Dogs, humans farewell beloved coffee cart
When Tracy Alexander made her last flat white last week, the community she had created turned out to say goodbye.
Alexander’s Joker Espresso coffee cart was a weekday fixture at Nelson’s Botannics Sportsfield for the past six years.
It became a destination for humans, who chatted as they waited for coffee, and their dogs, who lined up behind the cart for treats. Last week, Alexander’s customers and their canines gathered in celebration and thanks.
“She is the eyes and ears for the council,” Bronwyn Alexander said. “She keeps an eye on the toilets, and for vandalism. Nelson needs people like her; she’s going to be missed.”
Victoria Fisher said Alexander had created a “fantastic connection”.
“She’s created this community with her personality, generosity and listening ears.”
The barista knew every dog’s name, and was always ready with treats, Fisher said.
When Fisher walked around the park at night, her own dog would run to the shuttered coffee cart, “waiting for treats to fall out”, she said.
After Jean Henderson’s stroke last year, she couldn’t drive to the park for her regular coffee.
For six weeks, Alexander paid one of her regulars in hot drinks to collect Henderson each day and bring her down for coffee.
“That’s the sort of thing she does. It’s been lovely, a real lifeline for me.”
Mike Ward lives on the other side of town but goes out of his way to visit the coffee cart. Places where you can connect
with others are vanishing in our communities, he said. “Tracy is the antidote to the lonely places.“
Alexander said the cart would go into storage, its future unknown. She planned
to travel for a few months before starting work as an early childhood teacher.
“All these people; it’s a wonderful community. I’m going to miss them.”
Before Alexander set up at the sports
field, she ran a coffee cart at Cathedral Steps. After more than a decade, she was ready to leave the early winter mornings behind. “I’m looking forward to my first winter inside.”