Randy and Mary Scott, Main Street Cafe
The Main Street Café, located self-evidently at the center of Main Street has been a fixture in the downtown under its current ownership since 1984. Owner Randy Scott purchased Bumpy’s Restaurant then located at 231 Main St. from his father-in-law Bumpy Butler moving it to the current location of 182 Main in 1987. The same year that the Chamber presented to the restaurant, the Small Business of the Year Award. The name change occurred in 2000 and the restaurant was incorporated in 2005, the day after Randy married his current wife Mary.
Both Randy and Mary were born and raised in Marlboro, with Randy being a full time resident here until 2003, when the couple purchased their home in Upton.
Over the years, the Main Street Café has been politically active with many candidates for office accepting the non-partisan hospitality of the Scotts to get their message out. The first was Michael Hogan who held an informal coffee hour one evening during his successful campaign for Mayor of Marlborough with the most conspicuous being Senator John Kerry during his not-so-successful bid for President of the United States. The Scotts believe that it is their responsibility as a community based business to provide whatever services they can to that community, including political accessibility, thus prompting candidates, Niki Tsongas, Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown, as well as several candidates for state offices, to all visit the Café last year.
Both Randy and Mary have been active members of the Marlborough Lions club for 25 and 10 years respectively. In that capacity they have taken part in many service projects of the club and even more fund raising activities for the Lions who return most of that money to individuals in Marlborough through many avenues including free eye care, college scholarships, support for youth programs and donations of food, clothing, toys and fuel for those in need. The Café has provided meeting place for the Lions, but more importantly it is known in many arenas, including the Chamber, as a place where people with problems may find some relief.
The meeting place aspect of the Café has been utilized by the chamber via its First Tuesday gatherings. These began with a half dozen or so members meeting for breakfast on the first Tuesday of the month to informally discuss current business situations and has now grown to a rotating group of about twenty.
Most recently, the Main St. Café, through its owners, has been a fundamental component in the creation and operation of the Marlborough Downtown Village Association for the purpose of enhancing the business and living climate in that area. The Massachusetts Cultural Council has designated Downtown Marlborough as a State Cultural District, thus providing a focus for the efforts of the Association through art, music and history. To this end, the Café displays a rotation showing of paintings and photos from local artists as well as providing live music on Friday nights.