From The Publisher

To my loyal readers and advertisers, it has certainly been a journey. What started as a kid asking questions has turned into a full publication with a long and varied history. For over eight years we have served as Yachats’ local paper, and it has been a pleasure. Together, we have journeyed through the history and life of our town, revealing its highlights for all to see.

As the years have passed, I have changed along with the town and its people. To put it plainly, I am no longer the wide-eyed eight-year-old I was when I started this. As a 17-year-old high school graduate, and soon to be college student, I have been exposed to the world as it is, not as I want it to be. Because of this, I am no longer able to truthfully deliver the quality of content that has made the Gazette since its inception. One of the things that made the Gazette special was my total innocence and naivete, and I simply no longer possess those qualities. We were considering this conundrum for a while before now, but the corona assault has brought the matter to a head.

As such, I hereby announce that the Gazette will not produce another issue and that the process of resolving its transactions and debts has begun. For advertisers, this will mean that anyone who has paid ahead will have their payments refunded, and while we would appreciate if those who are behind could settle their accounts, it is by no means necessary. Please only even consider it if you can afford to do so safely; I shall not be a contributing factor to the wave of business closures if I can at all help it. All outstanding payments for the issues produced in 2020 are hereby forgiven, and we shall be sending out invoices alerting people of our payment policy shall be sent out shortly, hopefully within the month.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for supporting my journey through childhood and making me the person I am today. Much of my development and knowledge base, as well as my understanding of the world, is directly due to the Gazette, and I believe that it has given me a unique and special understanding of our world. To all, I wish good health, and a safe, grand 2020.

The Yachats Gazette, Issue 99, March 1, 2020

 For a printable version of Issue 99, click here

Interview with Mari Irvin, Jeannine Janson, Mary Crook, and Yvonne Erickson

The Yachats Gazette visited with the former owners of Mari's Books And..., Mari Irvin, Jeannine Janson, and Mary Wiltse (in absentia), along with the new owners (Yvonne Erickson and Mary Crook) of the bookstore, Books and More, that is opening March 1.

TYG: How did you gals come together?
Mari: Well. [big pause]
Jeannine: You mean, the four of us?

TYG: Yes.
Yvonne: When Mari and Jeannine and Mary had us over, all the business ladies, to announce their retirement, I was the second person to show up and say, "I need to buy the bookstore."

TYG-Graphic Design: Who was the first person?
Mary: I was the first person! Now, this event was on a Monday night. Tuesday morning I marched into the Presbyterian Church where Jeannine was working, and we met outside the building, and I said, "You know, I've been thinking about that bookstore. I am interested. But... I can't do it alone. So I just wanted to put it out to the universe that that was in my mind—I wanted to get that process going." And then the very next day, I guess, I get a call from Mari, and Mari says, "You know, I was approached by someone who's interested in the bookstore!" I said, "Oh! How great!" [laughter] And Mari asked permission to give my name to this person. And it was Yvonne! [laughter]
Yvonne: I woke up with such absolute certainty that this was something I needed to do, that I was actually kind of flabbergasted when I found out I wasn't the first person! I was like, "No! I have to do this! I have to!" [laughter] I think it's really important to the community for the continuity, and it's important that Mari and Jeannine—and Mary [Wiltse]—retire knowing that all their hard work wasn't for naught.
Mari: Mary had come out a couple of times in the summer and fall [of last year], and we talked about it being time, maybe. Mary's time was certainly over, because she left a year and a half earlier to go be with her grandson and his parents in South Dakota. My sons, and Jeannine, had been wondering, "How long do you want to do this?" And we had said, when we started this store, that we would do it one year and see how it went. And then we would do it only as long as it was fun. Well, it's still fun! But I think that if I were to do this much longer, it would begin to approximate work. So we decided that we would put it out there. And of course we didn't know if anybody would buy a used bookstore, because you don't make a lot of money here. In fact... you don't. So I had talked to our landlord before we announced it to the ladies Monday night, and I said "If we can find a buyer, would you be willing to talk to that person about renting to them for a bookstore?" And Jerry Clarke, who's the landlord, said "Absolutely. I want a bookstore here." So that cleared that. And then things just kind of moved along.
Jeannine: If I may... Mary—sister Mary—she moved a year and a half ago. However this fits before she left, Mari and Mary alternated weeks. After Mary left, Mari has been doing it essentially on her own. I took over doing Sundays, but Mari's been doing the bookstore a year and a half on her own, with Tuesday and Wednesday off because we're closed then, and Sunday, when I would work. So she's been keeping it going.
Mari: When I worked professionally, I learned by watching other people that it's a very good idea to leave your position before people say, "When is that person going to leave?" [laughter] And I think I've done that. [...] This is a dream come true, that Yvonne and Mary are doing this. It's just absolutely a dream come true.
Mary: It's a dream come true for me, too, because I have wanted to own a bookstore probably all of my adult life. When I left my former job in Portland, the staff knew my dream: they gave me a sweatshirt that said "Book Woman" on it. [laughter] Well, it was only 26 years later that my dream came true! All in divine order.
Jeannine: Well, so the day after we had the shop-keepers over, and Mari announced that she would be retiring, yes, Mary Crook walked right into the church. I saw her coming! For some reason I thought, "I think she's going to talk about the bookstore!" For some reason, we hadn't told anybody else yet. So she mentioned briefly that she'd dreamed of having a bookstore. Mary [Wiltse] was still here, so I said, "Why don't you come over tonight?" So she came over, and talked to the three of us, all about what her dream was. I mean, it's quite amazing! And—I always like to say this—then Yvonne—so within 72 hours of announcing retirement, we knew we had people who would love to do it. And if you don't think it wasn't hard to not [spill the beans about who was interested]...
Yvonne: Because everybody was speculating, and asking questions, and it would be like... couldn't say anything. Because we had to make sure all our ducks were in a row before we made it public that it was us who were going to be the owners. And we managed to keep it SO secret that when we had our little get-together to do the passing of the key, it was kind of like high school. Everybody screamed and jumped around and hugged because they had no clue. And these are people we see every day!
Jeannine: What we did was, we said, "Could you come over to the store after you close? We have an announcement!" This was after a couple of months or something. So we had some Prosecco here, and then as many people as could came, and ...

TYG-GD: You mean, as could fit?
Jeannine: [laughter] As many shop-keepers as could make it that night! I said a few words, Mari said a few words, and then we had a count-down, which was pre-arranged. And we said, "We will reveal the names of the new owners in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1." And when we said their names, we had the pleasure of watching absolute joy and excitement. It was such a pleasure to see it. Folks—as you said—jumping up and down.
Yvonne: Yes!

