a means to just bring a smile to people. We began this venture with a six-table and a dozen jars of “penny” candy. Every time someone walked into the store we would ask what they would like to see here, they told us about candies they grew up with and we sourced anything we could find that was still being made. Some old favorites are no longer manufactured, the recent NECCO factory closure ended the run of Mary Jane’s and NECCO wafers, which some fans found distressing. But we find lots of ways to bring smiles when we can, like the free birthday ice cream cone, or the free ice cream for report card “A’s” and my personal favorite is the losing lottery swap. Bring me a total loser and you get a free sucker!
That’s hysterical. How does it feel running a candy store in such proximity to a rock venue, BSP? Do you get a lot of like random Dinosaur Jr fans wandering in looking for munchies? (Chortles.)
Funny how that might sound but it genuinely changed my business plan pretty quickly. We are surrounded by incredible night life, music, events and food. Families dining Uptown and visitors alike enjoy walking the Stockade District after a meal. And during the concerts at BSP and music events around us it became clear that while I thought we had opened a candy store for neighborhood kids, in reality the “kids” are 27 and out on the town or part of families seeking a little sweet after enjoying a fantastic dinner in Kingston. In fact, Diego’s staff in particular send us so much after dinner business that we began a “save room for dessert” special, if their customers bring in their receipt from dinner and show it to us here, they’ll save 10 percent on their same day purchase here at the Candy Bar.
Queen’s Galley Soup Kitchen played a big role in your life and the life of people helped by it. What makes you such a believer in the power of empathy as a community builder?
I believe in the power of kindness. If we are kind to one another it creates the type of world most people want to live in. I’ll admit that sometimes it is challenging to remember to put kindness first when the outside forces just push negativity so strongly. I try to remember something I heard both Thomas Keller and Danny Meyer say, that you get the results you are after with constant yet gentle pressure. If, every day, my primary force going forward is fueled by kindness, at the end of the day that reward is a better community. With Queens Galley I believed then as I do now — that people should be treated with kindness, respect and dignity.
Any exciting winter yummies at Kingston Candy Bar for the holiday season we ought to know about?
We have expanded our chocolate selection so customers can build their own assortment boxes. We’re busy making fun and affordable stocking stuffers and as always my favorite part of this place is working with individual people to create custom gifts. Small birthday party favors, larger corporate gifts with signature logos or colors or just building one individual item from scratch. I’d say look for fun things like the Box of Nothing, the Reindeer Roadkill — Grandma’s revenge — and of course the world’s largest gummy python or bear (they are a special order)!
What have been some of the most meaningful friendships you have cultivated here as a citizen of the area?
I’ve been so very blessed to have met people who exemplify the qualities I wish I could broaden in myself and some of those people lifted me up and protected me when I needed it most. After the closure of the soup kitchen, the death of my mom and a series of great losses, there were friends who not only didn’t abandon me but made sure that I didn’t abandon myself. Last year when I was given the extraordinary gift of a scholarship to finish my degree at the Culinary Institute of America, I discovered just how much support and love surrounded that effort. I can say without hesitation that friendships like those are not just the reason I stay in Kingston but they are truly the reason I am alive today.
What are you looking most forward to about 2020 as it approaches and this decade draws to a close?
2020 is looking to be a very exciting year for me! Aside from expanding our delicious sweets at the Candy Bar I’ll be cooking with kids at the Hodge Center once a month and as of Dec. 17, I’ll be starting a new role as the Food Service Director at Ulster County Mental Health Association. I’ll be able to use skills I learned while at CIA to do what I love to do for people who I consider a great part of the heartbeat of what makes Kingston special.
Join the family! 
