The Yachats Gazette, Issue 88, January 1 2019

Click here for a printable version of Issue 88.

Interview: Kim McLaughlin and Gary Manos of the Laughing Crab Gallery

The Yachats Gazette was pleased to visit with the owners of this new gallery located at 2334 Hwy 101 N (at the bottom of Forest Hill Rd.) and their cat Squid. Gary Manos is also a steel artist who sells his works in-house.

TYG: I was just noticing earlier... I've been through three, four iterations of this gallery in various forms—this space. It's amazing how much it changes each time. [...] Last time, all of the back was open. It was all shop space—it was just the upstairs that was closed off. 
Kim: We are going to be expanding into the back space in the spring, and we'll have a grand opening then. We're also going to do an outdoor garden courtyard on the side, and that's going to be fenced in with little tables, and we'll be serving coffees and teas and having wine tastings. I think it should be fun! We're also going to be having the vino painting parties—I think that will be a hit here.

TYG-Graphic Design: How did you come up with the name [The Laughing Crab Gallery]?
Kim: I don't know, it just came to me one day. I just thought it was kind of funny...
Gary: It's an oxymoron! You know, the crab is always associated with being... crabby! She hit me with that, she goes, "What do you think of Laughing Crab?" "I love it!"

TYG: I feel like a lot of stuff happens like that on the coast.
Kim: I have this Etsy account called "The Driftwood Mermaid" and I thought something kind of whimsical and fun, you know. Something that would make people feel, "That's a comfortable place to go to see art." You don't feel intimidated by the name.

TYG: Yeah, not something like [intones] "The Yachats Metropolitan Art Gallery." 
Kim: [laughter] Our mission is to have an eclectic, fun, comfortable space for people to come in, so that kids, families, people who just want a small gift, to people who are actually collectors, so that everybody would feel comfortable coming in here. We just didn't want people to come into a gallery and have to tiptoe around.

TYG: This is beautiful. I really like the open space. 
Gary: We will be putting up some display walls [...], but thank you. I think openness helps, that's for sure.
Kim: And, we wanted to be affordable. We want people to be able to take something home with them that is special and unique, whether it's something that reminds them of the coast, or something that reminds them of where they've traveled—whatever resonates with them, but they're able to afford it and take it home. Hitting every price point is kind of important to us. And we think that art isn't just something that you put on the wall. It's something you wear, or jewelry, or a trinket that you can have in your pocket. So that's what the eclectic part means.

TYG: I was just noticing that [driftwood] mirror behind you—I like that.
Kim: [laughing] Thank you! I made that!

TYG: Wow! Nice!
Kim: Thank you! [...] So Gary does actual metal work, and some photography, and driftwood art, and some painting, and that [pointing] is a rubbing from a fossil—we're trying to have different mediums.

TYG-GD: That one [the fossil rubbing] I really like.
Gary: Thank you. I would have to get on the internet and look it up, as to how old they really are, but it's between Newport and Otter Rock, after Beverly Beach. There's this area where there are thousands of them. It's a bit of a walk, but there are thousands of these rocks with the fossil shells. So I took some pictures and did a charcoal rub [of that one].
Kim: Our goal is to be someplace where you can sit down and really appreciate what you're going to buy, and feeling really strong about what [you] purchase. [You're] going to take it home and go "Yes. I made the right decision." That's important to us. [...] Not just an at-whim purchase, immediate gratification—and then you're like, "What did I do!" [laughter] [...] A lot of the things in here are one-of-a-kind, and you're not ever going to be able to find them anywhere else. And Gary's metal work... he does custom design work as well.

TYG: Is that what some of this is? It's beautiful—I love your style!
Gary: Thank you.
Kim: What's interesting about Gary's metal work is that he uses a hand-held plasma cutter, whereas a majority of the metal artists out there are using large CNC [computer numerical control] machines that [use] a computer pattern, and the machine cuts it out. Whereas he is able to draw on the metal, and cut it out with a hand-held cutter—that's what's really unique.

TYG-GD: Are they really heavy?
Gary: They're not. For me, it's a nice weight.

TYG-GD: Oh, I meant the plasma cutter, not the art...
Gary: Oh, the plasma cutter is very heavy, yes.

TYG-GD: I was just wondering how it is to make it wiggle and wobble like that, to go around the edges!
Gary: Oh! The hand-held part is nice and light.

TYG-GD: Is it kind of like an air brush system?
Gary: Almost, because it does use compressed air. It uses positive and negative, electricity. The electricity super-heats the point that it's coming out of, and the compressed air flows through that super-heated area.

TYG-GD: Where does the [cut material] go? Does it just spatter underneath?
Gary: Yes, like super-fine metal dust all over the place.

TYG: So make sure you have a very good mask and glasses.
Kim: And a respirator—a very big mask. And a helmet.

TYG-GD: Oh man. It would be very hard to do art with a big mask on. 
Gary: It takes some getting used to, to be honest, it really did. It's strange. And there are times when you get that feeling, "I want this thing off!"
Kim: Especially when we lived in Eugene—it gets pretty hot there. So it'll be nice here on the summer days, because it won't be as hot. And there's not really air conditioning in the shop.

TYG-GD: So how do you get the colors on the metal?
Gary: That's with a torch, with heat.

TYG-GD: Hmm! So is it a question of time or temperature that makes the color?
Gary: Both.
Kim: He always says that I'm welcome to learn, but when I watch him... it's a little tricky! He knows right when to pull the flame back, or put it closer, and that's how he creates different colors.

TYG-GD: [...] So how did you learn to do all this?
Gary: Honestly, I saw it in a restaurant in Sisters. I was with my kids—they were young. I think the restaurant's name, literally, was The Gallery. And the dividers up above your head were like trout in a stream, and whatnot. And I just thought, "I think I can do that." The metal really appealed to me. I had a little boat and a Yamaha Banshee quad, and I sold them both, bought all the tools and equipment, and... You know, the first stuff... my Mom was my biggest fan. [laughter] You laugh, but it wasn't even high school art...
Kim: But you took a lot of art classes when you were younger.
Gary: When I was younger, I had virtually every art class you can think of. And shop, so I had some welding experience.
Kim: And he works on cars—he's a car guy. He's a Mr. Fix-It kind of guy. And how long have you been doing it?
Gary: Probably about fifteen years, now.

TYG-GD: And what kind of career did you have before?
Gary: I was with AT&T Wireless. I started out installing when it was cool to have a phone in your car. So first installation, then phone technician, then inside sales, then outside sales support, outside sales, then my final position was called indirect. So if Fred Meyer's was selling cellphones, I would go into Fred Meyer's, train those people—that kind of thing. That was my final position, which was great, because from Salem all the way to Medford, over here to the coast, that was my territory. My boss and whatnot was in Portland, and he never came down, so long as your numbers were where they needed to be, you were left alone. So I think it was a nice segue into self-employment, because I was pretty self-sufficient. And the outside sales. Because I hated it—I truly hated it—but I did a year of it, and if I learned anything, it was [how to handle rejection.] If I were to go down this street, and, you know, "Hey, anybody need cellphones?" "Nah, get out of here." But somewhere down the road, somebody wanted five. Four or five more noes. Then somebody wanted 10. And it was the same thing when I'd approach galleries. "No, this is not our style at all." So the rejection didn't hurt. Or at least as much. But, same thing—I knew sooner or later some gallery was going to take a few pieces.
Kim: And you were advancing in your own, personal style at that point.

TYG-GD: So you had some paid time to transition over to art full time. 
Gary: When I left, Cingular had bought out AT&T (now of course it's AT&T again. Don't even get me going on that). But anyway, they said, "We can find a place for you, or we can make you go away." So I got the six-month severance package for going away. So I had a nice, six month launching ramp to get it going.

TYG: [...] So, when did you first get the idea to have this gallery?
Gary: I would say that we'd come over often. We were in Eugene, so we'd go Florence, and then we've got a small sailboat at the embarcadero in Newport. And I mean very small: a little 21-footer where you're basically camping on the water. But that's just the route we would take, because it's nice, coastal, scenic. And one day we just drove by, and I saw the "For Lease" sign, and I said, "Did you see that?" And we turned around, came back, and started playing with the idea. We must have come back five more times—and each time we'd come in, get a feel... I would stand there, arms folded, just watch the traffic zooming by, and think, "Okay, on one hand lots of traffic, on the other hand, 55 mph..." That was certainly a concern. Anyway, we just kept mulling it over, mulling it over...
Kim: I think it's always something we kept tucked in the back of our minds... "Wouldn't it be great if we lived on the coast?" And then we saw this... But we had to really vision it—and I think it's going to be great!

TYG-GD: Did you have a job that you gave up to come here?
Kim: I owned a childcare center in Eugene that I sold. I had a small in-home day care for 16 years, and then I expanded into a larger childcare center over the last five years, so for 21 years I've run a childcare center in Eugene. And I was just kind of tired of working that hard. I mean, not that we're not going to be working that hard here, but it feels a little bit different.
Gary: 56 kids, 20 employees...

