In Cambridge, Vermont, there is an adorable village market that is home to some very special souls. A colony of stray cats live on the property and have even been there through numerous owners. Because the caring staff and locals know that having a safe place makes all the difference to homeless animals. One can certainly never know what they’ve gone through just trying to survive on their own. Then the staff at Cambridge Village Market posted at on social media introducing one of the cute strays named Lynx. The striped farm cat had been there a little under a year. But when one woman saw the photo, she got quite a surprise!
A Very Special Village Market
The Cambridge Village Market is more than just a one-stop shopping experience for locals. It’s a staple in the community that has survived for decades and through tragedy.
Photo: Cambridge Village Market
The Cambridge Village Market was originally built in the 1850’s and has always served as a grocery store. In the 1900’s, it was known as The Willey Brothers Store. However, fifty years later, the store became The Cambridge Community Lockers, where the locals would rent refrigerator and freezer space to store food. Eventually, in the late 1960’s the food lockers were removed. Bruce MacMillan purchased the store in 1990 and ran the store for 31 years.
Ron and Linda Frey purchased the market in 2023. 3 weeks after the purchase the store flooded for the first time since 1927. This will not stop them from making sure The Cambridge Village Market continues to grow and serve the community in the tradition of a true, Vermont country store.
And when the Frey’s acquired the market, not only did the staff stay onboard, they gained a colony of about 5 stray cats. Welcoming them with open arms and pooper scoopers in hand, they set out to build a cat shed to keep them safe in all seasons.
The felines are always welcoming to the guests and staff, drawing even more people to the location. 
The Unexpected Surprise Market Reunion
Occasionally, fate likes to play with our lives; good or bad. Thankfully, in this case, it all led to the beautiful and quite unexpected reunion. It was the end of May 2025 when the market shared this post and photo.
We haven’t posted about our amazing furry friends in a while! So we wanted to introduce you all to Lynx
He’s been around since last fall and he is a big lovable sweetheart! He greatly appreciates your donations (as do we all
). He sure loves his wet food! And thank you everyone who donated blankets and pillows this winter, he lives in the cat house and greatly appreciated all of the warmth and comfy stuff!!
Photo: Cambridge Village Market post introducing “Lynx”
However, when a women named Shannon Desilets saw the photo, her heart likely skipped a beat. The cat looked identical to her lost cat, Kevin. So she began commenting on the post asking for specifics and planned to visit the market the next day. She added multiple photos of her missing cat, leading everyone to believe she may have found her boy! The excitement began building and the hope of finding her lost cat took over. Others begged for an update once they were able to confirm if it was or wasn’t Kevin, a cat she had raised from a kitten.
Photos property of Shannon Desilets
And then the update came. I’m sure there were happy tears all around.
Kevin Comes Home
The next day the family arrived at the market and their prayers were answered. It was their lost cat. Lynx was officially Kevin and he was going home. Fingers crossed the travelling tabby gets the all important microchip now.
If you saw the post yesterday of our furry friend Lynx, well do we have a story with a happy ending!
As I was walking outside after work yesterday I went to give the cats some love before leaving and I don’t know what it was that told me to take a picture of Lynx (who we now know is actually Kevin). I posted that picture to introduce him to the community, even though he had been with us since last fall. Shannon and her family saw the picture and immediately knew it was their cat that went missing last fall. Now here’s the crazy part… They are from Milton! 15 miles and around 9 months later, they’re reunited!
We will never know exactly how he made it all the way to us, but I am so glad that we got to meet him and take care of him. But what I am even happier about is him being reunited with his family
Photos: Cambridge Village Market
Congrats to Kevin and his family on their reunion! And thank you to thee Cambridge Village Market for caring for both the humans and the cats in town. Be sure to stop by if you’re near the area!
Photo: Cambridge Village Market
