As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn

March 10, 2010

I’ve known for quite a while that there was a possibility that Lloyd’s Café had been sold, and it is my understanding that the deal has closed, and the new owners hope to be open for business in June. The couple have been in the catering business, and are anxious to get their new restaurant open as soon as possible. I believe they previously lived in California.

The price of the property was under $300,000, which is a far cry from the original asking price of around $900,000 when it first went on the market several years ago. But the last owners, who paid around $650,000 for the business, weren’t able to make a go of it. Lloyd’s is in the heart of Old Town and it will be good to once again see a thriving business there.

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The Old Town Merchants Association is sponsoring a St. Patrick’s Day Pedway sale on Saturday on the Old Town Pedway, which runs between the Continuum Building and Thai Thai Restaurant. The last Pedway Market was a big hit, and this one should be just as good. These markets give visitors and locals alike the opportunity to see what Bandon merchants have to offer. It runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will include music, food, wine and craft projects for kids.

If we want our small businesses to make it through this economic downturn, we need to support them at every opportunity. I’ll see you on Saturday on the Pedway.

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I had the privilege of being one of the “celebrity” readers at the Ocean Crest Elementary School last week, in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. My students were children in Mrs. Lemerande’s kindergarten, and they were special. There were 10 youngsters, and most of them crowded around my chair, one leaning on my knee and the other with an arm around my back as I read them a favorite Dr. Seuss book. The little ones are my favorites; they are so eager to learn and so sincere at this age. Before I left, most of them painstakingly signed a postcard for me, each with their first names and an occasional last name, too: Kodie, Josh, Gavan, Austin, Emma, Ukiah, Xander, Riley, one that looks like Kohn and another that might be “ehdilin, or that may have been all one name, but maybe I’m not close on that one. At any rate, it was appreciated.

Next Monday, the 15th, teacher Linda Sack has asked me to host the second graders at City Hall. They will visit the police station and then come upstairs to the council chambers. I choose seven of them to come up front and sit in the mayor and councilors’ seats, and then I have one of their peers come to the podium and pose a question for them. It was real exciting last year when some of the students didn’t bother to make up a story or a “problem” that they wanted the council to address, but talked about things that were going on in their own families.

It’s a great way to teach youngsters how city government functions, while at the same time having fun.

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It’s not too often that a five-year-old literally steals the show, but in the case of little Holly Hutton, that was definitely true. She played Gretl, the youngest of the von Trapp children in The Sound of Music, which ended Sunday with its third sold-out performance. It probably helped that her grandmother, Beth Hutton, was cast as one of the nuns and other members of her family assisted with the Bandon Playhouse production.

I talked with one of the people who worked backstage with director Jeff Norris and he said Holly never missed a rehearsal, never complained, learned all her lines … and it showed. She made everyone smile every time she came onto the stage.

I know I talked about how much I loved Sound of Music in my column two weeks ago, but after having gone again Saturday night, it was even better – if that’s possible.

I understand “My Fair Lady” is the next musical planned by the Playhouse, and they will also be doing “Hello Dolly” sometime next year. I only wish I could sing, but since I can’t, I will just be content to be in the audience.

It never ceases to amaze me the dedication of the people who put on these fabulous productions year after year and are always looking forward to the next play.

The Bandon Playhouse is just one of the things that make Bandon special … and we have a lot of them.

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A group of people came to the last council meeting to show support for the Bringing Jack Back project (repainting the murals), but they got more than they bargained for. Our first agenda speaker was James Roddy of the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, who talked about the impending Cascadia Subduction earthquake and the money that is being spent to map the coastal communities and bring them up to speed in preparation for the “big one.”

My advice to people, who want to learn more about it, is to go to the Coosmediacenter.pegcentral.com web site, and click on the Bandon council meeting (March 1). (I hope it’s on there by now, as I told my boyfriend to check it out and he wasn’t able to bring it up.)

I cannot adequately put into words Roddy’s message, but I will say it was chilling.

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I went in to Sterling Savings Bank Thursday (or maybe it was Friday) shortly after an older Bandon woman had literally pushed in the wall of the bank, just to the left of the entry, when she struck it with her car. Thankfully there was no one sitting at the desk nearest to the window, or they could have been seriously injured or at least terribly frightened. I spoke with her and she said she had just pulled up to the front of the bank when her car lunged forward for some reason.

This same kind of incident has occurred at least twice at Bandon Pharmacy. Sterling Bank had steel guards in front of the entryway, but they did not extend on either side, where cars park right up to the sidewalk. It might be a good investment.