TYG-GD: That's cool! [to Yvonne:] Did you have a dream of being a bookstore owner? Or what do you think precipitated your feeling that it just had to be?
Yvonne: I would say the very biggest percentage of it was [thinking that] we can't not have a bookstore. And I want to make sure that Mari, and Mary, and Jeannine can move on. That was the big thing. There was a little itty bit part of me that said, "And I do not want a gift store right next to me, so it had better stay a bookstore." [laughter] But that literally was just an afterthought. I thought, "No, I need to do this." ([to us:] I'm going to cry.) They have been so supportive and so inclusive of me when I came to the community that it was like, "I have to do this." And the fact that I read all the time doesn't hurt. You know? I can have all the books I could possibly read and not have to dust them every day.
Mary: I'll get that pleasure. [laughter]
Mari: I came over a few times to say, "You're sure? You're sure you want to do this?" [laughter]
Yvonne: Absolutely positive.

TYG-GD: Well, what's the plan for the future? In small increments—will you stay open? Or will you revamp? Or will there be painting? What's going to happen for the community?
Mary: Well, these ladies, Mari and Jeannine, and Mary Wiltse when she was in town, have done a wonderful job of completing the inventory.
Mari: First time in 14 years!

TYG: Wow!
Mary: So we know what's here. We want to keep it pretty much the way they're leaving it, because they have a little gold mine here. They have 14 years of successful business, and a nice, loyal local following.
Yvonne: I'm going to continue to manage Just Local [the business next door to the bookstore] and be the bookkeeper/that person...

TYG-GD: The responsible person?
TYG: Inventory artist? [laughter]
Yvonne: Well... Yeah, there you go. That's my thing. I'm just a numbers person. I just love that. So I'm really happy to take all those kinds of responsibilities on. Though I do love people and visiting. But Mary's going to hold down the fort. And we'll work with each other for vacation times, or if something comes up we'll make sure that there's coverage in both locations. And no, we are not putting a hole in the wall. [laughter] Just FYI.
Mari: That's the second question people ask.
Mary: Incidentally, the bookstore is going to be named "Books and More," and the sub-title is "Something Old, Something New, Something Local."
Mari: That's great.
Jeannine: First time I've heard that! I knew "Books and More;" I didn't know the sub-line.
Mary: "Something old, something new" came to me automatically because of my wedding services. "Something local" [is because] we're going to have local authors on display in here, and Yvonne may display something from her shop too.
Yvonne: Bigger art pieces on the wall type stuff. Just to make sure the walls are full.
Mari: One of the joys of having a store for the three of us—and I'm sure that you can appreciate it too—is that we have local people who stop in, almost every day, just to say, "Hi, how's it going?" and they buy books, too! But we have a lot of people who are traveling from basically all over the world to come here. But we have regulars from Washington, Idaho, California. And the last year or so, every time they come up they say, "You're still here!" and we say, "Yes, we are!" But lately I've been saying, "We're not going to be here, but it's going to be a bookstore, and you're going to love it."
Yvonne: And those that know it's Mary and I pop into the shop, and ask the questions: "Are you going to have the same stuff? Are we still going to be able to come in and get our books when we come on vacation?" and we say, "Yep."

TYG-GD: So when is the transition happening officially? Do you know yet?
Mari: We're going to close President's Day weekend. Our insurance ends February 29, so we thought that was a good closing date, and we can clean the place up for them. And then after the 29th of February, whatever...
Yvonne: March 1st!

TYG: Wow! [to Mari and Jeannine:] Are you guys moving?
Mari: No, no—we're staying here. Jeannine's continuing to work at the church, and we'll stay here as long as it's good to stay here.

TYG: Awesome! I wanted to ask you guys: What have you learned, having a bookstore in this community?
Mari: Well first of all, I'd say it's an extremely literate community. I've learned more... In fact, I've got a notebook here, which I might pass on to you two [Yvonne and Mary]. When we opened the store, we had a notebook here and we asked people to write down authors that they liked. And they did! And now when I look at that notebook I think, "I don't think I knew any of these authors when we started." And it's not that they're that unusual, it's that I was not that well connected with current literature. And so I've learned a lot about books, and I've learned a lot about how to encourage people to buy books. Not just to buy a book, but to buy one that fits for them. The worst question I get is when somebody comes in and says, "Oh, I need a book—what do you recommend?" [laughter] And I go absolutely blank. But we'll wander around, and I'll get an idea of what they're looking for.
Jeannine: One of the things we learned early on: We thought seriously that we would only be in business as long as it took us to sell the supply of books that we opened with. We never dreamed we would have to buy more books. [laughter]
Mari: Unbelievable.

TYG-GD: So, how many books do you think you've bought?
Mari: Oh, thousands. When we left San Francisco, everybody we knew had a closet full of books. So we had several trips of the car being filled with books. So our cost factor the first year was quite low. Some people come in quite regularly to order certain kinds of books; some of them are books we probably wouldn't keep in the store. But my logic has been as long as it's on Amazon—and I use that sort of as my cultural guide—then it's something that I can order for you. Even if I don't order it from Amazon.

TYG: I was going to ask if you were going to keep the ordering service going.
Mary: Yes, definitely.
Yvonne: There isn't enough space to realistically keep everything that everybody would ever want.

TYG-GD: Even Powell's doesn't do that! [laughter]
Yvonne: Oh gosh... When I lived in Portland, that was my Saturday afternoon, treat myself like a queen thing, was to go to Powell's. I love that store.
Mary: Special orders are very important. Shortly after Mari's Books And... opened, I had been regularly watching or listening to "Book TV" on C-SPAN2. It's 48 hours of non-fiction book talk. I would see an author who particularly impressed me, and I'd write down the author's name and the title, and by Sunday night I kind of knew what I was interested in. Well, Monday morning, I would come into Mari's Books And... and order a book from "Book TV"!
Jeannine: I believe Mary Crook was the first person to order a book. You called, you gave the author, and the title, and the ISBN number! [laughter]
Mari: Our garage at the house has a dedicated room for the reserve and online books we sell.

