Business AgLife
B
Thursday, February 11, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Jay Zee
will mill to
your will
Joseph mill gets 80% of
lumber from Wallowa
County forests
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — One of the more
unique wood-products outlets in
Wallowa County has been going
strong for 20 years under the
operation of owner Jim Zacharias
with little change.
Jay Zee Lumber is not a lumber
yard per se — Jay Zee has no dry
kiln to produce finished lumber
and only does a little planing —
the mill does custom-cut lumber
for projects large and small.
“If someone comes along, they
might want one board 3 feet long
or they might want 3,000 boards
of all various dimensions,” Zach-
arias said Wednesday, Jan. 27.
“We sold a truckload yesterday of
about 8,000 board feet, it was all
1-by-12 Douglas fir.”
He also does large beams for
construction projects, though
contractors can’t use most of his
lumber for homes because it’s
not stamped and graded, he said.
Some of the beams are as large as
12-by-16 inches and 25 feet long.
“They can use the big beams
and siding,” he said.
Zacharias gets virtually all of
his logs from Wallowa County
forests. He said about 80% of his
wood is Douglas fir, Ponderosa
pine and Western larch. Virtually
no hardwoods are milled at Jay
Zee, 600 E. Russell Lane on the
north side of Joseph. The excep-
tion would be if a customer brings
in a hardwood tree they’ve felled
at home and want milled. Other-
wise, hardwoods just don’t grow
in the county.
Some timber he buys from the
family-owned logging operations.
“That’s something people get
confused about,” he said. “There’s
three generations of Zachariases
logging here.”
Jim’s father, Bob Zacharias,
owns and operates Zacharias
Logging.
“He’s 85 and still going to
work every day,” Jim said.
In fact, Jim worked for his dad
logging for two years right out of
high school and then went out on
his own.
“Now I’ve been logging for
46 years — 44 of those self-em-
ployed,” he said.
Jim’s sons, Tom and Seth,
operate another logging company
called Pro Thinning.
“A lot of the time we work
together, or I might buy logs from
them, but they are all three sepa-
rate entities,” Jim said.
The custom-cut work at Jay
Zee goes toward much fencing
See, Lumber/Page 3B
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Leah Over prepares scones on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, at the newly opened Liberty Theatre Cafe in downtown La Grande.
Kneads No More
New Liberty Theatre Cafe rises
in the Putman Building
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Kneads Bakery in
downtown La Grande is no more. But its
owners, McKenzie Funk and Leah Over,
continue their bakery just down the street in
the new Liberty Theatre Cafe.
The business held a soft opening the
end of last week, starting Feb. 4. The move
expanded the business operations to include
an espresso machine, and Over and Funk
said they plan on expanding further over the
next few years to include a bar and beer taps
when the titular theater next door reopens.
While Kneads is gone, the recipes, hand-
crafted bread and creative vision of the
future remains in the hands of its two bright
and enterprising owners.
Funk and Over were planning the move
for more than a year. In December 2019 they
were setting sights on the cafe across the
street. The pandemic halted that idea, but
Over said it was a blessing in disguise — the
pause allowed her and Funk to think care-
fully about their next moves.
“Three years ago, the theater foundation
had talked about wanting to have food with
the theater, so I kinda got into that conver-
sation with some other people,” Over said.
“And I’m really excited to have the cafe, but
I really want to work with the theater. Our
business is actually to run the cafe and the
theater, so we’ll be programming for music
and movies and other events.”
Over, prior to founding the new Liberty
Theatre Cafe with Funk, had run Kneads
Bakery across the street for six years. It was
her first venture into baking. She said her
primary reason for getting into the industry
was to be her own boss, that she liked the
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Liberty Theatre Cafe owners McKenzie Funk (left) and Leah Over take a moment behind the
counter Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, at their business in downtown La Grande. The cafe held a
successful soft opening late last week.
freedom it entailed. The previous owner of
Kneads handed the keys and a 1940’s oven to
the fledgeling baker. She wasted no time get-
ting her hands into the mix and building up
her business.
“I just wanted to have my own business,
basically,” Over said. “I learned most of
what I know from [this] job. I didn’t do a lot
of baking before I got the business, but I’ve
learned a lot since.”
Work begins at 4:30 a.m., and it’s not
uncommon for Over to work more than 12
hours a day.
