YODER'S RESTAURANT, INC.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA

Seeing the Village as it stands today, one might wonder how it all began.  In the 1970's Levi and Amanda Yoder sold their farm in Nappanee, Indiana and moved to Sarasota, Florida.  Due to the recession, they found themselves investing their life savings into a small restaurant on Main Street in 1975.  Levi had a heart for people that created lasting connections and Amanda's second nature was good home cooking.  The combination of the two had an instant way of making customers feel as if they were back in the comforts of "Mom's dinner table".  In 1926, First National Company of Sarasota laid out the neighboring subdivision of Homecroft. It covered the land between the Tourist Camp and Beneva Road, from (now) Hacienda to Schrock Street. The Pinecraft name is used informally for the general area in which these subdivisions are located. Not until 1945 was there a year-round permanent church within this religious community. By the early 1930s, the winter population had grown too large for worshiping in members homes. Amish and Mennonites together used the Tatum Ridge School until 1936 when a storm blew it off its foundation. The old Fruitville School became the next location for Sunday school and worship until the 1944 hurricane damaged it. A group of Mennonite residents organized a permanent church in 1945 and were given five lots along Bay Shore Road. Volunteers from the community and from the Civilian Public Service Camp (an alternative to military service for pacifists) in Mulberry provided most of the labor to build the first Bay Shore Mennonite Church structure. A small business district gradually emerged on Bahia Vista. The Pinecraft Elementary School met in former Sarasota Army Air Base barracks that had been moved to land just east of Beneva Avenue. The Pinecraft Eat’N House, Pinecraft Hardware, Pinecraft IGA Grocery (pictured), and the Pinecraft branch of the U.S. Post Office were operated by and served the seasonal and year-round residents of the area. While Amish and Mennonite restaurants and churches have spread into the county, Pinecraft is still considered the heart of this special community.