TYG-GD: Wait, you guys sell online?
Mari: Yes, we have a little online store that we're going to keep, through Amazon. It's a handy way to do it; it's not the most profitable way. And we still have boxes of books in the garage that we've not opened yet! [to Mary and Yvonne:] So I might be down here selling books to you! [laughter]
Yvonne: I went through my collections, and I decided I'd better be organized, because you can't come down here willy-nilly with a bunch of stuff. I started boxing by author, because some, I have entire collections. And when I got down to the miscellany, it was by alphabet. And I have 19 boxes of books that are gone through. And I still keep finding books, "Oh! I forgot about those!" [claps hands] [laughter]... and those and those and those!
Mari: Just a little observation: I think you'll have to take a lot of the books off the shelf to get yours on there!
Yvonne: Well, that's just back-up stuff!
Mari: Well, I think a change in genre would be very nice!
Yvonne: Okay... And I see—I've been looking—you have some Mary Higgins Clark. I have a huge box of them, and with her just passing, I'm wondering if there's going to be a huge interest, or a resurgence.
Mari: Yes. There are certain authors that just sell, and Mary Higgins Clark is one of them. There are certain authors that we always have, because the book might have been written 20 years ago, but people still want it.

TYG: I'm surprised Neal Stephenson isn't one of them.
Mari: Yes! The problem with Stephenson's books is that they're so thick, and so costly, and it's usually in hardback. We tend not to buy too many hardback books, except as used books, because hardback books have begun to be quite expensive. $30-$40 is very, very common. But we special order them.
Jeannine: I'm not certain when we started doing this, because we opened next door, in the small space. We were there first, in March 2006, and moved over here in 2010, after the video store.
Mari: And then there was a collectible shop, and they had trouble. And then it was vacant for a while; Jerry Clarke came over and said, "You've got to move. You've got to get out of that small space." And I think I said to Jerry, "We can't afford to move, Jerry. Your rent will be too high." He said, "I have every confidence that you will do far better if you move." So we did, in March of 2010. And our sales went up 40 per cent that year—which was a good reason to move.
Jeannine: I don't know whether it was after we moved here that we started best-sellers. Because [the store] is primarily used [books], but we do carry fiction and non-fiction best-sellers, the New York Times best-sellers. And I don't think we had local authors in the tiny shop.
Mari: We didn't have many, if we did.
Jeannine: We were approached by quite a few people. And they're all featured over there [by the front door].
Mary: The small space of their former location was very special to me, and I'll tell you why: I used to work there part-time, on an occasional basis. And I love working in a bookstore. Well, as you know, I'm also a wedding minister. Some young couple came in to see me in the small space, and they said they were going to have a big, formal wedding, but they really needed to get the documents done immediately, and [asked if] I could marry them. And I said, "Well, I'll be working here at ten tomorrow morning! You could come in at ten minutes before ten. But I'll need two witnesses." "We'll bring our parents." So we actually had a wedding in that tiny space, with a couple and two sets of parents. It was cramped. [laughter]

TYG-GD: So, as new owners, what are you most looking forward to?
Mary: I am just looking forward to being in this space and talking to the happy people who come in. That's what I enjoy the most, is talking to people and talking books.
Yvonne: This sounds so strange, but it's not really changing my day-to-day a lot. But I just feel so blessed to be connected with such wonderful people, and this is the vehicle that it happens with.

TYG: Is there anything else you guys wanted to say?
Mari: I was going to say that I think I can speak for all three of us, but certainly Jeannine can speak for herself, although Mary will have to be quiet. [laughter] It's been just a joy—and I mean that seriously—just a joy to have this store. It's brought vitality to me, kind of an eager sense of getting up in the morning and going down to the store. And at night I sometimes just go home and have dinner and go to bed, so it's just been an absolute, joyous pleasure to have this store. It's something I had wanted to have for probably 40 years. But I knew I couldn't afford it until I retired.
Jeannine: As I already said, I only started working in the bookstore on Sundays when Mary moved. Prior to that I was the behind-the-scenes paper partner and compliance officer. While I did not work here regularly, in the sense only that Mari and Mary did, I still connected to the store. And had we not been connected to the store, we would not know the shop-keepers. Knowing them, and interacting with everybody over this 14 year period of time, that is why it was important to us to tell the shop-keepers first, before anybody else, that Mari would retire and the store was closing. These relationships, for me, have been wonderful. And they would not have occurred, I don't think—we wouldn't have had the same relationship with these folks, and Valeria [of Toad Hall] and Valerie [of Antique Virgin] if we had not had this business.
Mari: And we don't see each other all that much—there might be months before I see Valerie. We see Judith [of Judith's Kitchen Tools] every day, and we see you two [Yvonne and Mary] usually every day, but it's not like we all get together and have coffee first thing in the morning. We just kind of come in, and check on each other. If somebody's late to work, we'll follow up and call. But it's brought energy to my life that I have needed and have highly valued. And when I'm done cleaning the garage, I'll probably come down and visit the store.
Yvonne: Realistically-speaking, for me—and I don't mean to sound like I'm patting myself on the back—it's strictly altruistic. I just have to keep the community—as much for the community, as for me. And the fact that I get to share it with Mary is really exciting.

TYG: Well, thank you so much for everything.

The Yachats Gazette was able to contact Mary Wiltse via e-mail, and this is what she had to add:

When Mari and Jeannine first started thinking that this was a venture they wanted to start in late 2005, I was in Iowa City, maintaining vigil, so to speak, with a dear friend who was spending her last days in the hospital. So when Mari asked me to be a part of the bookstore, I just couldn’t even think about it. A while later, after Lavonne had passed, I called Mari and said that I would like to be a co-owner and I traveled to Oregon from my home in St. Paul MN, to help us get ready. We dragged together our personal collection of books, started putting prices on them, organizing into categories and placing them on the shelves…the books we opened the store with were primarily from our own personal libraries. I had a good friend in Minnesota ask me, “What are you going to do when you have sold all of your own books?” The three of us (Mari, Jeannine and I looked at each other, shrugged and smiled…we really had no clue!!) Well, we discovered garage sales, estate sales, library sales, St. Vincent de Paul, etc. Because I was living in a large metropolitan area…St. Paul MN…I was constantly buying, pricing and shipping books to the store…I was the mid-west partner and the primary book buyer.

In 2008, I bought my Yachats house and started living part-time in Yachats. How I love the Oregon coast…that powerful, beautiful ocean. My involvement with the staffing of the store increased. In 2010, I became a full-time resident. At that point Mari and I shared the staffing of the store while Jeannine handled the financial responsibilities. Mari and I, being 8 years difference in ages, never spent much time together. And, we lived most of our lives half way 'cross the country. Gradually, we found that we could work together well, each finding our ‘niche’ in sharing responsibilities. At the same time, we truly became sisters and our affection and respect for each other deepened immensely. And, Jeannine, oh what a blessing to get to know Jeannine better and the love we have for each other is wonderful…she truly is a real sister to me.

What a gift to have a shop in the center of the village. Locals coming in, sitting on a stool by the desk to visit. Meeting people from all over Oregon and around the world…so many visiting the store over and over…not just buyers or acquaintances...but becoming friends. I loved being a part of the Yachats business community…discovering how many of the successful business owners are women…many ‘older’ women…and as women shop-keepers we have a strong bond and friendships that remain strong over time and geographic space.

