Now in its second year, the Francestown Academy Coffeehouse is going strong. 

“We had no idea we were moving to such a supportive town. We have a good turnout every time. More and more people are becoming aware of it,” said Pamela Stohrer, who along with her husband, J.P., founded the coffeehouse in December 2022. 

Pam, a professional harpist who plays at the infusion suite at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and J.P., an electrical engineer, ran the Open Door Coffeehouse in Hillsborough for 10 years before moving to Francestown. When the couple moved to Francestown, J.P. joined the board of the Old Meetinghouse, and they started to think about starting a new coffeehouse. Pamela sent a letter to the Meetinghouse board.

“I said, ‘We used to run a coffeehouse. Maybe we could start one here,’” Pamela said. “At first we thought we would have it at the Old Meetinghouse, because it’s such a beautiful building. But then we realized it wasn’t the best place to perform. There are pews, and there is no stage, no curtain.”

Someone on the Meetinghouse board suggested the Stohrers try the Town Hall, which was originally used as a private academy dating back to the 1800s and also known as the Francestown Academy.

“I was just smitten with the Town Hall building as soon as we saw it,” Pamela said. “The first floor is wonderful performance space. It was the stage, and stage lighting, and it has that gorgeous floor.” 

The Stohrers organized the first Francestown Academy Coffeehouse in January 2023. Pamela reached out to her network of local musicians, and J.P. provided and setup the professional-grade speakers, microphones and amplifiers.

“His wife lets him buy a lot of equipment,” Pamela joked.

As the coffeehouse kept going, Pamela found she hardly needed to search for musicians – they started seeking her out. 

“It’s not hard to find people The word has spread, and people seek me out and ask for a slot,” she said.

Coffeehouses are the first Saturday of the month at 7 p.m., and each has five to six 15-minute slots, with one featured performer playing for about 50 minutes. This year, they added a rotating art display to the coffeehouse, an idea which has become popular in the region.  

“Now each month, we have a display of a local artist. We’ve had watercolors, stained glass, book illustrators, and they’re welcome to sell their art.  The idea kind of caught on – now the Dublin coffeehouse and the Hancock Depot have art exhibits during their shows, too,” Pamela said. 

Guests are asked for a $5 donation at the door. The event usually brings in about $300, which is donated to the Francestown Recreation Commission to support events and programming. Pamela Stohrer recently joined the Recreation Commission. 

Each coffeehouse is a family event. Children are welcome, and Pamela said they would love to have more young people perform.

“In a year-and-a-half, we’ve just had one child and one recent graduate. Any young people are encouraged to reach out,” she said. 

One unique tradition at the Francestown Academy Coffeehouse is the regular appearance of kazoos. 

“We are known for being a kazoo-friendly coffeehouse,” Pamela said. “We have free kazoos every month. People come back every month with  their kazoos! We always have one kazoo-along song. The artists will say things like ‘Make sure your kazoo is in the key of D minor.’ Kazoo is nothing but goofy. It is such an awful world, and kazoos make you laugh.” 

The coffeehouse also includes a potluck snack table.

“That’s how nice people are in Francestown! We just proved cocoa and cider in the winter and lemonade in the summer, and people bring these incredible charcuterie platters, finger foods, hors d’oeuvres,” Pamela said,

According to Pamela, most of the musicians who play at Francestown are regulars at coffeehouses in the region, including in Dunbarton, Mount Vernon, Hancock, Dublin and Rindge. 

“The Monadnock region is an incredibly musical region. Most of the people we have are used to performing, they have played somewhere before; they just want to get out there. Everybody has a day job; they perform on the weekends. Most people are not full-time professionals. They are people who just love to play. They do it for the joy of it,” she said. 

The May 4 Francestown Academy Coffeehouse features Joey Clark. Interested musicians or artists should reach out to Pamela Stohrer at pamelastohrer@comcast.net. The Francestown Academy Coffeehouse can also be found on Facebook.