THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2015
Business & Ag
Langrells sell: Always
Welcome Inn has new owners
— Weekly Hay Report —
Friday, December 18, 2015 — Eastern Oregon
Prices trended generally steady compared to week
ago prices. The upcoming holidays have slowed
sales. Many producers have decided to hold on to
their hay for now, in hopes for higher prices. Snow
has hit some of the hay producing areas.
Tons Price Range Wtd Avg
Alfalfa —Large Square Premium
320 190.00-190.00 190.00
Alfalfa —Large Square Good
245 125.00-125.00 125.00
Two weeks ago:
Timothy Grass — Large Square, Good
65 200.00-200.00 200.00
Timothy Grass— Small Square, Good
5 200.00-200.00 200.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press
— Cattle Market Report —
The Always Welcome Inn with its snow-covered parking lot this week, recently changed ownership.
BY GINA K. SWARTZ
Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com
For the last 17 years,
the Always Welcome Inn,
owned and operated by
Richard and Lynne Lan-
grell, has been a beacon
lighting up the hillside east
of I-84.
On December 7, the
torch was passed to Dee
Prashar.
According to Langrell,
Prashar owns and operates
several other properties,
including the Baker City
Super 8.
So, after 17 years the
Langrells decided it was
time to close the chapter
and begin a new one.
With their first grand-
child born several months
ago, the timing was right
to be able to have the
freedom to pick up and go
whenever, whereever they
wanted.
Richard Langrell said,
“We recently were plan-
ning a trip to pick up our
son and bring him home
for Christmas. As we were
making plans and deciding
what was going to happen
I looked at my wife and I
said, ‘You know we can
both go, together.’ She
replied ‘Oh, yeah. We can
both go.’”
Langrell says his wife
approached him about
selling the motel several
months ago.
He said, “She decided the
price and the terms and I
laughed and told her it just
didn’t work that way. I’ll
be darned if we weren’t
approached relatively
quickly and everything that
was in her terms was met
exactly.”
In four short weeks the
deal on the property closed
and Prashar took posses-
sion.
“We spent three weeks
quickly moving all kinds
of stuff out of there into a
40x85 foot warehouse. It’s
crazy what you stockpile in
17 years,” Langrell said.
Langrell indicated that
he intends to run a small
manufacturing company
after he and his wife enjoy
some quiet down time that
is likely to include some
traveling.
He had no specifics to of-
fer regarding the manufac-
turing business at this time.
Langrell currently
serves as a Baker City
Councilor. He was elected
November 2012 and voted
by his fellow councilors as
Mayor in January 2013.
Langrell was ousted as
Mayor, yet remained on
Council after he filed a
lawsuit against the City
regarding double water and
sewer rates charged to him
at the Always Welcome
Inn.
In an agreement made
between property owners
and the City back in 2005,
double water and sewer
rates were charged in lieu
of the City’s portion of
property taxes for a spe-
cific period of time.
Langrell says although
the agreement was to have
ended he continued to be
double billed.
His lawsuit was settled
earlier this year for roughly
$55,000. Langrell indi-
cated that the timing of the
settlement and the decision
to sell were not related.
Langrell says he has no
intentions of resigning his
City Council seat due to
the motel sale and desire to
travel.
“Sorry, folks,” he said
with a laugh.
His Council term ends
December 2016.
Charley’s changes hands for
second time since 2014
BY TODD ARRIOLA
Todd@TheBakerCountyPress.com
At the northwest corner
of Main and Broadway
streets sits the historic cre-
ation of well-known com-
munity member Robert
Charles “Charley” Carlson,
Charley’s Ice Cream Par-
lor, in the early stages of
its interior transformation
by new owners Dan Batch-
elor and Jodi Furtney, evi-
denced by the brown paper
covering nearly every bit
of glass, with the words
“Closed For Remodeling.”
The name, which will be
displayed on the exterior,
upon reopening next year:
Charley’s.
Having formed DanJo,
LLC in October, busi-
ness partners Batchelor
and Furtney took over
ownership of Charley’s on
November 1st, keeping the
parlor open, as-is, for cus-
tomers until December 1st
when remodeling began,
Batchelor said.
Answering questions—
the first questions—many
community members have
had on their minds, Batch-
elor said, “We will keep it
Charley’s, and, we’ll have
ice cream. But, we’re drop-
ping the Ice Cream Parlor
from the name of it…
We’re still going to have
the ice cream in there,” he
said, noting there will still
be around 16 variety of
flavors offered, including
milkshakes, but, there will
be more of a focus on serv-
ing deli-style lunch food.