And now…for the store to be owned by two great friends, Mary Crook and Yvonne Erickson. Never, did I imagine something as wonderful as this would transpire. The heart of the store will be even stronger!

After my hemorrhagic stroke a few years ago, my children asked if I could move back to the Midwest so that we could be closer. Why SD (where my son lives) and not MN (where my daughter lives)? I have a wonderful grandson…my only grandchild in SD. It is such a delight to be a very present part of his life and share his interests and talents. I love being close to both daughter Kari (Minneapolis) and son David (here in Brookings). 

When people asked 'why, in heaven’s name did you choose to move to SD', or even more bluntly saying, ‘you are moving to SD on purpose???’ I just smile. Brookings is a wonderful community with SDSU, where my son and daughter-in-law are professors. It does not have an ocean…but I have developed great friendships. And…I am playing Mah Jongg again!

The Yachats Gazette, Issue 98, February 1 2020

Click here for a printable version of Issue 98

Interview with Frankie Petrick

The Yachats Gazette finally got a chance to hop over to the new fire station on Highway 101, and received a wonderful guided tour from Frankie, Yachats's Fire Chief. 

The new Yachats Rural Fire Protection Department's fire station

TYG: So, how did you guys design this place—how did you guys get the idea to build a place like this?
Frankie: Well, Shelby and I drove around to fire stations that had been built in rural parts of the state in the last ten years. Fire stations in other parts of the United States are kind of brick, square buildings designed to fit on a city lot. We had previously built the station up-river [the East station, as it's known]. That's a small station, but we had some ideas. So we went around looking at what other districts had done in the last ten years: things that we liked, things we didn't like, things that they had put in that they didn't like; from some pretty small departments to a big one in Tualatin that was a huge structure designed for a lot of community use as well. So in our travels, then, we found some ideas we liked. One was two stoves in the kitchen, with a space [between them]—we went to one [place] that had two side-by-side, which made cooking hard, particularly if you were trying to do it for a large amount of people. We just started making notes about the kind of things we would like to use our station for. Some places had really large meeting rooms, which is also a training room like this. But because we're on a "conditional use" in a residential area, we can't have huge groups that are coming and renting out the station. We can have fire training-type things—events that would be relevant to a fire station. Because at the old station we had no kitchen—we had a sink, and a refrigerator, no kitchen—we wanted our kitchen to be user-friendly. We were also thinking in terms of being able to have a little bit of storage, so we have a pantry area where we can have a whole section of canned goods for something in a three-year period. The provisions we have for long-term are 25-30 years of storage so we don't have to try and rotate those through. And at the old station, there was no space where the on-duty crew could sit. So now we've got a dining-room table for them in the crew room, which means that not everybody has to be doing the same thing.

We had no reception area at the old station, and actually, the door wasn't un-lockable, so we always had the bay door open. We wanted to have an area that could break the weather, but people could sit on the "porch" if you will.

TYG-Graphic Design: I saw that bench out there—that's a nice idea.
Frankie: Yes—so there will be more plants in there and probably another couple of chairs. That area closes automatically. At the old place, they weren't ever sure whether they should come into the office. So we wanted to have that reception area. And then the upper level, the mezzanine, which was originally designed for work-out equipment, will be another office. At the old place, the desks faced each other, and we wanted to keep that open environment so that people would feel free to come in. The architect was a little reluctant about our openness, but I have just always had the feeling that we go into people's homes when they need help, [so] why should we have barricades when they come here? So we wanted to keep that openness, but we wanted a section for the crew that would be their space. So on the crew side [which we did not visit], there are four sleeping rooms, and each room has accommodations for three people. So if you're not here, you can leave stuff in your locker until your next shift. There are also two showers on that side. This means that people can come and go through the building; if the crew has a late night, they can have down time without somebody parading through. At the old station, they had to sleep in the meeting room, so if you had to go to the shop, there you went traipsing through. So the square footage is bigger, but when you consider that we couldn't even put all our apparatus in the downtown station, you had to figure that part of the square footage outside the building, and what Clark's [now C&K Market] allowed us to use. That stuff should have been under a roof.

TYG-GD: So one thing I don't know, is how many crew you have.
Frankie: So there are three people on a shift that are fire-fighter paramedics, and depending on the day, Shelby, I, and Yvette. Yvette's part-time, and she does office work. With the idea being that one of the crew members would be stationed up at the East station. So there would be two here, one up-river; depending on the nature of the call, that person might need to come down. Which means that they could respond a vehicle out of there directly to a fire, and the truck from here—and of course we have automatic mutual aid agreements with Central Coast and Seal Rock to come our way.

TYG-GD: Central Coast being Waldport?
Frankie: Waldport. It's in Waldport, but they're not a city department.

TYG-GD: So, doesn't that person out east get lonely?
Frankie: Well, the idea being, some people like being out there more than others, but there's some apparatus there, there's also an office—they've got wi-fi, and they can work. And in the summertime, there's a little bit of outside stuff to do. One of the things I wanted to do out there was clear back into the trees a little bit, put in a couple of picnic tables, and if the valley wanted to have a potluck, then it could happen there. The inside's not very large—the bed's in the kitchen—but for somebody doing a potluck, that wouldn't be a big thing: they bring everything with them, and take their dirty dishes home. And, with the idea that it wouldn't be the same person. So, the crews work two days in a row, so that one of those days, somebody would be up-river. With three people, that means you're going to do that a couple of times a month. You have the time to catch up on specific work for up there, like on the trucks, making sure that compartments are dry, clean—some of that mundane work that needs to be done. Not much truck washing has occurred up there, because our water at that station comes from the generosity of the neighbors, and so it's primarily their water, and we have overflow. Now, we have big tanks. Washing the fire truck and the ambulance is a safety thing—when washing, you discover if there's anything amiss. In the cities, they do a lot of polishing because they just do that. But it's not particularly exciting out there. My original plan was to have a couple of garden spots on the grounds around [the East station]. Either somebody could take that on as their project, or somebody up-river could use the space. It's hard, in a remote spot like that, to communicate with everybody up and down the river. My goal is that somebody up there would drive around, stop in, [ask] "How's Mrs. Jones doing today?" While they're doing that, they can check whether the roadway is wide enough for the truck, because a lot of people have smaller cars now, and getting the ambulance and the fire-truck in, or knowing places where you can't go with the big red truck—you have to take the smaller truck—[will] make them feel more a part of the community.