Kneads grew considerably over the years,
taking on a new decor, expanding the menu
and elevating its artisanal breads to a form
of art. Sourdough became the bakery’s pride
and joy, and remains a staple for most of the
sandwiches at the new cafe — but due to
COVID-19 restrictions, service is takeout
only.
Funk met Over at a mutual friend’s annual
party in 2017. Funk is a former Bay Area
pastry chef at the famous Chez Panisse, a
See, Cafe/Page 2B
Pendleton brewery sues Anheuser-Busch over national ad campaign
By ANTONIO SIERRA
East Oregonian
PORTLAND — A foot-
ball commercial aired
during an NFL game has
led to a lawsuit pitting a
Pendleton brewer against
one of the largest beverage
companies in the country.
Suzie’s Brewery Co. filed
a lawsuit on Feb. 2 against
Anheuser-Busch in U.S.
District Court in Portland,
alleging that the company’s
advertising campaign for
a new hard seltzer product
was misleading and harmed
its own product, Suzie’s
Organic Hard Seltzer.
“Using the bully-pulpit
its massive national adver-
tising budget allows,
Anheuser-Busch has pre-
miered a new false and mis-
leading advertising cam-
paign aimed at convincing
health-conscious drinkers
that its new organic hard
seltzer is a unique, one-of-
a-kind product,” Suzie’s
Brewery’s complaint states.
“To be clear, it is not.”
Suzie’s Brewery Pres-
ident Chris Barhyte said
he first learned about the
potential conflict when
friends and family started
contacting him about a
commercial that was run-
ning during a slate of NFL
playoff games on Jan. 24.
The commercial touted
the qualities of Michelob
Ultra Organic Seltzer before
stating that it is the “only
nationally USDA certified
organic hard seltzer.”
Suzie’s Brewery is a sub-
sidiary of Barhyte Specialty
Foods, a company known
for its mustards and other
sauces. Suzie’s Brewery
launched its hard seltzer
over the summer, empha-
sizing its organic ingre-
dients and displaying the
“USDA Organic” logo on its
packaging.
According to the law-
suit, Suzie’s Brewery started
researching the rest of
Anheuser-Busch’s adver-
tising campaign and media
presence and found that
Michelob Ultra was also
described as the “First of
its-kind organic option to
the hard seltzer category”
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Barhyte Specialty Foods’ subsidiary Suzie’s Brewery Co. in Pendleton filed a lawsuit on
Feb. 2 in U.S. District Court against Anheuser-Busch alleging the company’s advertising
campaign for a new hard seltzer product was misleading and harmed Barhyte’s brand,
Suzie’s Organic Hard Seltzer.
and the “First-ever national
USDA certified organic
hard seltzer.”
Barhyte said new com-
petition is actually a good
development for Suzie’s
Brewery because it raises
awareness about the organic
hard seltzers. But Suz-
ie’s Brewery didn’t want
Anheuser-Busch confusing
consumers into thinking
it was the only option
available.
Barhyte said Suzie’s
Brewery sent the beverage
giant, which owns brands
like Michelob, Budweiser
and Rolling Rock, a cease
and desist letter. When
Anheuser-Busch neither
ceased or desisted, Suzie’s
Brewery filed the lawsuit
seeking to prevent the com-
pany from describing Mich-
elob Ultra seltzer as “first”
or “first-of-its-kind” or
“only,” in addition to dam-
ages and attorney’s fees.
Despite the legal action
taken against it, Anheus-
er-Busch is standing behind
its advertising campaign.
“Michelob ULTRA
Organic Seltzer is the
first national hard seltzer
that is USDA-Certified
Organic,” an Anheus-
er-Busch spokesman said
in a statement. “We are
looking forward to vigor-
ously defending this factual
statement.”
Attorneys for Anheus-
er-Busch filed a response
on Feb. 2, arguing that its
advertisements weren’t
inaccurate because it
always paired descriptors
like “first” and “only” with
the adjective “national.”
Anheuser-Busch stated
that using “national” made
the commercials accurate
because Michelob Ultra
seltzer was nationally dis-
tributed, available in 49
states to Suzie’s Brewery’s
six. The company added
that Michelob Ultra wasn’t
even Anheuser-Busch’s first
organic hard seltzer, but the
other brand was only dis-
tributed regionally.