TYG: Good employee to kid ratio, though!
Kim: They didn't all work full-time. And then of course we had a cook, a van driver, a book-keeper. And then life circumstances that make you go, "Hey, I need a lifestyle change!" So health, and family, and just knowing that we wanted to be closer to the ocean that we were always coming to anyway... [laughs] [...] We've got a lot of work to do, and I think it's going to be a great evolution to see us grow. We hope that by the Spring we have the rest of this space kind of figured out.
Gary: I think it's safe to say that we'll definitely expand into a second show room.

TYG-GD: [...] Where are you guys from originally?
Kim: He grew up in this area.
Gary: I was actually born in California and lived there until I was five or six, three months of summer in Lincoln City, then one year in Washington, then Salem, Oregon, from then on out. Then Newport—my kids were old enough, they were out—and my mom had passed away, so I thought, "What have I always wanted to do?" So I bought a boat. 30-foot sailboat: bought it in Portland, then brought it down to Newport. It was a $2,500 sailboat, but it was a step above camping on the water. [laughs] So three years in Newport, then five and a half, six years in Eugene with [Kim].

TYG-GD: So where are you from, Kim?
Kim: Well, I grew up on the eastern shore of Maryland and Delaware. I spent my younger years in Maryland.

TYG-GD: So crabbing is kind of endemic to your upbringing!
Kim: [laughs] Yes, and I have "laugh" in my name! [...] I moved to Eugene when I was 21.

TYG-GD: Why did you move to Eugene?
Kim: Oh, I had some friends that lived there and really loved it—young, hippie friends. [laughs] The East Coast is a good place to live, but Oregon people are just so incredibly friendly. I just felt like I'd found my people, you know. It clicked—Eugene worked for who I was. I ended up going back to school at the University of Oregon and finishing my degree there. Interestingly enough, I first went to college in Delaware at Wellesley College, and my first degree was a retail marketing degree. That was my associate's degree. Then I took some time out to find myself, and then moved to Eugene and discovered the role of childcare, and went back to school and got my sociology degree and education degree. So now I'm full circle here, and I get to do the retail part. I had a lot of experience, but it's been many years; but it feels natural.

TYG: Is there anything else you wanted to add to the interview?  
Gary: Our winter hours for right now are Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; noon to five Friday, ten to five Saturday and Sunday.

TYG: Thank you so much!
Kim: Thank you!
Gary: Thank you!

Interview with Layne Morrill of
Our Coastal Village

The Yachats Gazette interviewed Mr. Morrill by e-mail about the new buildings on Diversity Drive.

TYG: What is Our Coastal Village Inc.?
Layne: Our Coastal Village, Inc., is an Oregon public benefit corporation that qualifies as tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code and as a public charity under section 170 of the code. It was formed in 2009 to provide relief to the poor, distressed, and disadvantaged in the Yachats area, primarily through affordable housing. Our first project was the 7-unit Townhome project known as Aqua Vista Square which was completed in 2013, for households earning 80% or less of area median income. Three of the units have been sold to our former tenants on a basis that makes them permanently affordable; four units are still being leased to eligible tenants.

TYG: How are the new housing developments coming along?
Layne: Our new development is Fisterra Gardens Townhomes, [which] consists of 21 affordable-rental units for Yachats working families. This project will provide safe, decent, affordable housing to 21 local working families near their jobs. Completion is expected May 2019. All 21 units are set aside for households earning at or under 60% of area median income. Those limits are currently $22,980 for a one-person household, $26,280 for a two-person household, $29,580 for a three-person household, and $32,820 for a four-person household. The Project has preferences for families with children residing in zip code 97498 and for households where at least one person is employed in zip code 97498.

Fisterra Gardens Townhomes includes 6 studio units, 3 one-bedroom units, 10 two-bedroom units, and 2 three-bedroom units. Amenities include range, oven, refrigerator, microwave, and washer/dryer in each unit. Five units have garages; 26 surface spaces provide the balance of the parking. Outdoor common areas include a covered pavilion with barbecues and picnic tables and nearby lawn area, raised beds for gardening, a storage shed/greenhouse to facilitate gardening and landscaping, and location adjacent to the trail head of the beautiful Ya’Xaik trail, part of the City of Yachats public trail system.

Construction is progressing on schedule.

TYG: What inspired you to found this project?
Layne: This project is really at the heart of the mission of Our Coastal Village, Inc, to provide affordable housing for lower income households. Yachats simply has no housing that is safe, decent, and affordable for folks earning at or below 60% of area median income.  This project has a "preference" for local workers (employed in zip code 97498) especially families with children.

TYG: How are the potential inhabitants reacting?
Layne: We have received 36 Expression of Interest forms from local people based solely on word of mouth. Advertising is now beginning and I'm sure more people will respond to the advertising. Unfortunately, the demand far outstrips the 21 units that are being constructed.

TYG: When will the project be ready for inhabitation?
Layne: All 21 units should be completed by April 1, 2019.  Several units will be completed and occupied earlier than that. Rents will be approximately $492 for a studio, $532 for a one-bedroom, $640 for a two-bedroom, and $737 for a three-bedroom. Water, sewer, and trash removal are included in the rents. Tenants pay their own electric.

TYG: What sort of architectural styles and theme will the project be going for?
Layne: Because we are building housing that will be affordable, our construction has to be as inexpensive as possible, consistent with quality construction. So we are not striving to achieve any fancy architectural style or theme. The town homes will look like other two story cottages in the area and will be finished in earth tone colors.  But they will be new, clean, safe, and affordable to the local workers and their families.

TYG: Who is managing the project at the different levels?
Layne: The Project is owned by Fisterra Gardens Townhomes Limited Partnership. Our Coastal Village, Inc., is the general partner of that limited partnership and will provide general management services. The rentals of the units as well as maintenance and repairs will be handled by our independent third party manager, Cascade Management, Inc. There is a rental office at the Project and it will be staffed about half-time by an employee of Cascade Management, Inc.

TYG: Where are the materials for the project coming from?
Layne: The concrete and rock required for the project are sourced locally. Most of the lumber comes from Eugene, much of it from the sawmills located there. Local subcontractors are doing the excavation, plumbing, and electrical. Most of the other subcontractors are from the Valley, as is our General Contractor, Meili Construction, of Eugene.

TYG: What sort of grants is the government providing to help with the project?
Layne: Our Coastal Village, Inc. has invested over $2,000,000 in the Project, funded mostly by grants from: Lincoln County Economic Development ($10,000); Oregon-based Meyer Memorial Trust ($250,000) and The Collins Foundation ($150,000); and Arizona-based The DLW Foundation ($825,000) and The Norton Foundation ($250,000). Investors with ties to the local community purchased OCV’s 30-year, 2.5% Series FGT Project Notes in the aggregate amount of $422,500 to help fund the Project’s construction. Alliant Capital Ltd has committed to invest $2,097,000 in low-income housing tax credit equity.

Oregon Housing and Community Services provided a $797,979 30-year zero interest LIFT loan for the Project. The Legislative Assembly created the LIFT program specifically to fund new housing units in rural communities like Yachats. OHCS also issued short-term tax exempt conduit bonds for construction ($2,175,000) and long-term tax exempt conduit bonds for permanent financing ($850,000). Washington Federal, National Association, will purchase and hold the bonds and administer the construction loan.

The City of Yachats has agreed to allow installment payment of $46,459 in system development fees over 30 years at 3% interest out of a total SDC charge of $98,000.

TYG: What sorts of plans do you have for the future?
Layne: We have no specific plans for the future. Those will be formulated after construction of the current Project is completed. But we would definitely like to help encourage the development of more housing in Yachats for the families who work in our local motels, restaurants, and shops. There are some measures we would like to see the City Council adopt that would be a benefit to affordable housing. These include a construction excise tax which would help fund some of the cost of affordable housing; and revising our system development charges so they are lower for small homes and higher for large homes, rather than the same for every single family lot developed regardless of the size of the home.

The Yachats Gazette
wishes all its readers and advertisers a wonderful 2019!

Thank you all for your patronage.

The Yachats Gazette, Issue 86, October 26 2018 (November Issue)

Click here for a printable copy of Issue 86. Because we had a very specific format in order to present the mayoral candidates side-by-side, we've decided to upload images of each page to the blog. However, that may be kind of hard to read depending on what kind of device you've chosen; please download and print, or as usual, you can find hard copies at the Post Office, Green Salmon, or Mari's Books and... . You should just be able to click on the first image to get a larger size, then scroll through the images as you read, though. Do vote!

The Yachats Gazette, Issue 81, June 6 2018

For a printable version of Issue 81, please click here

Interview with Adrian Beatty and
Vanessa Millard
of the Green Salmon

The interior of the Green Salmon

Adrian and Vanessa both work at the Green Salmon. Adrian is the current coffee roaster, and Vanessa is one of the baristas.

