Saturday, March 14, 2020, was even busier than the typical bustling Saturday at Ladybird Diner in Lawrence, Kansas. Bottles of handmade hand sanitizer were perched on each table. It was Pi Day, a special occasion for the homey diner famous for its pie. But Ladybird owner Meg Heriford was scared and unsure. The crowds were enough to convince her not to open the next day, instead opting to regroup in advance of the gathering COVID storm. Suddenly, she found herself with a kitchen full of food and nobody to serve it to. What happened next is a testament to the community-building power of independent businesses.

We revisit Ladybird Diner's story not to tell a tale from the past, but to provide the prologue for the moment we find ourselves in today. Five years later, Meg is slinging pie amid new crises and political upheaval. But her commitment to her principles is unwavering: Treat her staff well, feed both the privileged and underprivileged of Lawrence, and build community through pie, coffee, and glittery vinyl booths. In an unforgettable Building Local Power episode that can only be described as inspiring, hear directly from Meg about how she stewards her diner through volatile times and why she calls that work noble.

For transcript and related resources, see the episode page at https://ilsr.org/articles/blp-the-diner-building-community