TYG-GD: Yes, some of the bridges across the Yachats River wouldn't accommodate the big truck, would they?
Frankie: Well, the one at my house, for example, is stout—it's [made of] railroad flat cars. However, railroad flat cars are narrow, and so, when the ambulance crosses the bridge at my house the wheels rub. So having a smaller piece of apparatus that can come across [will help bridge the gap] if a truck can come [to the beginning of the bridge] and you can lay a line over to a smaller piece of equipment to shoot water. Fortunately, homes [are] being better constructed nowadays, and protected I guess. When I was growing up, everybody had a coal oil stove or a wood stove. Nobody had electric heat. Well, both of those lead to flues that need cleaning, and there was no drywall, so nothing to stop fire spread. Well, we've improved on that by a bunch. Now, however, your house fire is way more toxic than it was in the 40's and 50's, because [then] wood was burning. Or your horse-hair couch. Nothing toxic about it. [laughter] Unpleasant, but not toxic. Now, of course, all of the things in homes are too much man-made materials. That's really changed the evolution of fire service, to not have as many fire calls, which means you have less people volunteering. In my growing up in Waldport, the fire whistle probably went off once every ten days. When I was younger, more frequently—which meant that all of the businesses locked the door and went to the fire. And on Saturday, they all showed up at whoever's house that had the fire to patch it up until it could be repaired. It made it way easier for somebody to say, "So, I think I want to be part of the fire department," because there was a visible need. We still have the need, but the problem is that it's not near as glorious-looking, and, the requirements for firefighter safety and education is huge now as opposed to what it was. And of course over the years they've discovered that there are things in homes that burn that cause cancer, and so protective gear has gotten more expensive. My dad, I think he probably had the same pair of turn-outs the entire time that I grew up. He retired in 1962, and we moved from Newport to Waldport in 1949. So, that's a long time—I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have passed any safety standards [today]. [laughter] But that's the way it was! Some places didn't even have any turn-outs to offer, nor did they have any SCBAs for breathing air going into a fire. Years ago, I was looking for stuff in the old minutes, and at one of the meetings the volunteers came to request that the Board buy ONE SCBA so that somebody could go in with canned air into a fire.

TYG-GD: What does SCBA stand for? 
Frankie: Self-contained breathing apparatus. Now, without somebody having one on, and somebody behind them, you can't send somebody in. But for years...

TYG-GD: ...you kind of held your breath and went in?
Frankie: Well, and I remember a fire south of town at one of the pull-offs quite a few years ago, it was a motor home fully involved, and three of the crew for almost a month had strained voices and bad coughs because of not using SCBAs. But it was an outside environment—things burning outside were deemed to be carried away by the breeze. Of course now we have BAs for everybody, and spares, and they're all tested regularly to make sure they're serviceable and meet all of the safety requirements. It's nice that it's safer, but it certainly makes it harder to get people interested in volunteering, where before it was all the working people, and they all lived in town, they lived close. When you got off at three thirty, and the fire siren blew, you knew you were going to the fire and then you'd just go home. Now, quite a few of our folks live out of county—our paid staff live out of county. This means that if you call them, they'd report for duty but it might be three hours before they got here. This is why they work two days in a row with four days off. Of course, if there's something happening when it's time for them to leave the next morning, they stay—but it doesn't give you the availability to call them in and have them show up in half an hour.

TYG-GD: Maybe you need a dalmatian to help bring people in! 
Frankie: Well, it's interesting—one of our new employees does actually have a dalmatian! [laughter] I guess he has a couple of them, but one of them does really good PR. So he's talking about whether to bring him in on the days that he works. [laughter] And he's been raised in a firehouse, so he knows how to kennel, and knows not to wander off down the road. [...]

TYG-GD: So, how many volunteers would you rather have?
Frankie: Well, it would be nice to have another half a dozen. Simply because what they're doing is supplementing. So for a fire, you want as many people as you can. We do have the automatic mutual aid agreement with Central Coast and Seal Rock, so we know people are coming, but it's almost impossible to have too many people at a fire. And like with an automobile accident, where the ambulance comes and deals with the patients, you still need firefighters to be able to manage the scene because there can also be a fire. ODOT will send soembody down, but ODOT never sends two people down, so it's always a safety concern of making sure that scene is safe. And, depending on the nature of the injuries, your three crew might need to leave with the ambulance. So having volunteers is really nice. But it's difficult if they're working a ways away, they come home, there's a family that wants to see them... When we were a logging community, everybody got off work at the same time. So there was always that "My house might be the next one that has a fire; I'm going to go." And of course now, with there being smoke detectors and a lot more safety in the home, it's not as common to see a fire. So if there's an automatic alarm—and I'm going to use the Overleaf [as an example], because they're one of those that have an alarm in-house—that would generate an "all call." So Seal Rock and Central Coast are going to be coming until we tell them to stop. But, they're subject to—when the wind blows and the power snaps—it sets off that alarm when there's probably nothing happening. However, every time you have to go as if there were something happening, because that might be the time that it is. We're fortunate that we only have a couple of places that have alarms, but they're places like the Overleaf and the Adobe, that have a lot of people and could really be impacted. So yes, another half a dozen of people who lived in our district that wanted to respond for fire and first response medical—that would be nice. That would be a nice thing.

TYG: So, just a question I had that I was thinking about after you said how much rarer fires in the homes are, when did having a fire extinguisher in a home become common? If it even is.
Frankie: Well, I would say that probably ninety per cent of the homes don't have a fire extinguisher. All of the vacation rentals are required to, under the county's ordinance and the city's requirements for licencing. And we certainly encourage people to have one at the edge of the kitchen—not over by the stove, because if the stove's on fire obviously you need to be able to get to it. But it's fairly uncommon for people to have fire extinguishers in their home. It's a very good idea. Fire extinguishers have been in garages for a while, because of Dad working in the shop kind of thing. The fire extinguishers we use are all refillable, which means they have to be hydro-tested. The ones that you can buy at Walmart or Ace Hardware or something that are one-time use and you throw it away are less cost. But they're just designed for one sitting. And having them—you know, you need to shake them every so often because the material will cake in them—

