Rainey Schott-Donato
HARDSHIP, HOPE, AND BAGELS
story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER photos by PAUL NURNBERG
Rainey Schott-Donato is a proud native of Beaufort. While she attended Beaufort High School, she worked at a small sandwich shop, Bay Town Grille, owned by John and Monica Pennington. This experience instilled a love of the restaurant and hospitality industry, and she loved serving the regular clientele and the sense of community they formed.
After graduation, Rainey lived on Fripp Island. She worked breakfast, lunch, and dinner shifts at different places on the Island for several years and loved it. She felt like she was living in a completely different world, isolated in the community that makes Fripp Island so special. During the summer, it was busy, and she would meet many new people; during the off-season, she became familiar with the folks who lived on the Island year-round. A group of residents threw her a surprise 21st birthday party.
Once Rainey turned 21, she moved to the upstate, landing in Anderson, where she continued working in the food and beverage industry. She began waiting tables, and within three months, the restaurant manager hired Rainey as a manager for one of his three restaurants, Sea Largo. Rainey moved back to Beaufort after working in Anderson for a few years and became a preschool teacher. She taught for Beaufort Christian School for five years. She worked at Shrimp Shack one summer while teaching, and spent one summer working for a bagel shop downtown called Palm and Moon Bagel.
While Rainey truly loved teaching and working with children, she stepped away from this role when an opportunity presented itself for her to buy Beaufort Palm and Moon Bagel. In the summer 2009, Rainey took ownership of the bagel shop and opened a new Bluffton location in February 2011.
Rainey spent the next several years continuing to run the Palm and Moon location downtown and the Bluffton location. After experiencing personal hardship for several years, she knew she needed to make some changes. In 2018, she closed the Bluffton location and decided it was time to change Palm and Moon’s name, and establish the uniqueness of her bagel shop.
Rainey loved the name Palm and Moon, the original logo, and wanted something that kept that same feel. She and her family created a list of names, and then they voted. The new name for the bagel shop would be Rain-N-Bagels. She knew she wanted rainbows to be involved when creating the new logo. Her mom has called her “Rainey Rainbow” since she was young. The rainbow is a symbol of hope in the Christian faith, and, at the time, Rainey was really in need of hope. The logo they came up with was a woman holding an umbrella with a rainbow and four bagels. The four bagels represent personal loss that she holds dear to her heart. She turned her focus onto a brighter future and became pregnant with her rainbow baby, a beautiful daughter, Riley. Rainey and her now husband, James, were married and were soon blessed with a honeymoon baby, sweet Juliann. Her two little girls and husband are genuinely her biggest blessings. Rain-N-Bagels logo evolved to add a symbol of her two daughters to the design.
Changing the name to Rain-N-Bagels was about starting over. Rainey painted the walls teal, a color she had always loved. She lightened up the counters and made the shop her own.
The past two years have been the best for Rainey and the bagel shop. They stayed afloat during COVID, only closing a few days a week. They delivered bagels and sandwiches to the hospital and homes as much as possible, and had an increase in take-out orders.
Once they were able to return to life as usual, Rainey changed the menu, adding a variety of new sandwiches. “A lot of the sandwich names have meaning behind them,” Rainey says. The “Mick” is a sandwich based on Rainey’s grandfather, Mick, and ingredients you would typically find in his den refrigerator. The “Auldbrass” is based on Rainey’s grandmother, who worked at Auldbrass as a young woman. Currently, Joel Silver’s personal chef will come into Rain-N-Bagels and will load up on bagels and pastries. The “Frank” is a breakfast sandwich, previously on the secret menu, but now anyone can get it. It is a tribute to a customer since day one, you guessed it, Mr. Frank. The “Bill and Carol” was named after long-time customers who would come in three to four times a week. While they have passed away, their legacy at Rain-N-Bagel lives on.
Rainey is building something more profound than just a bagel shop. The names of these sandwiches are a tribute. These people are not just customers, they are her friends and family. From the time Rainey was a teenager working at Bay Town Grille, she knew she wanted a breakfast and lunch spot of her own. She feels so blessed that she has that now. She loves it and tries to instill that love into her staff.
Her past and present employees have all played a role in what the bagel shop has become today. She has learned many things over the years and appreciates all the good and the bad. She is incredibly thankful for her baker, Mitchell. He has been working for Rainey for ten years. He comes in from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m., five nights a week, making fresh bagels for the next day. That is a tough shift unless you love what you do and who you work for. The bagel shop runs almost 24 hours a day, only having downtime from around 4 p.m. until 9 p.m. It takes a lot of work to keep everything running smoothly and efficiently. Rainey’s best friend, Susan Crosby, has worked with Rainey since the beginning. She now works on Saturdays, and Rainey says she is “so fortunate” to have a friend like Susan, who has been with her since day one. “Neither of us can believe how much the business has grown.”
Rainey hopes to instill a strong work ethic in her daughters. She wants them to grow up seeing a mom working hard to provide for them, and know they can accomplish anything they put their minds to with hard work. “I want them to know they can stand on their own. My mindset has changed since having them. I am more dedicated to the bagel shop, focusing on making it as successful as possible. I want to pass something down to them that they can be proud of.”
Riley and Juliann help at the bagel shop even now, going on grocery runs after hours and bringing bags into the shop. Riley will go on catering deliveries with Rainey as well.
Rainey’s husband, James, has supported Rainey and the bagel shop incredibly. He will help wherever he is able. James encouraged Rainey to get the bagel shop on “Door Dash.” He also assists Rainey at 5K and 10K runs throughout Beaufort.
Rainey’s future goals for Rain-N-Bagels include possible expansion down the road. “On Saturday and Sunday, we will have a line out the door for hours. We have outgrown this space.” Rainey does not plan to open a second location and hopes to stay in the downtown area in the future. She has also considered adding a food truck to the business and being able to serve different areas, including Bluffton.
Rainey cares about the homeless community and many other nonprofit organizations in Beaufort. She serves members of the homeless community daily. She does not ask for anything in return and is not in it for praise. She does it because she cares and believes it is the right thing to do.
Rainey believes “Beaufort pulls people back home, not only because of its beauty but also because of its sense of community.” There is always something happening in Beaufort — festivals, fundraisers, etc. If you involve yourself in these activities, you will never be bored. Rainey hopes that Beaufort will know that she is devoted to consistently producing quality food. She, and the Rain-N-Bagels staff, are dedicated and provide friendly customer service.
A friend nominated Rainey for our issue and summed her up in the best way: “She is a role model to her children. She is a loyal, honest, and caring friend that stays out of the spotlight and never gets the recognition she deserves.” Today, we recognize Rainey for the hardships she has endured, the community she serves, and the delicious bagels she provides to our community daily.
“My story is not a sad story. It’s a real one. It’s the story of a woman who fought through a storm she thought would never end.”
– Hannah Blum
