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About The Observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 2019)
B Wednesday, May 1, 2019 The Observer & Baker City Herald Small-business & Ag HAPPENINGS Real Deals welcomes fall with special events LA GRANDE — Real Deals, 1108 Adams Ave., La Grande, is hosting two events to welcome autumn. Sept. 5 is “Fall Girls Night Out” from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. “Mom- mas need to have a little fun,” organizers said. Grandscapes Nursery will be at the event with fall live plants “for your planting pleasure.” A Fall Open House takes place Sept. 6 at Real Deals from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The open house will include brand-new autumn decor and specials to celebrate the feeling of fall in the air. Trish Yerges/For EO Media Group Elgin’s historic Brunswick Restaurant and Lounge was sold on August 1 and renamed Elgin Station Grill & Bar by its new owners and broth- ers Randy and Phil Smith. The brothers want to preserve its long-time western culture and offer a casual atmosphere with tasty foods. The restaurant will offer lunches and dinners initially and gradually introduce a breakfast menu in early September. The Smith brothers welcome their patrons’ suggestions on their menu. Businesses encouraged to welcome EOU students LA GRANDE — The Union County Chamber of Commerce encourages local businesses to participate in EOU’s Week of Welcome (aka WoW) Block Party on Sept. 24. The block party will be held in the Benchwarmers outdoor space on Depot Street between Adams and Jefferson. The aim of WoW is to welcome and orient new students to La Grande and Union County. Businesses may be a part of a scavenger hunt from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in which groups of students come to participating businesses for a game piece. Spaces are limited, so contact the Chamber soon to sign up. This activity is organized by the Chamber and La Grande Main Street. The Block Party will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Depot Street Block Party. Interested businesses may set up an information booth in order to connect with the students and let them know what is available locally. There is no cost to partici- pate. Call the Chamber at 541-963-8588 for more information or to reserve space for the scavenger hunt and/or the block party. Life Flight Network receives helicopter safety accreditation AURORA — Helicopter Association In- ternational announced Life Flight Network, based in Aurora and serving Northeast Oregon, completed HAI’s Accreditation Pro- gram of Safety. The program was developed to help participating businesses fly to a higher standard of safety and professional- ism, improve safety culture and reduce losses that result from avoidable accidents and incidents. Life Flight Network earned helicopter mission-specific accreditation for Helicopter Air Ambulance while also elevating its In- ternational Standards for Business Aircraft Operations registration to Stage Three. Stage Three is the highest level of IS-BAO certification and verifies that safety man- agement activities are fully integrated into an operator’s business and that a positive safety culture is being sustained. “Safety and patient care are our top priorities,” said Life Flight Network CEO Michael Griffiths. “We are uncompromis- ing in our adherence to the highest safety standards and committed to maintaining a culture of safety. Our accreditation by HAI is an illustration of this commitment.” ‘Let the Kicker kick!’ SALEM — The following statement was released by Oregon’s Timber Unity Association: “As an association president that represents the voices of more than 50,000 working men and women in Oregon, Timber Unity Association is going on the record that we will vigorously oppose any effort to steal the Kicker Tax Rebate from the workers who earned it,” said Mike Pihl, owner of Mike Pihl Logging. “The su- permajority already swept $108 million of money that was owed to taxpayers earlier this year. We’re not going to let them take another dime.” New taste in an old place By Trish Yerges For EO Media Group The former Brunswick Res- taurant & Lounge business sign has come down and in its place the new “Elgin Station Grill & Bar” sign has gone up, and with it emerges a new menu, new staff and the making of new traditions. Business owners and brothers, Phil Smith of Salem and Randy Smith of Eugene bought the restaurant Aug. 1. Together they represent more than 60 years of experience in the restaurant and food service industry from corporate businesses to mom and pop establishments. “We’re used to working in corporate, and we decided it was time to get into a place of our own, work it and retire with it,” Randy said. “This is a great area, and we fell in love with it while visiting friends for the past 10 years.” Randy said was impressed with Elgin when he passed by Stella Mayfield Elementary School on one of his visits and saw all the kids’ bicycles in their stands without locks on them. “It looked just like the old days when I went to school,” he said. “It feels safe. It feels right. I haven’t seen that in so many years.” Then, on another visit to the area, the Smith brothers heard about the sale of the Brunswick, and after looking at it, they thought it fit their individual