TYG: That's a good thing to know!
Frankie: Yes, you should know that! —and when the guy comes around to test ours, he has a rubber mallet to tap on them with, and it just loosens up that material. Every so often there will be a push where people will call about "What kind of fire extinguisher should I get?" And it's usually because they've seen something in the news, or something has brought it to their attention—it's not on the top of their Christmas list to get a fire extinguisher. And of course for many years, people had the idea that sprinkler systems in homes destroyed all of your stuff. Because in the movies, if one head opens, they all do; in real life, that's not the way it works. So there was quite a push—probably ten years ago, now—from some people in Medford. Medford had a terrible fire, and a whole bunch of residential areas were being built with no sprinkler system. So there was quite a push to get it to be code in a residence. Well, if you retrofit, it's expensive. But, if you do it when the home is being constructed, then the cost per residence is minimal. But people will resist it, because, like one guy said, "I don't want my wool carpet and my paintings to get wet!" I said, "Well, wool dries, paintings can be restored, but when they burn up, they're gone." Even though there's quite a coalition out there to try and encourage counties to require residential sprinklers, there's a lot of resistance from people who build sub-divisions. Because they come in, and if they're going to build a hundred homes, and if they can save one thousand dollars on every home, that's profit to them. And those are really the places [sprinklers] need to be, because they're so close together. I go into homes all the time, and there are no sprinklers, and not too many fire extinguishers. And then of course some people get one, and don't ever read the instructions, so when they use it, instead of squirting the fire extinguisher at the base of the fire, they shoot at the flame. And it's a one-time-and-now-you're-done... and you still have a fire burning. When Betty Johnston and I were doing CERT classes, we had a lot of people who said, "You know, I don't think I can help anybody!" But we said, "Well, if you can help yourself..." So if you learn how a fire extinguisher works, then that's one person we don't have to worry about. And I was surprised that we had quite a few people sign up for our classes, but none of them had ever discharged [a fire extinguisher]. So let's say somebody gets one and it expires—leave it here, and we can use it for training and then dispose of it. And one lady said, "You know, all this time I've had a fire extinguisher, but I never would have had a clue how to operate it." Because it's one thing if you want to practice—but now you don't have anything in your extinguisher.

TYG-GD: And of course in an emergency, you don't have time to sit there and read the fine print. 
Frankie: Fires in kitchens tend to inspire a lot of anxiety because they're usually related to the oven or something on the stove, and where you might not be able to reach through and turn the burners off, which is what you want to do first—kill the source. And people don't necessarily go look at their panel and find the one for the kitchen. Some places, particularly older homes, have them behind pictures; they're not clearly marked—especially with vacation rentals, we always encourage people: don't hide the panel, don't paint it the same color as the wall, because it needs to stand out. But a lot of people don't know what's the quickest way to turn off the power. At the top of the box is the main, but there's no required class for these things in your home—there's no book that comes with your panel. If you get a brand new home, there will be something about your toaster, and something about your stove, but nothing about the electrical panel. [laughter]

TYG: So, out of interest because I'm not sure ours has a main, unless it's on the top left—there's no especially marked main, that's for sure—would it work to just flip them all off?
Frankie: Yes. What happens when the power comes into your house from the electrical company, there will be one at the top that says "The Main." Flipping that breaker will kill all of the power to your house. As opposed to, say, you were going to replace the outlet in your living room, then your breakers should be marked to say "Living room Lights," "Kitchen Lights," "Garage," but the main at the top will kill the power from where it comes to your house.

TYG-GD: So, how old do you have to be to be a volunteer?
Frankie: Well, some places have a cadet program for Junior High through High School. But anybody who is 18 can be involved in learning to drive equipment. We've always done it based on the person. Some people might never make it past driving a pick-up, as opposed to the paid staff that's got to be fluent in driving every piece of apparatus. We used to have a really good cadet program, but almost all of them had a family member volunteering, and so the kids were raised up [in that environment.] We stopped seeing young people living in Yachats, which was about the time when they shut the school down [1983]. There was a dynamic change in the county for work; we had a time when if we saw anybody young on the street, that meant there was a tourist in town. And one fellow—he was so funny—we were raising money for the Yachats Youth Council—for the first skate park, way back when Blythe's mom was still here—well, he said, "Why do we want to encourage to have children in town?" [laughs] And I said, "Well, gosh, I don't know, maybe I'll only send my people who are over 70 to you when you need help!" And he said "Oh!" He hadn't thought about that the way you end up having generations come behind you is that you're not a 100% retirement community, like they have in some of the places in Arizona, where you have to be 60 to be there! Now, they bring three buses down [from Waldport schools]. They go up the Yachats River, but the people who live on the North Fork—that girl gets off and walks home! She only lives about a half a mile up, but...

TYG: That's a lot for a six year old!
Frankie: Yes! And in the winter, it's almost dark... However, the kids who are in Kindergarten of course, if there's not somebody to get them, of course, they won't let them off the bus. Which is a good thing. But it used to be, nobody had just one person get off a stop! The Lions' Club used to build shelters, so all of the main bus stops from Yachats to Waldport, you could put six people in the bus shelter. If you were the littlest guy, you were lucky to sit on a high schooler's lap! So we have a high amount of retired people, and some of them volunteer for a lot of activities—I think our community is really good about that—but of course some of them think they're a bit old to get into the fire service business. They've come with some volunteer things they might do as related to filing and that kind of help, but yeah, somebody moving here at 65 is not apt to sign up to go to fire academy.

TYG: Is there anything else you wanted to say in the Gazette?
Frankie: Well, just pass on our appreciation for passing the bond, and taking on the responsibility of the cost. For some people, that will stay on with the property long after they're gone, but certainly the building should last us for way more than the thirty years' life of the bond. We did way more than that with the old building we had, which was built in 1949. The contractor did an outstanding job for us on this building, and it was nice to have Lincoln County people working on our building. It gave attention to detail, because they know what the weather is, and were happy to share with us any changes they thought might occur, as well as cost savings. We really appreciate the community stepping up. We're helping ourselves, but it was still a financial obligation people had to take into account. Oh, and the SPIRE Grant [State Preparedness and Incident Response Equipment]! At the old building, we had a manual generator. We pushed it out the door and plugged it in, and we had lights throughout the building. No heat! So the State Emergency Preparedness offered the opportunity for a grant for a generator to power up a whole building. We knew that that was coming, so we had the building pre-wired to be able to take it. [...] We were fortunate enough to be one of the agencies that got the grant, and it wasn't a matching grant, it was an outright grant. The State of Oregon retains ownership of it, and it has to be portable so that if there's some major thing in Lincoln County, they might come and borrow that from us. We have the obligation to maintain it to their specifications, and at some point when they decide it's reached its useful life, we'll be the first people who can purchase it for a nominal fee. But that's pretty exciting! It's not an automatic system; somebody will have to activate it if there's a power outage, but that's okay—we're not a hospital. [...] It holds about 90 gallons, which is quite a bit of diesel.

TYG: Yes, that should be enough for a couple of days. 
Frankie: Yes. And looking at a period of time where we might have an issue, for example, a tsunami, when you're out of diesel you're going to be out. So the crucial time is going to be those first few days while people get used to what the plan is to move forward. There will be a lot of debris around, a lot of wood, which means we'll be able to make shelters, but the highway won't open, and the way [a tsunami] would affect the entire coast, people won't be rushing here [to refill the generator]. And what will happen is that, once again, the beach will be our highway until the highway gets rebuilt.