TYG: So, when was the Green Salmon founded?
Adrian: Thirteen years ago, the 7th of June. 

TYG: What was it named after?
Adrian: Green Salmon is named after the Green Dragon, a coffee house in Boston. Since we are in the middle of salmon nation, [they called it The Green Salmon. But it also has eco-friendly overtones.] The co-owner at the time, Dave, had random things like a wind-powered cash register.

TYG: I remember that! There were solar cells on that front deck, or something.
Adrian: Yep—this is before I even started working here.

TYG-Graphic Design: And he was trapping water in a barrel, wasn’t he?
Adrian: He was. He was catching rain water.
Vanessa: We still try to practice green.
Adrian: All the time. He was also roasting coffee either in the oven, or on the north end of the building, outside, in a homemade contraption.

TYG: That sounds dangerous!
Adrian: No, it was built the way it should have been—it’s just how we go from that to what we have now, our eight pound roaster.

TYG-GD: I sure remember when that eight pound roaster came in! “They’re taking room away from the dining! I can’t believe it!” [laughs] Oh, and it was that mess with the fencing, that was so industrial!
Adrian: So the fencing is there because of fire requirements. It’s kind of a pain in the butt, because being the roaster, all of my work is very condensed, and I have to pack every single time. It takes upwards of an hour to do all of that, plus the setup. Which is alright—it’s good for you.

TYG: What’s amazing to me is that you have all these sacks...
Adrian: But there’s a lot of space. You have about shoulder width between those and the pallets, where all the coffee’s strapped down. And the vents in the back also have a distance of at least a foot.

TYG-GD: So it’s all within fire regulations.
Adrian: Yes.

TYG: So how did you guys get involved?
Vanessa: I actually grew up here in Yachats, went to Waldport schools. Never actually got to come into the Green Salmon as a kid. I graduated from high school and moved away for a while, but I found myself back at home in Yachats. I was actually working at the Luna Sea across the street—I had the breakfast shift. [...] I’d actually been a barista for three years prior, and I thought, “You know, I’m going to go over there and get a cup of coffee.” [laughs] So I walked in, and... oh my gosh. So that’s how I came. I was just like, “I’ve got to be over here, back in the coffee life.” [to Adrian] How about you?
Adrian: So I came here looking for a job one day. I’d done mid-tray type serving...

TYG-GD: “Mid-tray”?
Adrian: Mid-tray is like your Mom and Pop establishments where your requirements are pretty relaxed but you still have some formality to it, and then you’ve got your family diner type status. There are more or less random tiers. Like I said before, I’ve done the “penguin” thing, nail checks every night, cuticle checks every night...

TYG-GD: That wasn’t here in Yachats was it?
Adrian: No, just really stupid stuff. I had an accident, and because of that accident I wasn’t able to do that kind of work any more, so I was looking for something that was a little more mellow, and there was a sign here in the window, and on the door, and on the other door, and in the other window, that said “hey, we’re looking for a barista.” I thought, “Well, I’ve worked in kitchens, that should be easy. I’m just making drinks, that should be super easy!” So I was making drinks for three days a week for the entire summer. Then it turned into a full time job, things happened, and changed, and new people came in like Vanessa, and I helped her get at least solid, and then she took off like a bat out of hell; her drinks are amazing, she’s always got amazing art. Then I started working up front, so, I’m not working in the back so much anymore. Dealing with people is a lot of fun. You get a lot of customers that come in with the same order every time, or they have a fixed set of options. One customer for example has six options, and based on what they drink and eat, there are six different options to choose from. Usually though, you can just feel it out and hit it on the dot every time.

TYG: Or it is like me, cookie and bagels every time.
Adrian: With cream cheese, right?

TYG: Yeah.
Vanessa: The two of us compete as well some times: “Oh what’s that lady’s name?” and “What does she get?”
Adrian: I try to remember everyone’s names, because I think that’s important: it makes people feel recognized and important when you come here, especially over and over again. Well, they are spending all this money to help pay us so that we can stay here and live here; but they are also spending money at a local business and helping it develop; and people really like it. They really like that fact. We have name games a lot of times, and I’ll just type in smiley faces, a lot of times just because I am drawing a blank, and [Vanessa] is always here and always says, “Oh, it’s so-and-so;” and it’s like, yeah that’s right! Or I’ll get it after I sent the ticket out and I just wait for her response and I think: “Bingo, we’re on it!” So, we have a lot of fun that way. I started roasting coffee because the coffee roaster at the time was changing jobs to drive a truck, and have a little more of a relaxing job where you’re not having to put in the nights, because [roasting] is a long process. And I’ve been doing that for three years.

TYG-GD: So can you take us through a night? What does a night of roasting look like?
Adrian: So, after you break down and clean the machine...

TYG-GD: Well what time do you start, first?
Adrian: Oh, so, in the summer time, I start at about 1:00 or 1:30 am. So I get up between 12:30 and 12:45 am. Sometimes I don’t get up till 1:00 am, and that’s just me being lazy. But I try to get about a five hour roast each time, because in that time I can go anywhere from 128 pounds to 140-something pounds, and I then bag it, and prepare for the next roast which is another five hours. So about two to three times a week I do a five hour roast. I spend about an extra hour the night before just because that way, you can come in groggy and get straight to work.

TYG: What time must you go to bed?
Adrian: Heh, so I typically sleep about three hours a night, sometimes four; again because of the accident. But, that’s all I get, so I just make use of that when I go to work; and I only go to work a few days a week, but I maximize the time that I’m at work by putting in about two shifts a day, three days a week.

TYG: [to TYG-GD] That’s like what you used to do.
TYG-GD: I know!
Adrian: And it’s fun, it’s a challenge.

TYG-GD: Do you blast the music or is the roaster too loud?
Adrian: Actually no, I have a kid’s Kindle Fire and a blue tooth speaker and so I watch movies. Sometimes I watch the Cheddar, or Newsy or CNN, just for background noise. And towards the end of my roast I am usually watching “Trevor Noah: The Daily Show,” or Oliver on “Last Week Tonight”...

TYG-GD: I only saw it once at my mom’s two weeks ago.
Adrian: It’s super amazing. And if I’m already caught up on all of those then I find a science documentary to watch. I kind of just play it by ear. Sometimes I watch history.

TYG-GD: Cool, yeah.
Adrian: Boring stuff, you know.

TYG-GD: Oh I don’t think so! [To Vanessa] Do you work more normal hours than all that?
Vanessa: Yeah, about 7:30 to 3:30, a little later in the summer time. 

TYG: Not so bad, then.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Adrian: Sometimes you just have to train yourself, and sometimes it is just a developed thing. You know, “Oh, I have to roast this much coffee, do I want to do it at the end of the day when I just got finished talking to close to a thousand people, answering questions and trying to think for other people, giving change in nickels, and just generally so burnt out?” I want to put good effort into my work, so sometimes, you just have to do that.
[Vanessa leaves to go pick up the phone]
Adrian: We do a lot of retail too, and a lot of our calls come in after hours, which is cool because a lot of times Deb’s here or I’m here, or Vanessa’s here. For example, today: We take phone orders for retail coffee, retail tea, lost and found. We keep a lost and found going for about 90 days, sometimes in the winter time we will keep it for a little bit longer. Sometimes people don’t correlate the fact that “Oh, I was here when I last had that...”

TYG-GD: So when you say retail coffee, what does that entail?
Adrian: So, for retail coffee, we sell it by the pound.

TYG-GD: So you actually sell your beans to other businesses?
Adrian: We sell it here and then we have wholesale accounts with Ona or Heceta Head Bed and Breakfast that feature our coffees; and they feature Colombian, and then they also have the same decaf that we have, which is Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. That is all Swiss water processed.
Vanessa: We also mail coffee all over the country, all the time.
Adrian: We do. We mail coffee all over the country, all over the place.
Vanessa: To people in Texas, Florida, New York...
Adrian: We actually have “coffee contracts” so to speak, where we are sending out coffee at a scheduled date every month.

TYG-GD: Oh, like Gevalia!
Adrian: Yeah, well I just sent this guy in Chicago like three pounds of the house coffee! He loves it and he keeps getting it. The first of every month is when he wants it shipped out.

TYG-GD: That’s awesome!
Adrian: Then I’ve got people in Texas, like Vanessa said. She gets the same thing: four pounds of dark Sumatra whole bean, every single month. Once in a while she makes a trip to Oregon, and then we get to see her, but other than that, four pounds of coffee.

TYG-GD: It’s like my family! Every time I go back [East], I buy stuff, and at Christmas...
TYG: Yes, usually some of our gifts are you guys’ coffee!
Adrian: Yes, your dad comes in and buys a lot...

