We work together…and we still like each other at the end of most days,” Andy Shaner says wryly about his wife and business partner, Leigh Ann. Together they’ve owned and operated Your Cookie Rookie for the past 14 years, a hugely popular local enterprise that originated from Leigh Ann’s love of baking.
The couple is originally from Washington but have lived in Greene County for the past 24 years. Married since 1992, they’ve raised four children: Jacob, Emily, Zach, and Ben. Ben, the youngest and a freshman at Waynesburg University, lives on campus-officially making the couple empty-nesters (if you’re not counting their two cats and their boxer, Isabella).
It was during a cookie decorating class at The Denny House (owned by Pam and Kent Marisa) that the idea of innkeeping came about. Leigh Ann says, “Pam said to me, ‘I would love to have this going as a bed-and-breakfast, but I have no one to help me run it.’”
“Of course, my ears perked right up,” Leigh Ann says with a wide grin. She loved the idea of working in the hospitality industry and felt that both she and Andy were well-equipped for the endeavor. After all, they were used to not just baking and decorating cookies, but cooking for the annual Father-and-Son and Father-and-Daughter camps held on their farm in Oak Forest for the past 13 years.
Leigh Ann’s grandmother had taught her to cook and bake from scratch, but it was her late mother-in-law, Nancy, who Leigh Ann credits the most.
“His mom was my mom. She taught me the hospitality part of it. She just really wanted to help people… [she would] bake and do all kinds of stuff.”
Andy agrees, adding “I can sew. I can bake… my mother always said, ‘I want to make sure that you can take care of yourself if you can’t find a woman to take care of you.’”
Leigh Ann says, recalling their youth, “Christmas Eve at Andy’s house was a big event. The neighborhood would be invited. The tree would go up and they would decorate cookies. His mom would pick a couple of her favorite cookies and hang them on the tree.”
Still, Andy was not thrilled with the idea of innkeeping when Leigh Ann first mentioned it to him. “Are you crazy?!” he’d replied, citing their already over-booked schedule.
“I got him warmed up to the idea,” Leigh Ann says. During her first visit to The Denny House, Leigh Ann was “enchanted by the Victorian-ness…I had never seen anything like it. I felt like, wow! And I immediately felt connected to the Denny sisters.”
Unsure whether to move their cookie business to The Denny House, Andy explains, “We started praying about what we should do about the [cookie] business, because at that point we didn’t know how that would work. How would it overlap? And so, we began praying about it…and we weren’t getting any real clear answers…so I said, ‘Okay, let’s pray bigger. Maybe we’re just not asking the right questions’…and so we began asking, ‘What should we do?’… and then someone called – someone that we weren’t expecting – someone that we’ve known for many years…”
That someone wanted to know if the couple would consider selling their recipe and business.
After that, everything pretty much fell into place. The Shaners and Marisas met for dinner and contract details were hammered out. “Pam was completely overwhelmed and happy,” Leigh Ann says.
“I’m happy that we can go out [of the cookie business] while we’re successful,” Andy adds, “and not because we had to quit. It’s still something that everybody wants. The new owners will already have a large customer base.”
“We’ve really grown close to a lot of our customers over the years,” he adds.
“We’re part of people’s experiences,” Leigh Ann muses. “We’re part of their birthdays, we’re part of their weddings. And so, this is just a continuation of that. Now we’re really going to be part of these people’s experiences.”
“I would love to see The Denny House as a place where the community of Waynesburg can come together for a relaxing, fun time with friends while celebrating the history of not only The Denny House, but the legacy of community that the Denny sisters built,” she says.
“I would love to bring the history of The Denny House alive for those who visit and make this place a home-away-from-home for those who choose to stay,” Andy says. “From home-cooked meals to soft towels, all to be enjoyed amongst the period pieces of the home.”
The Shaners will be moving from their Oak Forest home into the fully furnished apartment atop the Denny property’s carriage house. They will remain involved with the Father-and-Son and Father-and-Daughter camps. Though they won’t officially be working as the new innkeepers until the first of the year, you may greet them at the Denny House during the annual Waynesburg Holiday Open House on December 1.
“This is the correct choice for our lives now,” Andy adds.