Just before Friday morning's ribbon cutting, Mayor Don Still spoke: "What a great place for kids to meet and a great vision. I hope it goes well. We welcome you to the city and if there's anything the city can do, let us know."

Larry Davis, who was running the register that day but said his family, not just him, was the business' owner, said "The mayor and I were discussing the goal of this place, and  this is a place for people just to come and relax in a safe spot to bring your kids and a safe spot to just be around. We've been extremely blessed with a lot of family who are here today, and things like that have helped us along the way and helped us get started. We hope it becomes a place where people feel welcome when they walk through the door. That's kind of the goal."

After dozens of family members and attendees took part in the Hope-Hempstead County Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting, Davis, an Iraq War veteran who has had a long career in law enforcement, said he and his family had started Blessed Books because of his background as an avid reader and a desire to pass that habit along. "I've always had this idea that I would love one day to own my own business, a bookstore. That's how I grew up. That's what influenced me. So I hope to influence somebody else in the future, and I feel like God sometimes moves, if he has a purpose for you, and it's something bigger than what you see, then you end up doing something like this."

Davis said he hopes the store will host book club meetings, movies (there's a large projection screen on the east wall) and readings in the future. 

This reporter ranged around the store's stacks, seeing many impressive selections available, including a trunk display of many Bibles, an early edition of MacKinlay Kantor's Andersonville, several hardbacks by the American historian Stephen Ambrose, numerous books in the religious category and one book dating back to 1899. The treasures are there to be found at Blessed Books.