TYG-GD: And you guys have a huge tea array, right?
Adrian: My gosh. We have so many teas... so many organic teas, I should say. We have high grade teas from China, Pu’ehr, anything, everything!

TYG-GD: Who does the shopping for that?
Adrian: Deb [Gisetto, the owner of Green Salmon.] She’s like the maestro.

TYG-GD: Is that her specialty?
Adrian: [laughs] I would say everything here is her specialty.
Vanessa: Yes, she’s the one who does the shopping for the whole store.
Adrian: She’s the visionary...
Vanessa: The backbone...
Adrian: The drive behind the force... and the inspiration.

TYG: Wow! Pretty impressive!
Adrian: Yes. So many crazy teas, and a lot of them we blend. Like the Silent Lucidity: that was a blend that she came up with.

TYG-GD: Do you have a lot of tea shoppers here?
Adrian: Oh my goodness. On an average week, we probably sell 83 or 84 pounds of tea a week.

TYG-GD: Still, less than the coffee.
Adrian: Still a lot. It takes a while to weigh out all the tea, and package it—to get it set up that way, it’s pretty time-consuming. There are some times when some people will just bring a basket and buy the entire basket.

TYG-GD: Do people browse the teas for medicinal purposes?
Adrian: All the time. A lot of the time we get asked about tummy aids, or at one point we had stuff for blood-enriching tonic—that was a tea blend we had. We get a lot for sleeping—the lavender/chamomile blend that we have. Digestion: we have the Chaga Chai; we have caffeine-free blends as well. [...] We also have the Persian Mint [Blend], which is like spearmint, peppermint, ginger, and dried orange. It’s super-amazing—that’s one of my favorite teas. And then there’s the cold and flu blend, which has...
Vanessa: Chamomile, elder flower, ginger, and spearmint.
Adrian: It’s really good iced.

TYG: So how has work been here? Everything going well with you guys?
Vanessa: Yeah! It’s really steady work. We always have a job.
Adrian: It’s getting way busier.
Vanessa: Yes, I feel like this was probably the busiest winter I’ve worked here. And I feel like every summer it just gets busier and busier. [...] We’re trying to keep up—if you know anybody who’s looking for a job... We’re hiring!

TYG-GD: How old should an applicant be?
Adrian: Well, we’re looking for someone to work the counter, for the moment, a couple or a few days a week. Since you don’t have to handle anything hot, but you have to be personable and quick, and able to tolerate all the satire that we throw at you [laughter] ... 16, 17, 18? Get a food handler’s card—that’s super-easy to get.

TYG-GD: So what’s the difference between the front and the back? I mean, I know you wash dishes back there...
Adrian: Okay, so front of the house is basically the counter—everything counter-side, menu-side, table-side. Anything that needs attention: tables wiped, water [filled]—that’s all “front of house.” And then you have the back, which incorporates the kitchen, and the barista area.
Vanessa: We’ll have a line out the door, and a line of tickets in the back, of things to make.
Adrian: And three years ago we started with this really neat point-of-sale system. And this point-of-sale system lets me scream through the line like nobody’s business. Partially because I designed [the implementation of] the interface, the menu parts and where everything is. So to me it’s mostly auto-pilot. But over the last couple of years, we’ve been changing it, and condensing it, and making it more refined so it’s a little more speedy. Because of that, we have this thing now where people who work up front are supposed to be a little more mindful about how many tickets they’re throwing in. So we kind of have this range where if there are so many tickets hanging on the kitchen side, [we have to] slow down just a few seconds, come out, wipe a few tables, take a bus tub back, do something, because in thirty seconds you can do a lot of things. You can make four drinks, you can set up plates for so many tickets, you can do this, that, or the other. But thirty seconds is an honest-to-god amazing breather sometimes. Having been on the barista side, and in the production of all that, thirty seconds is amazing when you’re just being hammered by tickets! But before, when we had the cash register, you had to know the PLU. And if you don’t have the PLUs memorized, you have to stop and look at the sheet, and it slows things down.

TYG: What is a PLU?
Adrian: It’s just like a little code.
Vanessa: For the old-school cash registers, where you have the little numbers on one side. [NB: PLU stands for “price look-up.”]
Adrian: And we’d use these as sub-headings for certain things, like if you have a small coffee, and you want room for cream, it was 313. You’d hit the PLU button, and then it would put that text onto the ticket. We’d have to print out two tickets; one would go to the kitchen, one to the barista area. Then we got this point-of-sale system. It took me a long time to set it up, between roasting coffee and whatever. The longest part of it was programming the menu and going from the PLU sheet. I just threw everything in there, and over the last few years I’ve been working through this and weeding things out that we don’t use anymore, don’t serve, don’t have. This year I just decided that it was time for a change. It’s been two and a half months that I’ve mapped out all the mocha drinks, the coffee drinks, lattes...
Vanessa: Right. It’s going to make this summer with a line out the door way easier.
Adrian: Condensing the menu, like [going] from two or three scrolls on an iPad to one and a half. It’s a huge endeavor, but it’s necessary, because we’re just getting too busy. I think that it will make it easier, especially for new people coming in, to be able to identify what they see; it’s just simple.

TYG: I’m guessing the way it works now is that it’s a basic touchscreen with info on each one of the panels.
Vanessa: Yep.
Adrian: Yes. Everything has a “button,” if you want to think of it like that, and within that button, there’s a little pop-out, and it gives you a list of options. [...]

TYG: Especially because your menu is huge, so there are plenty of options!
Adrian: And it expands, too! And it’s always changing. And because it’s always changing, you have to take things into account. For example, I’ve never had anybody ask for an ALT [avocado, lettuce, and tomato] with eggs on it until two months ago. So that gets me thinking: why not have that as an option? Because I’m bound to get that again. I have another gal who comes in, and she gets a Caesar salad with no cheese—but she gets scrambled eggs on top of it, with half of an avocado. 

TYG: You guys are so cool to offer all of that.
Vanessa: I’ve never worked at a place where the menu is so flexible. And I’ve had a dozen different jobs. This is the only place where we’re like, “Yes, I guess we can do that!” [...]

TYG: So how has the Salmon changed over the years?
Adrian: So, [starting] a few years back, Deb has incorporated more vegan pastry options into the line-up of fresh-baked goods.
Vanessa: Yes, more vegan pastries, and the food line-up is almost all vegan and vegetarian, which is different from when I started four years ago.
Adrian: Yeah, we used to have the New Yorker, which was a turkey pastrami and Swiss.
Vanessa: Tuna, turkey sausage, kielbasa—I’d say that’s the biggest thing. And I’d also say that it’s made taking orders a lot easier, because the menu’s a lot more comprehensive, I guess. It’s pretty straight-forward and vegetarian.
Adrian: A lot of people do get tripped up on our “chicken,” and they don’t understand that there’s an asterisk [...] that says it’s Gardein brand veggie chicken.
Vanessa: There’s no real meat for lunch anymore, so that’s why as a cashier it’s been easier to explain.
Adrian: We do have the cold smoked salmon, though. People do [ask] for it on salads or on ALTs once in a while. That comes out of Eugene, from the Eugene Lox Company, I believe. Our tea, latte, and cocoa menu has also changed over the years. A lot of drinks that were around in the beginning that were just really long to [make] have either evolved, or been replaced by amazing alternatives. Now we’re also incorporating more alternative milks into the base of the drink, instead of just letting people order it with cow’s milk [as a default]. But you can’t get a Coconut Crack-Out without coconut milk! A Café Oregonian is not going to be a Café Oregonian if you get it with hemp milk! That would be just a café au lait with hemp milk. So our cocoa menu has hemp milk, rice milk; tea lattes have rice milk, oat milk; oat milk is earthy and sweet, so it tends to provide a good complement to what is going on with the cocoa. Like a SuperShroom Cocoa: if you don’t specify the milk, they’re automatically going to make it with oat milk: it brings out the flavors, and it’s a complement between the hand-mixed Ecuadorian chocolate and the mushrooms and the oat milk.

TYG: How do you make oat milk?
Vanessa: Squeeze the oat real hard! [laughter]
Adrian: If you make oatmeal with just water, it’s a similar process. Or if you look up how to make almond milk or cashew milk, it’s the same thing.

TYG: Okay, so it’s pressed, and add water, then. Soy milk, I think, is actually using fluid from inside, not just ground.
Adrian: Well, some of it is also that you saturate it overnight for 24 hours, so then it’s drawing flavor and properties out of [the ingredient] and then strained with cheesecloth. It’s pretty cool.

TYG: So where do you see the Green Salmon in five years’ time?
Adrian: Being amazing, being a voice in promoting world causes, like bat conservation; and things like Oregon Wild.
Vanessa: Yes, Deb’s been donating a lot of money to things like that.
Adrian: The Farm Sanctuary, things that are opening up the minds of other people. We have [books] like What the Health, and Forks Over Knives, and Cowspiracy. Just trying to show people that there’s a different way of going about your daily life. You don’t have to put this huge carbon footprint out, and you can be more mindful of what you’re doing, whether it’s not helping to sustain a puppy mill, for example, or helping other farm animals instead of just having them be put down. Why not put them in a place where they can just live out their days, just doing their thing like Nature intended them to do?