TYG: Well, thank you so much!
Frankie: Yes, yes! Thank you for coming!

The Yachats Gazette, Issue 97, January 3 2020

Click here for a printable version of Issue 97

Interview with Emily Crabtree of ??? 

Help Emily Crabtree choose a name for her new record store! You can e-mail Emily with your pick at ecrabtree82@gmail.com. She brought a list of names with her to the interview, which are as follows: Perpetua Records, Spindrift Music, Vortex Vinyl, Siren Songs Music, Wild Coast Records, Sunset Music, Tsunami Sounds, or Gem & Wave Records. Or feel free to suggest your own! 

TYG: Let's get this started!
Emily: Alright! I'm pulling up my list. I didn't know if you'd done this before with your paper, but I was hoping you'd be up for it, to have a little contest of sorts, and to give my e-mail to people and have a list of names. I'm really struggling! I don't have a name yet, but I brought my list, and it's long. My creative writing classes are paying off, but unfortunately making it much harder to narrow down! [laughs] My hope is that you would be up for asking your readers to e-mail me what they think is a good name.

TYG: Absolutely! 
Emily: So I was here [at the Drift Inn] maybe two months ago, brainstorming and writing down ideas, and this very lovely couple beside me were like, "What are you doing, writing in a book? Who does that anymore?" And I was like, "Well, I do. And I'm doing it because I'm opening a record store!" They gasped, and said, "Oh, did you hear? Vinyl sales are actually surpassing sales of CD's, and they've never really gone away." As someone who's been very much in the music industry on the low end, underground scene, records are always there, and tapes! In one of my old bands, if we hadn't made tapes we would have gone broke on tour. But instead, we were able to sell them, and people could hold them in their hand. There's a really sweet thing about that that makes people have more intention with their music. That's why I love the idea. So each name could be either Records, Vinyl, or Music. So I'm trying to decide which one. People love alliteration. But their suggestion was that if I use Vinyl, people these days don't know how to spell. [laughs] And I was like, "So sad!" but also, "That is true..." So, there's that.

TYG: My two favorites are Perpetua Records and Spindrift Music! 
Emily: Because I want the name to be simply something that people just know as Yachats. Because I want to start the business to make our community be more vibrant. That's why I want folks to be able to weigh in if they feel like it.

TYG-Editorial Assistant: So why do you want to open a record store?
Emily: Because I love music. And because I thought about if I'm just sitting in a shop, what would I want to have around me that would never be boring, that would ceaselessly be entertaining? And it's music, to me. And when you have a space that has music, you can do so much more to have live music. Or even just simple things: I'm going to have a speaker that will play out to the street—because I want people to have people be like [snaps fingers], "Oh, what is that?" and to feel a groove and feel good about their day. To me, I think that music is this beautiful kind of art that involves every other kind of art. There's the physical record that you hold in your hand, the person that made the art on the sleeve; the people that wrote that poetry; the musicians that recorded it—I just think that it's this beautiful epicenter that's all braided together to create something that we all can enjoy. And I've been on people's records, and recorded music, and been in my own bands—and that was so satisfying, a distinct feeling that I didn't get anywhere else in my life. My hope is that I can kind of cultivate that for Yachats.

TYG-EA: Why vinyl?
Emily: Good question! [laughs] I guess my earliest memories were my father's vinyl collection. He had a big papa-san chair and a huge 70's headphone set, and I think I was around twelve, when I really just needed some space to myself, to not have to listen to all the noise in the world, and to really be able to just center and focus and sort of trip out. And it was sitting there for hours and having that space given to me was just ... Even the tactile [memory], the way it feels to just pull it out: it's really a good feeling! And I love records because they don't become trash, like a CD does. Even the ones that become scratched—I'm refurbishing the space, and I'm going to use those. You can make cute stuff out of them, shoot a BB gun at them... [laughs] And there's this warmth to it—it takes a little more intentionality, which I really like. You can't just... I can be somewhat ADD, so a record really makes me focus. I can get up and move around if I want, but... just let it ride. Just let it ride, you know? I like that. It just feels like something I hope other people can get back into, as well... Generationally, the music industry sort of tried to tamp down the fact that people were even still collecting records. I love people being nerdy about the thing they love. Folks have always been like that about records.

TYG: Nowadays, people have pretty much given that up, in terms of the "trying to suppress it." I mean, we bought a new record player! It's actually quite a cool piece—it's got a 4-way function: radio, tape, CD, and records. 
Emily: They're great! My hope is that it will help generationally bond people a little again. When I tell people I'm doing this, every age person seems to have an emotional connection to that idea. A lot of people are like, "Oh, I wish I'd never given away my record collection—it makes me think of this time in my life..." and I'm like, "Well then, come in, and let's do that again for you!" So I'll always have refurbished, vintage record players for sale. And I want people to be like, "Oh, I haven't listened to Fleetwood Mac's Tusk in forever!" and I can say, "Well, you should, because there are some hilarious jammers on there." Like where they are gets so weird—I think on that album they hired an entire marching band, and rented out a football stadium? I was like "Oh my god, you guys have too much money." I'm glad they did it, but the songs are ridiculous. I want people to have that time, I think. And especially in a world where everything is so digital, here's a moment where you don't have to be. So, we'll see! I'm definitely not getting into it to make my millions! [laughs]

TYG-EA: So, are you thinking mostly new, or used, or...?
Emily: So right now, I have a good friend that runs a record store in Portland—shout out to Jared! I put a call out on Facebook (of all places), and he got back to me. He owns Clinton Street Record and Stereo and has always done really well. He's a DJ, and sells refurbished audio equipment. He said he looked through all of his records for doubles, and he said, "I've got a great deal for you, I want to help your company, we've been friends for a long time and I really believe in your vision." So I bought my first big bulk amount. So up there in the space right now I have over 250 records. I have 100 45's, and 200 tapes. I like to think I have good taste in music, so I'm going through my own record collection, and I'm going to release some things that I know I couldn't live without at one point, but it's okay—I don't need to have two Nancy Sinatra records that have the same songs in different orders. I can pick the one I want, or maybe I'll sell that one, because there's a Lee Hazlewood/Nancy Sinatra record that has duets. It's one of my favorite records ever, and I'm like, I could never get rid of it. But the idea of selling it to someone who will either find it fresh and new, or someone who already loved that music and is getting to know it again, is a way to feel really good about cathartically getting rid of things I love.

