When Chris Lockwood and Annie Montgomery first met at Saint Lawrence College in the late 1960s, they were college friends. They didn’t imagine they would become “partners in business, life and love.” After college, they pursued their separate careers and lives.
Annie and Chris found each other at their 50th class reunion in 2018 and the rest is history still in the making. The couple held a commitment ceremony in 2022 in Sunapee and got to work transforming a small piece of Sunapee’s Lower Village into what has become a thriving deli, The Bend at Sugar River.
“I have a long history here,” Montgomery says. “My family would take a summer vacation to Sunapee every year for generation after generation and it continues today.” Lockwood says the couple hope to make people more aware of Sunapee’s rich history. The 1890s farmhouse on the site where the deli sits today was built by a granite dealer for the region. When the couple realized the farmhouse and barn would need to come down, they saved all the granite. “The site foreman was able to use it in the patio and incorporated slabs as benches and chairs down by the river so people can enjoy the tranquility,” he says.
Lockwood credits Montgomery for developing the idea of including a deli. “Sunapee needed a deli and a country store. The nearest grocery store is in Newport, so the area was begging for this,” Montgomery says. “Our kids are also foodies, so they came and designed the sandwiches.” The Bend at Sugar River offers several locally named dishes, including Sweet Emotion, paying homage to Steven Tyler of the band Aerosmith who has owned a home on Lake Sunapee for many years.
They have also built workforce housing on the property. “Annie felt particularly strong about nurses and teachers as well as people working in municipal government who are finding it hard to live in their communities,” Lockwood says, explaining they were able to create three townhouses.