TYG-GD: So, still being very green.
Adrian: Green, more sustainable, promoting healthy alternative ways of eating instead of just your fast food normal. We don’t serve anything here that’s fried.
Vanessa: We don’t have a microwave.
Adrian: So none of our pastries are going to be nuked—they’ll just be put back in the oven and gently warmed.
Vanessa: We also have the website that we’re working on, and that’s going to be huge for the Salmon. We’ll be selling coffee and tea online, retail. That’s going to be huge in the next year or so. [http://www.thegreensalmon.com/]

TYG-GD: Is that with Lisa Gray?
Adrian: Yes, Lisa Gray. And she is pretty darn close to finalizing that project. Fingers crossed, we’re going to be going live close to, or at, our thirteenth anniversary.

TYG-GD: Remind us when that is?
Adrian: That’ll be the seventh of June.

TYG-GD: Are there any plans for that?
Adrian: Uhm... [laughs] Other than being amazing or awesome?
Vanessa: [laughing] Maybe a drink special...
Adrian: We can’t quite tell people, that would be just giving it away.

TYG-GD: Oh! [laughs] Would you briefly like to mention some other things that the Green Salmon is involved in after hours?
Adrian: Yes! We do open mike every third Sunday. I believe it’s at 7 PM. Sometimes we have random things happening in our parking lot, but those are never really planned, they just kind of happen.

TYG-GD: I do remember, with a certain fondness, the Community Thanksgiving that used to be here.
Vanessa: We’ve done one the last couple of years. And we’ll also do art projects.

TYG-GD: Oh, yes! And Deb is the artist, right? Who does all the drawings [on the T-shirts and coffee labels]?
Adrian: Yes, she does all the drawings, like for our new CBD menu, we have this amazing little snail, with all kinds of beautiful information.

TYG-GD: Did you want to talk about that menu?
Adrian: It is taking off like a rocket. It is crazy. We have this CBD oil that’s grown in Oregon, processed in Oregon, and sold in Oregon, called Oregon Fusion. It’s a hemp CBD oil.

TYG-GD: And CBD stands for cannabidiol, right?
Adrian: Yes. You’re not going to get stoned, you’re not going to be macraméd into your couch, and having forty, fifty munchies in your pocket. [CBD] is the more beneficial and therapeutic side of [marijuana]. It’s calming, it gives you less anxiety and less stress. It also helps for relieving tension. Some studies have put it at helping fighting certain types of cancer, or keeping certain types of cancer at bay, taken in high doses. There are all kinds of benefits [for] arthritis, just... everything. And it’s not an opioid. It lines [up] with a system that’s already in your body, which is an endocannabinoid system. There are receptors in your brain that are built-in for this, whereas if you take opiates, within roughly eight days your brain is transformed, because you’ve been taking these opiates. They can be soft opiates too—what they call the exotics—dilaudid and things like that. But they just wreck you. At least with this, you can function. You’re going to be in better spirits because you’re feeling less miserable, less achy, you’re not going to be doing this [pops various joints] all day long. [...] The drinks are all measured out; we purchase specially-designed droppers that have the milligrams actually labeled out.

TYG: To ensure the right dosage happens, and that there’s no addiction?
Adrian: Well, this is not habit-forming—that’s the thing. There is nothing about [CBD] that is habit-forming. You’re not going to go to your aunt’s house and take her stereo and put it in a pawn shop to pay for this, because it’s not like that. In terms of a youngster like you, think of it more in terms of being a super-aspirin without the damage to the liver or to the stomach lining that aspirin tends to do. You can take a lot of CBD, and all that you’re going to feel is more relaxed, you might sleep better; stress levels, anxiety [improve]; sometimes [you get] just a little bit more focus if you’ve had it with a caffeinated beverage. [Our] French Press and Get Toasted are really good. You can also get it in any other beverage. You can get a dab of CBD in your cocoa.

TYG-GD: Is there an age limit for this? Is it federally regulated at all?
Adrian: So, it meets the federal requirement of [less than] 0.3% of total THC. You can’t be higher than that. And you would have to consume the entire [500 milligram] bottle to get the amount of THC that’s contained in [the equivalent of what you would get by] going to the local dispensary, spending $18 to $22 with tax, on five milligram edibles, and just eating a bunch of those. But you’re not going to get stoned—that’s the thing. There are so many CBD’s in this that it negates that whole effect and doesn’t allow for that limited amount of THC to actually bother you. You’re not going to get high. [...] I probably spend about an hour each day explaining this to people. [...]
Vanessa: My mom likes it. She has arthritis and high blood pressure, and it helps for both. Good stuff!
Adrian: As far as age, because it is just hemp, and because it’s made from the whole plant, [I don’t think there are any restrictions.]

TYG-GD: Does hemp milk contain any CBDs?
Adrian: I think that’s from the seeds, and I think that you’d have to consume quite a bit or have it really highly processed. The hemp milk that we have does not contain any CBDs.

TYG: Are you okay to drive [with CBDs]?
Adrian: Again, it’s like taking a super-aspirin. It’s not like marijuana. [...] We do actually get quite a few of our locals that come in on a regular basis, and they get it added to every drink. We also have quite a few of our locals that are elderly, and not only do they get the drinks, but they’ve also purchased the bottle or have inquired about more information to help make a better assessment as to how they want to incorporate it into their daily life.

TYG-GD: Do you get any parents with small kids who worry about it?
Adrian: I’ve actually had two parents that have asked me about it, and I usually keep my phone handy so I can just blast out with my phone and give people a quick look, because again, there’s no THC, so you’re not getting any psychoactives, and it should be very much kid-friendly.

TYG-GD: Well, I just wondered if they were worried there was residue in the coffee cups or something.
Adrian: Nope!
Vanessa: Actually, I had a lady come in a few weeks ago, who was saying that her friend’s son had ADHD, and he hated his medication while he was in school. But in the summertime, his mother would give him just a little cup of coffee in the morning, and it would work better than his medication. [...]

TYG: [CBD oil] doesn’t change your personality at all, either?
Adrian: Nope! Not at all. Doesn’t make you any different, it’s not like consuming two or three mixed beverages, or smoking a joint, or ingesting a marijuana edible, or taking oxycodone or things like that. Those things will impact your behavior or your mood.

TYG: All good stuff to know!
TYG-GD: Anything else you wanted to tell our readers?
Adrian: Let’s see—we have over 18 countries in coffee!
Vanessa: Coffees from all over the world, always organic, always fair trade, always home-roasted.
Adrian: Our Congo [coffee] does come from a women’s co-op.

TYG: Well thank you so much for sitting with us!
Vanessa: Thank you so much for having us.

Yachats Events of Note:

WHAT: An Art Show

              “BEing in Nature”

              featuring new works

              by local artists

WHO: Jay Chambers & Eileen Lighthawk

WHEN: June 23rd & 24th

               Meet the artists

               Saturday and Sunday

               Noon to 3

WHERE: Toad Hall

                  237 West 3 rd Street

                  Yachats

WHY: Because Art is Fun!

             Enjoy an array of inspired small works in several mediums.

             Contact: Jay or Eileen at 541-547-4833

             Or email: jayvchambers@gmail.com

Yoga Classes with Altruh Dominion 
Classes are offered at the Commons in Yachats (either in the Gym or in Room 8. Please call Altruh at 541-547-4138 for more information.

Therapeutic Yoga -

Tuesdays - GYM - 9:30-11am and Fridays - GYM - 8:00- 9:30am

  

Bikram-Ease -

Tuesdays - Room 8 - 4:15-6pm

Vinyasa Flow (Beg-Intermed)

Thursdays - Room 8 - 3:00- 4:30pm

The Yachats Gazette, Issue 76, January 1 2018

Click here for a printable version of Issue 76

Interview with Shannon Beaucaire

Shannon Beaucaire is Yachats’s new City Administrator.

TYG: So how did you find Yachats?
Shannon: I saw the job description, and I was intrigued. I had been looking for about two years to come back to the Pacific Northwest, and when I read the job description it was about volunteerism, about improving community engagement, and about a welcoming community. It really felt very comfortable. I wanted to come back, and I wanted to apply! That’s how I heard about Yachats. I had gotten as far as Newport before, but I hadn’t quite made it to Yachats when I was here previously, doing law school in Portland, Oregon.

TYG: Hmm. It is a bit out of the way, isn’t it. [laughs]
Shannon: Well, it isn’t too far! If I’d just kept on going south out of Newport it would have been okay!

