Small Town News

Obermeyer calls Valley home for now

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Random

Wherever Olivia Obermeyer is, she's pretty much right at home.

Last Thursday, Obermeyer was working behind the counter at Wingfield Bread Company, a little shop with fresh loaves on display in wood and glass display cases.

The shop is in the downtown Camp Verde shopping plaza that also shares the name Wingfield, the name of one of the area's pioneer families and the place where the Wingfields ran a general store back in the day.

Obermeyer is in the Camp Verde area in part to help out with the bread shop, which is owned by a friend.

Obermeyer said she really has no idea how long she'll be here this time around.

She and her husband, Joe, came to celebrate the Feast of the Tabernacles, a Jewish holiday, with friends.

Obermeyer said that they don't really have a permanent home base.

"We travel from place to place," Obermeyer said. "All over the U.S."

She grew up in Portugal.

Her parents were missionaries, Obermeyer said, and they took her there when she was just 1 year old.

When she was a little older, she went off to a boarding school in Germany.

While she used to be multilingual, Obermeyer said it only takes a little while of being out of practice to struggle with what once came naturally.

Portugal still holds a special place in Obermeyer's heart.

"It was home. I really miss it. I'd really like to get the chance to go back one day."

Obermeyer said she also spent time in St. Augustine, Fla.

She met her husband, Joe, there in the former Spanish colony town at Flagler College.

The two have a baby daughter, who is 1 year old.

"She's the cutest one," Obermeyer smiled. "She's just learning how to walk. It makes it hard to keep up sometimes."

The two often make money from busking, performing music while they travel from place to place.

"A lot of gospel songs," Obermeyer said. "My husband loves bluegrass."

Obermeyer said her husband was also blessed to get his life back on track. "He used to be heavily involved with alcohol."

After he ended up in prison, she said he managed to turn things around. He's been sober for more than a decade.

Obermeyer said she's been learning how to make and bake bread and has a lot of respect for how intensive the process can be.

All of the bread is made nearby and Obermeyer said it contains freshly milled flour with no bleach. "You aren't supposed to put bleach in your body."

Educating people about healthy food and eating is one of Obermeyer's goals.

Mark Lineberger can be reached at 567-3341 or email CVEditor@larsonnewspapers.com

How 'At Random' Works

Through experience, reporters learn every person has a story. To prove it, each week The Camp Verde Journal reporter hits the streets in the Verde Valley to intercept unsuspecting members of the public as they go about their daily business. With brief introductions and the chance to flee, the interview begins with the fated question, "If your story was in the newspaper, what would it be?"



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