I was thinking how could someone do that, but then I remembered my near miss a couple of years ago when Matt and I were headed to League of Oregon Cities in Bend. We had stopped in Elkton to have a cup of coffee, but because of bridge repair work, traffic was backed up for miles. We were more or less trapped in front of the restaurant, and without realizing it, I had my automatic gearshift in reverse. A few minutes later, a truck driver stopped and waved me into the line of traffic. In a hurry not to hold him up, I gunned it … and shot backwards. I was so thankful that no one was parked behind me or walking across the street when it happened.

I lucked out, but Matt’s face said it all. He asked me if I wanted him to drive, but by that time I’d said a little prayer of thanks and regained my composure, and we headed off to League without further incident.




As I See It
by Mary Schamehorn

March 03, 2010

I heard on the scanner, while working at the Herald recently, that there was an accident near the intersection of Highway 42 and the Powers Highway. I finally found the wreck, which involved a large cab-over pickup that had left the road and plunged over the bank into the brush. But the pickup didn’t overturn and I saw the driver sitting behind the wheel, sort of staring off into space.

There were several EMTs on scene as well as officers from three different police agencies. Finally I said, “This looks like a 12-31 (drunk driver) to me. Why doesn’t he just open the car door and get out.”

“Oh no, he’s not drunk,” said one EMT. “He hurt his leg.”

I left the scene as they were pulling him out of his pickup. He didn’t look hurt to me, but what do I know.

Come to find out, after we received a press release about the accident, he’d already had two wrecks that same afternoon, including a hit and run, and he was indeed intoxicated. He lived just around the corner in Broadbent, but he wasn’t quite able to make it home.

I’m just thankful he didn’t kill someone because from what I could see, he definitely was in no shape to be driving. And it didn’t have anything to do with his leg.

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If anyone doesn’t think gambling causes terrible problems in our state, he or she should read the tragic story of the once proud Koke-Chapman company of Eugene, which was forced to close its doors because their bookkeeper embezzled more than $1.5 million to feed her gambling habit.

And she wasn’t content to spend her gambling dollars in Oregon. No. She took family and friends on a series of trips to Nevada, where gambling in this country pretty much got its start.

In one of the steepest sentences ever handed down in the state for white-collar crime, the woman was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison. During the sentencing, former employees of the company embraced and shed tears as they talked about the company and the jobs they had lost because of one woman’s obsession (or better yet, addiction) with gambling.

I have a file in my office labeled “gambling,” and, sadly, it’s getting larger by the day.

And it doesn’t help that the state of Oregon has now gone to TV advertising for some of its more addictive games of (no) “chance.”

People aren’t the only ones addicted to gambling. The state of Oregon depends heavily on that revenue. And that’s the real crime.

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McKay’s Market in Myrtle Point was tired of getting stuck with bad checks. And they decided to do something about it. I am sure many other places do the same thing, but apparently I don’t shop there because it was a first for me when the clerk accepted my check … put it through a machine and handed it back to me. I said “wait a minute, don’t you want my check.” The checker said, “No, we’ve already taken the money from your account.”

It’s pretty fool-proof. If you try to cash a check without sufficient funds in your account, the machine rejects the check, and you’ll have to find some other way to “pay” for your groceries or put them back on the shelf.

I’m not sure what it cost to set up, but with the number of bad checks they’d been getting, I’m sure it will definitely pay off for them. A person will surely think twice before writing a check at McKay’s … if he doesn’t have any money in his account.

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You know your desk is too messy when you have to dial your cell phone to find out where it is … and it starts ringing a few feet away – under a huge pile of papers.

That’s what happens when I continually “save” articles that I might want to comment on in later columns (i.e. pit bulls, PERS, high-speed chases, murders, etc.).

I actually do file them away regularly, but considering the number of papers I purchase each day, it’s a never-ending task.

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The reception for Carol Adams, held Saturday night at Second Street Gallery, was a big success. Carol, who is confined to a wheelchair since suffering a debilitating stroke, was there for the event, which was attended by many of her fellow artists and a host of friends, and even those who had not previously known her.

A big thank you goes to Joanne Drapkin and Myra Lawson for all they did to organize the fundraiser and a special thank you goes to Richard Rhamlow for donating his beautiful gallery for the occasion.

Across the street, at the Harbortown Events Center, the Coos Historical & Maritime Museum held its “swamp rock” Mardi Gras event. It was well attended and the dance floor was crowded all evening as people danced to the swamp rock offerings of Kelly Thibodeaux and the Etouffee Band.

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I learned yesterday that a well-known Bandon man, Bob Martindale, is recovering slowly from a serious stroke suffered recently. His son says Bob is still paralyzed on one side and is unable to walk. Many of us old-timers remember Bob from the post office, where he worked for many, many years.

He’s a popular guy and we wish him a full recovery.


previous columns by mary schamehorn