TYG: So what is your background in law, for those who don’t know?
Shannon: My background in law is actually a funny story. I actually have a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology. And when I was graduating from Michigan State (who’s playing in the Holiday Bowl tonight) I saw a disconnect between the Department of Natural Resources and the citizens they were serving. They were trying to put policies in place to help the wildlife, but the citizens didn’t quite understand why those policies were being put in place. So it caused a lot of angst and a lot of discontentment among the citizens, and so I was looking for a communication bridge at the time, and somebody mentioned environmental law. At the time, Lewis & Clark was the number one environmental law school; they often traded between that and Vermont. I wanted to go west rather than east, and so I applied for Lewis & Clark. At the time my communication bridge did not have a name, but at the end of my first year a professor talked about alternative dispute resolution. This incorporates mediation, facilitation, arbitration—a whole, wide scope of entities. My communication bridge had a name—and I was hooked. That was my dual major: alternative dispute resolution and environmental law. Then I went to the City of Albuquerque and managed their alternative dispute resolution programs, which were land use, employee, and community programs. [I also participated in] some special projects that didn’t quite fit into those categories. Then I went to the State of New Mexico and helped the Supreme Court build a foundation to do the same type of programs for all of their courts around the entire state.

TYG: Get all the bureaucracy and all the red tape set up?
Shannon: [laughs] Yes! You could say that. But it also gave them a strong foundation so they could build their own individual programs that met the needs of their citizens in the particular area. Because the people who were in rural southwest New Mexico were very different from the people in Albuquerque. It allowed them to have a foundation that set up a structure that allowed for consistency, but after that consistency and foundation were met, they could customize the program to meet the needs of their clients.

TYG: A very wise program! 
TYG-Editorial Assistant: Can you give any specifics about that? I’m curious.
Shannon: Specifics such as...?

TYG-EA: What are some of the ways that resolutions were reached on contentious issues?
Shannon: Throughout the court system?

TYG-EA: Yes, what are some of the things you worked on.
Shannon: My [position] was administrative, setting up the foundation for the program. But some of the issues, if you were looking for some of the ways programs might help in different areas of the state: in Albuquerque, they had guardianship issues for elderly individuals. They would have abuse and neglect for children, youth, and family services. For children that were in abusive situations, they would have mediation programs to try to re-unify parents and children. And in some of the rural counties, you may have some of the abuse and neglect type situations, but you might also have issues regarding water rights or ranch land. So some of those might be more customizable depending on the area.

TYG-EA: So social, as well as environmental issues.
Shannon: Oh yes. Absolutely. 

TYG: Ranching always seems to be a very hard subject, just because it’s kind of a strange practice, and it’s certainly one of the more invasive practices that we as humans use.
Shannon: And usually the land has a lot of history. And that’s the same with water rights. There’s usually a lot of history, and that tends to make things more complicated.

TYG: So, what is your vision for Yachats?
Shannon: My vision is to create an opening, welcoming sense, so that the community itself can develop its own vision. I certainly have ideas that I want to share with the community, but it is really the community [that will determine] what they want Yachats to be. And that’s what I really want to engage. And I want to encourage people to decide what they want Yachats to be in a year, five years, ten, twenty.

TYG: And to ask all the hard questions that you need to be asked.
Shannon: Yes.

TYG-EA: You strike me certainly as somebody who has plenty of ideas of her own to bring to the table. I wonder what you might want to share about that. 
Shannon: Oh! I would love to have community engagement to beautify our poles, our new light poles up and down the street. We have a very talented group of individuals in this community—I understand there were banners made last year. So I’d love to get more ideas about how we can incorporate that more year-round. Do we celebrate different festivals, and we have hand-made banners for that? Or do we intermix other artistic points, items that we can incorporate on the light poles? I want a walkable community where citizens and tourists alike feel comfortable walking down the street, shopping at our businesses, eating at our restaurants, that they feel safe and it’s an easy place to do that. I want the citizens to really feel that they’re regaining their community, and that this is a village that is entirely welcoming. I have ideas—but I would really want to hear from the community.

TYG: So, I understand that the library is moving over to the [ex-]bank building. How’s that project going?
Shannon: It’s going very well. We have a great group of dedicated volunteers, and they’ve done a lot of community engagement and got a lot of ideas about what everybody wants their dream library to be like. They are putting that vision onto paper right now, and they’re hoping to do another community engagement forum soon, so that people can give more of their ideas and see what work has been done so far. So it’s going very well.

TYG: So what other current projects are in the works? Like how is the medical [clinic] project going, and other such things?
Shannon: The medical project is still in discussions. The south tank project—which is the water tank south of the bridge that is going in—that’s in construction right now. We have the library project, as you’re aware of. Then there are always little projects that are going on, like at Public Works—and they’re not so little. But it’s making sure that the drainage ditches are clear so that they’re doing what they’re supposed to do. It’s making sure that our water lines are functioning properly, and that the water plant is operating as it should, and that the wastewater plant is operating as it should and the sewer lines are proper.

TYG: So maintenance work, in other words.
Shannon: Maintenance; and we have a budget, and we have state and federal requirements we have to meet. They’re little things, but they’re big things as well.

TYG: Can you tell us a little more about the south water tank project? That’s something I’ve never heard of, anyway.
Shannon: The south water tank is a very large tank that’s going up to store water, and that will be used whenever we need it. It’s something to help the people south of the bridge, and it’s in process right now. There’s a retaining wall that is going up and it’s a very interesting process. There’s something they have to use called “soil nails” to hold the retaining wall in place. There are going to be five rows of nails. It sounds very simple, but it’s a very complex engineering feat, where they actually have to put the nail into the side of the dirt wall, and then they have to test it to make sure it will actually hold. There’s an independent engineer that tests it to make sure it will hold at a certain level of pounds per square inch.

TYG: Interesting! Can you give us a rough idea of the cubic area of the tank, or how much it will hold, generally?
Shannon: I’d have to go look that up.

TYG: I’m guessing it would be enough to supply the town for a couple of months, at least.
Shannon: Well, we have several of these around town. It’s specifically to address [south of the bridge].

TYG: So that’s how we keep our water going during the dry months?
Shannon: Sometimes! Sometimes, if needed.

TYG: Makes sense, so we don’t have to just bleed the river dry.
Shannon: Absolutely. We would not want to do that.

TYG: About the worst thing we could do.
Shannon: Yes. The fish would not be happy with us. [laughs]

TYG: So how did you get into environmental studies, in general? What brought you into that field?
Shannon: Ever since I was five years old I wanted to be a veterinarian. And then in my first large animal class, I saw them cutting the tails off of lambs without any anaesthesia or hugs or anything soft. So that really threw a loop into what I thought veterinarians did. So I had to kind of rethink what I really wanted to do, and was I willing to go through classes like that, in order to get that type of education. Ultimately I decided not to; I decided to pursue wildlife biology. But I always had a love for natural resources. I grew up on the Great Lakes of Michigan. My grandparents both had river- and lake-front property, and I’ve always been a hiker, into the outdoors; I’ve always loved animals and always wanted to do preservation of wildlife and natural resources.

TYG: Something I’ve always been curious about: especially up river, how are the boundaries for where farming land stops [established]? How does the zoning work?
Shannon: So, the City boundaries only go so far up Yachats River Road. I actually have a map inside if you want to take a look at it. But that would probably be where the farming is allowed.

TYG-EA: How has your arrival been, in terms of being what you expected—or not?
Shannon: Any new job always has its ups and its downs, and its learning curve. I certainly have had some days that have been rougher than others, but for the most part—I’d say 90 per cent of it—I love what I do. I have the best job in the whole wide world. I really do. This is something that I wanted to take my career into for a long time; this was a deliberate decision. I’m really excited about this.

TYG-EA: It seems like it’s a little out of the focusing on law, and more into the—how did you put it [in a separate interview]? Indulging your love of budgets? 
Shannon: [laughs] As far as law goes, because I was looking for a communication bridge, I was never fully geared towards pursuing the legal field in the traditional sense. I actually had no desire to be in a courtroom at all. I’m interested in alternative dispute resolution, I’m into alternative types of work, and so this was something that was deliberate for me about where I wanted to take this stage of my career, after working under some great city managers and county managers.

TYG: I imagine it’s been quite a challenge working with our very, very small income. 
Shannon: No. Every government perceives that they have not enough resources. I think when I was interviewing, the recruiter said, “It’s just a matter of zeros, and how many zeros you have.” But you still have a fixed pie to work from every year. Whether you’re Albuquerque or Yachats or New York City. There’s a fixed pie. And it’s just how you best utilize those resources in alignment with the priorities of the community, and where it wants to be, and where it wants to go.

TYG: Do you have any ideas about what steps can be taken to help the homeless people around town?
Shannon: You know, that is something people are working on quite diligently. I’ve been meeting with other coastal city managers, like Newport, Waldport, Lincoln City, getting ideas of what they have been doing, challenges that they are facing, successes that they have. I also went to a specific session at the International City Managers’ Association conference, about three cities that have taken different approaches to the homelessness issue. Two were out of Colorado; one happened to be Eugene, Oregon.