strengths and decided to buy it. A lot of planning went into it, including changing the name to reflect Elgin and its heritage. “The biggest reason we changed the name of the busi- ness was because we wanted to build our own identity and reputation,” Phil said. “In talking to the community, (we found people) agreed that a name change was a positive thing.” With a new name, the broth- ers felt they could introduce their own menu and bring with it their vision. “We know the history of the Brunswick, and we’re donating the old sign to the Elgin Mu- seum,” added Randy. “The name will live on in that way.” Though the name was changed, the Smith brothers have retained a lot of the history of the old Brunswick, including the decorations inside and the brand names on the wall. The new menu is built around the history of Elgin, its rodeo, lumber industry and Western lifestyle with items such as the double bull burger, spicy stam- pede burger, cowgirl cob salad, cowboy chicken wrap, Blue Mountain club sandwich, Italian stallion sandwich and Round-up roast beef sandwich. The bar in the rear of the res- taurant will also be preserved for its historical heritage. According to Randy, the bar had five false ceilings and at one time the ceil- ing used to go all the way to the top of the building. The Smiths know they have large shoes to fill as the Bruns- wick Restaurant has been one of Elgin’s iconic downtown busi- nesses since it was built in 1946. Trish Yerges/For EO Media Group Brothers Phil Smith of Salem and Randy Smith of Eugene are busi- ness partners in the newly established Elgin Station Grill & Bar, 52 North Eighth Avenue in Elgin’s downtown district. The restaurant was named after John Moses Brunswick, founder of Brunswick Billiards. Just how that happened was a business deal in itself. “The original owner who built it did not have quite enough money to buy a pool table, so he contacted the Brunswick (billiards) company, and they said if you name your restaurant Brunswick, we’ll give you a pool table,” Randy said. “The owner said, ‘Okay, I can do that,’ (and) he named it Brunswick.” Moving forward, Randy said, “We want to be a part of the community and let the Elgin Station create its own history.” One way the Elgin Station is doing that is by opening its restaurant doors to the early bird coffee drinkers at 5 a.m. The farm- ers and others are welcome to sit around the restaurant tables and visit and enjoy free coffee. Beyond that, the Elgin See Station / Page 2B Millennial Money: Start with a money summit By Kelsey Sheehy NerdWallet Spreadsheets and savings goals aren’t sexy. That’s probably why great love stories, when retold, don’t delve into household finances. But money is a central part of any relationship. And how you deal with it (or don’t) can determine whether your own tale is a short story or a novel. “Getting on the same page financially is crucial to being happy and having a long- lasting marriage,” says Marie O’Keefe, a financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual. That’s not just lip service. A whopping 82% of engaged and newly married couples say they feel closer to their mate when they’re in agreement about money, according to a sur- vey by Northwestern Mutual and The Knot. But that same survey found that only 37% of couples actually talk about their finances monthly. If that sounds like you and your partner, it’s time to schedule a money summit. “I’m a huge proponent of financial summits . especially when you’re moving in with each other or getting engaged, because that’s when your lives begin to merge,” O’Keefe says. If you’re combining households, you need to tackle day-to-day tasks like making a bud- get and divvying up financial responsibilities. You also need to hit the big picture stuff, namely debt and financial goals, like saving for a house, retirement, vacation, a baby or all of the above. That first meeting might be a doozy — you have a lot of ground to cover and potentially some financial baggage to unpack — but once you get into a groove, your summits will get easier. These guidelines can keep your talk on track, even when things get uncom- fortable. 1. PUT IT ON THE CALENDAR Don’t spring a major financial conversa- tion on your partner. Instead, schedule it so you both can come to the table prepared mentally and emotionally. Not every summit needs an hour or even 30 minutes — Marla Mattenson , a relation- ship expert, has a 15-minute check-in every Friday with her partner — but some topics warrant more time and attention. If you’re butting heads on a financial goal, for example, or need to make major adjust- ments to your budget, debt or retirement plan, give yourselves enough time to unpack those issues. Mattenson suggests building in some buffer time, so you’re not going straight from your summit into dinner with friends. “You might have emotions you need to deal with after the meeting,” she says. “Have some ‘me’ time or some ‘us’ time built into the after-meeting time.” 2. HAVE AN AGENDA Giving your summit some structure will make it easier to stay on task. Mattenson likes the “rose, bud, thorn, earth” approach. — Rose: Start with the stuff that’s going well. Did you stick to your budget or hit a savings goal? Celebrate that! — Bud: Next, move onto new things to consider. Do you want to get a puppy? Need a See Money / Page 2B