TYG: It's like a way to pass it on.
Emily: Right! Tom, my husband, asked "[in a dramatically tearful tone] Are you going to sell all our beautiful records? " "Yes, baby, I am." Not all of them, but maybe. It's like, maybe it was my favorite sweater for five years, but I haven't worn it in two. You can pass it on, you know. [laughs] 

(This portion of the interview is the continuing part from December 2019's issue.)

Emily: So I'm always looking for new inventory. Which is fun! I love going to estate sales and thrift stores, or just seeing what collections people have. It's like treasure hunting!

TYG-EA: So where is this going to be, and when is it going to open?
Emily: Good question. It is above the guitar shop, which is exciting because Kathy and Frank are two incredible people who are new to our community—I love that I can buy my guitar strings somewhere in town! I approached them, and I was like, "You know, I would love to help you keep your shop open, and have it be fruitful, and get people in here. I have a good idea! They were just so kind and receptive to it. This is something I've been wanting to do for so long! When you see your cards laid out and you know what they are, and when you see them turn over and that things are possible, it's very exciting. So above there, inside the main shop, is a beautiful, kind of loft space with honey-colored wood. My friend Dusty is an incredible carpenter, and he just finished a gorgeous, nice, long, wide window seat, so that will be the reading nook. I'm going to sell records—it's a records, music shop—but I'm also going to sell book. I have an incredible, famous literature collection that I've already read twice! I can pass those on. And I think the beautiful thing about music is it's art, and then other media sit beside it really well. Then there's something for everyone. In a time like this, you kind of have to try to find a lot of niches and fill them all. [laughs]

TYG: I was just thinking: Earlier, you were saying that you were hopefully going to have music playing the whole time, even out to the street... You may wish to check out some videos of a mall in London called Pop Brixton. It's a very different looking space, but I think the atmosphere is already pretty similar. 
TYG-EA: It's this giant warren made mostly out of shipping containers. Dozens of different places to eat and to shop.
TYG: And each one of them is a full shop in a 10x20' container.
Emily: I see what you mean, because that whole little corner is becoming its own little beautiful entity, with Dark Water—again, incredible people...

TYG: And it has been that, previously! 
Emily: Yes! I'm excited to do that.

TYG: And this is a particularly interesting one, because I haven't seen it before, in that it has a residence as well! So I hope all the best for that group, because that's amazing! I'm going into civil planning, and it's not something I'd considered before, but actually, thinking about it from an efficiency perspective, especially in today's somewhat minimalist society, it's an incredibly lucrative and important invention that I think we're getting to witness the very start of.
Emily: Yes! It's really great that we all get to share space.

TYG: I would not be surprised if in 30, 40, 50 years, this will be what cities are built like, new areas of cities—instead of having tall apartment buildings, are low-rise, out a ways, creating new spaces, a low-rise commercial, industrial, and residential mix.
Emily: Yes. I definitely like the mixture of all of us, because then we can bring each other business. To me, the whole thing about music is that it's something you can enjoy very personally, or it's something you can enjoy communally. I hope that I can help bring people through their shops. And just to have that beautiful patio, which I like to create a million ideas and see what sticks. My hope is, eventually, on Sundays with the Farmer's Market, to always have live music out there. Just to give people a space to sit and enjoy their pastry or whatever it is that they got from the Farmer's Market, to bring a little bit more of a communal, cultural experience. I think we all really deserve to have fun together.

TYG-EA: When are you planning to be open?
Emily: Well, that's a good question. I'm hoping this month. I'm someone who typically [finds it] hard to focus on a project if I don't see the perfect timeline, and realizing that you also have to just let things happen as they do, and to be proud of your project and stick with it no matter how it unfolds. [...] I have a friend who's building really beautiful record cases with that nice honey-wood vibe. I know where everything goes, I just have to get there. This winter I'm not at Ona [Restaurant.] I'll be back in the Spring, because I love it there, but to be able to have the opportunity to have space and time to create something of me, but for everyone, is my favorite kind of project. It's exciting to have that time. The winter is a vaguely slow time, but here at the coast I feel like it's a gestational period, to really set intentions with what we want to do. [...] Then I just get to sit and listen to music all day! [laughter] I'm really excited because Midtown Guitars have beautiful guitars in there, and to be around such beautiful objects, it can really create so much energy. It will be really fun. And I've worked in a lot of people's shops—when you like what you're around, you're able to help sell it and pass it on to the people that need it. I've been working with a lot of different artists from up and down the coast—I have a friend from Los Angeles who's an incredible artist, some friends in Portland, so there will be cool rock and roll art prints that are handmade and hand-printed. I have a friend who has a new, vintage rock and roll t-shirt company. So the revenue for me will be from the records that I sell, but everything else is probably going to be consignment for local artists. I want people to be able to have a space to be seen!

TYG-EA: Are you planning to buy as well as sell records? 
Emily: Yes! Perhaps not right away, because there won't be enough revenue yet, but yes, eventually. And music stuff too! It's always great to do buy-sell-trade. Actually, in Portland, there's "Trade Up Music," two locations—it's my favorite place. They let you go in and play the guitars, and like when I was in my early 20's, I couldn't afford to buy that pedal I wanted, they would do lay-away. That's a really sweet place. And I like the idea of having someone need to sell this pedal because they need to make ends meet, or they want a new one... Maybe we can do that. I'll definitely always want to sell fun stuff, like even if I find a beautiful vintage camera. I'll put it in my shop, because to me, they all fit together.

TYG-EA: Right! It's your shop, you can do what you want! 
Emily: My own perfume line, my own sunglasses line... [lots of laughter] One of the things I hope to do with my inventory is to have a little card with each one, typed out, about the artist and why they're important in music history. Because a lot of people get a little overwhelmed at a record store, because they don't know. "What is this record? Why should I buy Lene Lovich?" And I'm like, "Oh! She's incredible!

TYG-EA: "Lucky Number!" 
Emily: "My lucky number's one..." She's so good!

TYG-EA: That was one of the first videos I ever saw! 
Emily: [sings some more] She's like a palatable Nina Hagen. [...] But my hope is that I have these little information [cards] in each record, then people can get a little idea. Like the Kingsmen Trio: "Local restauranteur Michelle's father helped produce this record in a club in Portland." You know, really fun facts that might make people [go from] "Well, I don't know!" to "Woah, that's sounds cool!" There will be a listening station in the shop as well, in a nice, cozy chair, and nice, big headphones, because that feeling I talked about, the nostalgia, the coziness of listening to records: I want to recreate that for people. It'll be fun.

TYG: Alright, well thank you so very much! 
Emily: Yes, it was really fun, I really appreciate it!