TYG: They’re focusing more on the shelter aspect, is that correct?
Shannon: They’re focusing on multi-dimensional aspects. They have some of the shelters, but they’re also working toward things like temporary housing. So, if they have a parking lot that they can use to have trailers just for an overnight, if needed, if it’s very cold—something like that. So they’re working on multiple approaches. They also have tiny homes that they’re working on, I believe, and they’re also working on ways to help individuals get out of homelessness.

TYG: That’s of course what needs to happen in the end—not just putting them in shelters, but actually helping them get income. 
Shannon: Getting income, and they were very frank at the conference that some people can get on their own fully, but there is a segment of the homeless population that will always need some sort of a subsidy.

TYG: Probably true: those who are lame, just people who have gotten unlucky—they rolled the one instead of the six.
Shannon: Some. Some have mental health challenges will always need some extra support and resources. Some have other addiction challenges, whether they’re alcohol or drug abuse. They might always need some extra support and assistance. But the ones that have fallen on hard times: they can sometimes get back on their own fully and completely. But they actually said there are even issues where sometimes people have been homeless for so long that they need help re-learning how to fill out an application for an apartment. Lots of challenges.

TYG: This is an idea I’ve always had: One of the issues with a tourist-based economy like this is that for those who are educated, there are great resources. You have quite a few jobs [available] in the sense that you can start your own business, or you can do artwork, and stuff like that. However, if you were unlucky enough to not have that education, often there are very few jobs that are for that less-educated segment. That’s what I’ve observed, anyway. I was wondering if there were any plans, if there was any possibility of having something like that, maybe out of the way, something more industrial or heavy commercial? 
Shannon: As far as attracting businesses here?

TYG: Yes. And in terms of just providing work for these less-educated segments. 
Shannon: Interestingly, that’s a great point. That’s not been the emphasis of some of the talks that I’ve experienced so far. I will definitely raise that at our next meeting.

TYG: Was there anything else you wanted to talk about particularly?
Shannon: No, this is your interview—anything you want. [laughter] 

TYG-EA: What’s been the most fun thing for you so far?
Shannon: Every single day, it’s always new, it’s always exciting. I never quite believed any city or county manager when they said that no day is ever the same. I believe them now. [laughs] And that makes it exciting.

TYG: Well thank you so much for your time!
Shannon: Thank you! It was a pleasure!

The Yachats Gazette, Issue 68, May 1 2017

A printable version of Issue 68 can be downloaded here.

The Little Log Church

The Yachats Gazette was pleased to be able to speak with Mary Crook, Events Coordinator, and Donna Hirschman, Saturday Volunteer, about the history of the Little Log Church, located on the corner of 3rd and Pontiac Streets.

 

The Little Log Church, Yachats, OR

 TYG: Do you want to tell us a little bit about the history [of the church]?
Mary: Sure. The Little Log Church was finished in 1930. The lot here was a double lot, and it was purchased in 1929 by a minister [Rolla J. Phelps] who became the first pastor here.

TYG-Graphic Design: Isn’t it unusual for a minister to purchase his own lot?
Mary: Well, he was able to do it, even though it was $200, which was a lot of money back in that time. He had to get permission from the group he was affiliated with. He served this area--it was called the Bay View Mission. He served Waldport, Yachats, and up Yachats River for quite a while. He and his wife lived in Summit, Oregon, between Newport and Corvallis, in the Coast Range. And [before moving here], they made this trip monthly, by wagon. It was not an easy trip.

TYG: Does that town even exist anymore?
Mary: Yes, it’s still here. But it’s small! [laughter] So, he came through Yachats and he wrote “As I was coming through Yachats, I was impressed by its need.” So he applied to have a permanent church here and serve this area.

TYG-GD: What denomination was he?
Mary: It was an evangelical denomination, the Oregon Conference of the Evangelical Church of Oregon. So they got volunteer help, of course, but Reverend Phelps put together the church pretty much by hand with logs donated from timber stands up the Yachats River. So he was then able to provide regular services, and Sunday School. Mrs. Phelps, his wife, played this organ that you see here during services. They were in their mid-50’s when they came here to start this church. The bell that is at the front of the church was donated by a church in Portland.

TYG: That must have been a trek to get it down here!
Mary: They actually had to use a ferry. The highway wasn’t finished, so it was no easy task. But they did it! And along about 1993, the building was condemned because it was unsafe. The logs were rotting, the foundation needed to be restored. So the City had to decide, “Well, should we tear it down and put a parking lot here? We always need parking...” [laugh] And the community said “No, you’re not getting rid of this!” And so they had a volunteer team, a lot of whom were retired people, who helped restore the church. They literally took it apart. They had to get logs to replace the rotten logs. They saved as much as they possibly could: you can see here some of the glass--that wavy glass--that’s the original glass, and as much as they could keep, they did. They’d had a wood stove here, but they didn’t have heat.

TYG: So they had to modernize the heating system.
Mary: Yes! And they put in track lighting so we have art shows and things like that. It’s been restored as close as possible to the original layout in the shape of a cross.

TYG-GD: When was the [extra room at the back] added?
Mary: That was in 1996, so after the restoration.

TYG: So the restoration happened pretty quickly, then.
Mary: Mostly. That was 5,500 man hours of volunteer time. [Mary gets up and shows us a picture of the volunteers.] These are some of the volunteers--this guy just happened to be riding down the street [on his bicycle].

TYG-GD: Aw, I recognize some of those faces! ... So, what happened between the 30’s and the 90’s? That’s quite a time span.
Mary: It turned out that there were more people with the Presbyterian congregation in this area than Evangelicals, and so the Presbyterian congregation took it over in the mid-1950’s. It remained a Presbyterian church until the congregation outgrew the building, and they built a new one.

TYG: That building is pretty beautiful as well.
Mary: It’s lovely! And it’s called the Church of the Agate Windows because, when they built that church, the pastor at the time said, “I want to have something that really reflects this area. We don’t necessarily want to have stained glass, but let’s have some windows that reflect the natural resources of this area.” So the whole community got together and started gathering agates.

TYG: I’m guessing it’s double-paned windows with the agates in the middle?
Mary: Well, I’m not sure exactly if they’re double-paned with agates in the middle. But they had to come up with a special epoxy so that the unpolished agates could adhere to the surface. And there are six panels--very, very heavy.

TYG-GD: Did they slice them? I can’t remember if they’re flat on one side.
Mary: No, I don’t think so. [Turning to the area behind the pulpit] This picture here [of the three wise men seated on camels] was painted by two art teachers in 1955, I believe. One of them was a very avid agate collector. He had a collection you wouldn’t believe, so he donated a lot of his private collection. He said, “Oh, finally, I can get rid of these things!” [laughter] So this was the seed, as it were, of the Church of the Agate Windows. So we have a little collection box in the corner there with some of the agates that were collected for that project.

Three Wise Men

So I’ll tell you a little story about that painting: There were two art teachers who lived at Ten Mile. They decided to provide a painting for the Christmas pageant here. So one of them goes to his wife, and says, “Could you give us some fabric that we could use to paint for the Christmas pageant?” So she just gave him a bedsheet, thinking that he was going to tear it up and use a piece of it. Well, they painted it on the whole bedsheet! [laughter] They came and they hung it; they had the Christmas pageant--well, they were going to have it. But this would be in December, and if you picture what happens in December... it was a dark and stormy night, and one of the artists woke up in the middle of the night, and he started to think about that painting. He calls his partner, and he says, “You know, we’ve got to go back into town and check that painting, because I’m not sure if we painted the correct number of legs on that painting.” [laughter] So they drove up here and counted the legs, and it was correct. [laughter] But you know how you worry about something in the middle of the night? So that’s the story of the painting.

TYG-GD: And then somebody got a frame for it?
Mary: Yes. And they actually put it on masonite. We do have curtains that we can pull across in front of the painting when we have special occasions like weddings. It works very well in December, but it’s a little distracting in June. We did have a very nice wedding a number of years ago, and it was the grand-daughter of one of the artists. It was in June, but she wanted that painting on full display.

TYG-GD: You perform weddings, correct?
Mary: I have a wedding service, called “Weddings by the Sea,” which I started in 1995. I do a lot of weddings here, and then I go to places like the Overleaf, or the beach, or the bluff by the Adobe, private homes, fishing boats, one--and only one--on horse-back. [laughter]

TYG: That wasn’t a good one, I’m guessing? How do you do that, logistically, on a horse?
Mary: Well, I’ll tell you about it briefly. It was over in Coburg, near Eugene, at a riding stable. The couple met; they were horse people. And it was pouring rain, pouring. We waited about an hour and a half in case the rain would let up, but it would not let up, and I was very grateful, because they had planned to ride one mile to where they wanted to have the ceremony. And that meant one mile back! So I only had to ride about 30 feet, because they had it in the indoor arena--and I was still sore for three days! [lots of laughter] [...] I decided that would be my one and only wedding on horseback.

But speaking of animals, that brings me to the Blessing of Animals that we have here on the grounds every October. It’s the first Sunday in October, which is the Sunday closest to the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. Our [former] curator, Isabel Prescott, who used to live across the street here, was very fond of St. Francis. So when she passed away, we decided to have a sculpture of St. Francis created by Brian McEneny and we put it in the garden in her memory. So then we decided that since it was the garden of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals, that we would have an animal blessing every year. So we have had mostly dogs, but we have had the two ferrets, and a garden king snake, a bearded dragon, a rat, a tortoise, and one of Lauralee Svendsgaard’s donkeys. [laughter] Oh, yes, and the fire department goats.

TYG: I like how we can all just say “the two ferrets” and we all know what we’re talking about. [laughter] [The two ferrets belong to Council member Greg Scott, and the goats belong to Fire Chief Frankie Petrick.]
Mary: And we had a llama one year. So we’ve had quite a menagerie of animals being blessed. I can’t remember when I started this, but it’s an annual thing, and we usually have a dozen or so animals.
Donna: And this past year we had a lot of visitors in town who brought their animals; a lot of them are dog people.
Mary: You know, people will do just about anything for their animal, and so it means a lot. But I get in trouble, because every year for the past three years I’ve been blessing the moles, so the neighbor across the street said, “I wish you wouldn’t bless the moles.” [laughter]

TYG-GD: So when did the museum aspect enter into all of this?
Mary: When the Presbyterian church was finished, up on 7th Street, then this property was turned over to Lincoln County, which in turn turned it over to the City of Yachats. The provision was that it would stay a museum.

TYG: In 1989, right?
Mary: Yes, I believe so.

TYG-GD: Does it have a specific focus, as a museum?
Mary: Well, it’s twofold: to house items that represent local history, and items from families of this area that they might have donated, and to showcase local artists.

TYG-GD: Ok! I was just wondering, because I wasn’t sure where that electric hair curler fit in.
Mary: [laughs] That was in storage at the Heceta Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast. Before it became a bed and breakfast, it was run by Lane Community College, and they had a lot of historical items there. So they had that on display, then they put it in one of the closets, in one of the bedrooms. Then they expanded, and added a few more bedrooms. They didn’t have room for the hair curler, so Michelle Korgan--I think we saw each other in the parking lot at the grocery store--said, “Would the Little Log Church like a hair curler?” And I said, “Oh, yes!” [laughter] So we acquired a hair curler. And that is one of our most attractive attractions! People go over there and they either say, “What in the world is that?!” Or they say, “Ohhh, I remember those! I have a burn on the back of my neck!” [laughter] So there are either memories, or curiosity.

TYG-GD: Well, it does look like a Medusa.
Mary: So the hair curler is a very strong attraction, as is our sea shell collection.

TYG: Yes, it’s a beautiful collection!   
TYG-GD: I remember when we first moved here, I came in and saw the sea shell collection and was really inspired! It took me a few years to realize that we don’t have any of those shells here! [laughter]
Mary: There was a Yachats resident by the name of Alice Stein, who passed away a number of years ago. She had a huge shell collection, down at Ten Mile. In 1964 she and her husband started traveling all around the world, and their object was to find as many sea shells as they could. I have been in their home--after he passed away--and I would not be surprised if she had one million sea shells. In the house, in the basement, floor-to-ceiling shelves... So before she passed, she parceled out as many as she could to universities, and libraries, and the Little Log Church. So we acquired a minute fraction of her collection. It took our curator, Karl Christianson, about one year, coming in on Thursdays, to identify the shells and make a list of their common name, their scientific name, where they were found, and then create a coordinated number list, so that people can say, “Oh, what is number four?” and then look at the list.

TYG-GD: That must have been a fun project, though!
Mary: Yes, it was--and it’s a big attraction.

TYG-GD: Are they lacquered?
Mary: I don’t think they’re preserved.

TYG: What else is really cool and a big attraction?
Mary: Well, this organ here is an operable organ, and it’s a pump organ. It’s used for things like weddings, or Christmas concerts.

Bellows Organ at the Little Log Church

TYG-GD: So you actually have to press the pedals in order for it to play.
Mary: Right. That was donated to the church by Virginia Gilmore, who owned the Rock Park Cottages down the street and is a strong member of the community. It was in her home for a long time.

TYG: Very odd proportions! Just considering the height of the bench section versus the key section.
Mary: Well, and you notice that the bench is tilted. That’s so the organist can get down and really pump.

TYG-GD: Do you have many organists who know how to do that?
Mary: I’m so glad you brought that up, because we’re recruiting. If you know of anybody... The organist we used when I moved here was Inez Lush. Her husband was also a musician. Inez just played that organ beautifully, and she was succeeded by Cheryl Wade, who was the organist for the Presbyterian church. And when Cheryl and her husband moved out of the area, we recruited another organist from Waldport, who retired about two years ago. It’s getting harder and harder to find people with that skill. 

TYG-GD: I don’t suppose that Milo, jack-of-all-trades, can play it?
Mary: It’s a completely different instrument.
Donna: Another thing on these too is that they have all those stops. You have to be able to [adjust] them while you’re playing, and while you’re pumping. And you’re using [this lever beneath the keyboard] too, like a bellows. So it’s not like a piano would be today, or even a modern organ. My grandfather had one like this, and he was marvelous at it. But he’d be playing, and then all of a sudden you’d see him pushing and pulling the [stops], because they have to be at a certain level to get the tones you want.

TYG: Are these the original benches?
Mary: These pews were given to the Little Log Church when it was built--it was finished in 1930--by a church in Philomath. It holds close to 60 people--I say 58 very good friends. [laughter]

TYG: If we go back in that other room, we really didn’t talk much about what’s in there...
Mary: I have something to tell you about that! [We move from the chapel part of the building back to the side entrance and the rear room of the museum.]

TYG: This is the sea shell collection--these are all numbered?
Mary: All numbered, and the coordinating list is here. [...] Now, a year ago November, so November 2015, we had a visit from this little girl, all grown up [shows us the little girl in an old photo]--her name was Marilyn Myers. This was what she looked like when she lived here, at the Little Log Church. Her father, Lyman Myers, was the pastor here in 1940-41. This is Dorothy Myers’s wedding dress. Marilyn Myers came to visit us, and she spoke to a group here at the Log Church about what it was like growing up in Yachats. And Dorothy and Marilyn came to visit us in 2001. I happened to be on duty as a volunteer that day. So they came in, they introduced themselves, and they had not been in this part of the museum ever, because when they lived here the manse was here, the house where the pastor and his family lived. So Marilyn and her mom were walking around the museum, and looked at all of the pictures, and they looked at this picture here. And Mrs. Myers said, “Hey, I think that’s Daddy in that picture!” meaning Lyman Myers. So I got a chair and pulled the picture down so they could get a closer look at it, and this man here, with his arm at a right angle, was Lyman Myers about 1940, smelt fishing. You can see the smelt nets [in the photo], how big they are. And here is a smelt net that was donated to us. You can see how big it was, and how heavy.

TYG: It’s a big piece of wood, but it’s interesting to see how they’ve done the netting, how light it is.
Mary: That was a hand-made net.

TYG: It’s beautifully done.
Mary: And so when Marilyn spoke to us, she brought us a few of the articles that were part of her memories here in this church. Marilyn brought a big, blue bowl--that was what her mother made bread in, almost every day. And she brought this toy chicken. That was given to her by the woman who owned the cottages where the bookstore is now, Planet Yachats, C&K and all that. If you put a marble in the chicken’s head, and push the head down, the marble will come out and “lay an egg.” [laughter]

 

Marble-Laying Chicken and Bread Bowl

Donna: And I think one of my favorite pieces is this crazy quilt.

TYG-GD: Why is it called “crazy”?
Donna: It’s all different kinds of patterns, and all different kinds of materials, silk and velvet.

TYG: It’s the quilt equivalent of collage.
Donna: It’s all hand-stitched, with all different kinds of embroidery.
Mary: And it took three years to make, between 1880 and 1883.

TYG: Well thank you so much for your time!
Mary: Thank you very much--it was a pleasure seeing you!

NOTE: The Yachats Gazette had a last minute update from Mary Crook about a potential donation to the Little Log Church: a carillon!  A Yachatian couple have offered to donate this recorded, state-of-the-art, bell chime system with up to 2,000 options, including chimes on the hour or at designated times during the day, or even special occasion peals. The City of Yachats needs to approve this, and the Little Log Church would of course make it suitable to the nature of West Third St. (and not Big Ben, for example). The Presbyterian church had a carillon system, but now that seems to have gone silent. The donors picked this carillon for the Little Log Church specifically.