Furtney, who also works
as an Advance Director
for The Pampered Chef,
concurred with Batchelor,
and said, “We’re definitely
going to keep the ice cream
(the cooler‘s in storage at
the moment), and, that fills
a need in Baker, especially
during the summertime.
While that is a summer
thing, there’s a bit part
of the year where it’s not
about tourists around here,
so, we definitely want to
cater to the local people.
We feel we‘re giving the
best of both worlds.”
Furtney said, like
Batchelor, that there will
be more of a focus on deli
foods, and a lunch menu.
She said the plan is to
have, among other things,
specialty salads, and, spe-
cialty meats and cheeses
and high-quality bread for
sandwiches. There will be
a “variety pack,” as she put
it. Furtney said that the
number of staff, undeter-
mined at this time, will
be adjusted to ensure that
people are served quickly,
especially during the lunch
hour.
Furtney’s grown up
around the food service
industry, having assisted
her father, Jerry Spencer,
who ran a catering and
other related business, but,
this is her first time taking
on a restaurant project in
this capacity, she said.
Batchelor, who owns
Powder River Preci-
sion, Inc. on 23rd Street
with his wife, Michelle,
acknowledged the benefits
of showing consideration
toward nostalgia, keeping
the name Charley’s, and
offering some of the same
services this institution
has offered the community
throughout its history.
Furtney said, about the
inspiration for taking on
the project, “A challenge,
and, an opportunity. Char-
ley’s is an icon in Baker,
you know, it’s been around
a long time…We want to
honor the local tradition
of it… The idea came up,
and, the more we talked
about it, you know, we
said, this could be a really
good thing.”
Batchelor said he’s
been in the community
long enough—over eight
years—to know that keep-
ing the business name, or
part of the business name,
and, offering the same, or
some of the same services,
doesn’t translate to the
best business practice, and,
about every bit of advice
written on the subject
of opening a restaurant
includes revamping the
name and services, but,
“The people who wrote
those books don’t live in
this town.”
The interior layout will
see a change, Batchelor
said, but, it may not be too
drastic, partly because of
the structure of the space.
There aren’t any plans to
change the exterior of the
building, the large glass
windows and awnings of
which command a memo-
rable presence on Main
and Broadway.
Furtney said that she
and Batchelor are handling
the design work, and much
of the remodeling work
themselves, but some is
necessarily contracted out.
Furtney said, “It’s going
to have a completely fresh
look and fresh feel. When
you walk in, it’s not go-
ing to seem like the same
place.”
She explained that the
interior, which has an odd
shape to it, will have a
layout with a more stream-
lined look, and, there will
be a more efficient use of
the space.
There will most likely be
different flooring installed,
replacing the green and
white checkered flooring,
Batchelor said.
Furtney said that while
assessing some minor wa-
ter damage in a small area,
several layers of flooring
were discovered, includ-
ing the original hardwood
floors, covered with tar pa-
per, covered by sub floor,
by commercial-grade li-
noleum, another sub floor,
more commercial-grade
linoleum, and, finally, the
current flooring.
She said the origi-
nal flooring would look
beautiful redone, but, that
would require an enormous
amount of work.
The graphics on the
exterior glass will see
a change, Furtney said.
This will possibly include
a sub-name, to maybe
include Delicatessen or
other words (undetermined
at this time), but the name
Charley’s will certainly be
displayed, she said.
SEE CHARLEY’S PAGE 13
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
Vale, Oregon
Cattle sold through the auction: 1,528
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 171.00 - 196.00 Top 228.00
400-500# Bulk 162.00 - 203.00 Top 216.00
500-600# Bulk 151.00 - 180.00 Top 180.75
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 151.00 - 176.00 Top 178.00
400-500# Bulk 137.00 - 172.00 Top 175.00
500-600# Bulk 136.00 - 160.00 Top 160.50
600-700#
700-800#
800-900#
900-1,000#
Yearling Steers
Bulk 134.00 - 162.00 Top 163.50
Bulk 128.00 - 139.00 Top 152.75
Bulk 123.00 - 136.00 Top 137.00
Bulk 120.00 - 129.00 Top 135.00
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 122.00 - 144.00 Top 146.50
700-800# Bulk 118.00 - 131.00 Top 132.00
800-900# Bulk 112.00 - 123.00 Top 124.50
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Thin Shelly Cows 37.00 - 47.00
Butcher Cows 48.00 - 55.00
Butcher Bulls 52.00 - 62.00
Stock Cows Yng. 1175.00 - 1475.00
Younger Hfrts. 74.00 - 111.00
Stock Cows Older. - 935.00 - 1125.00
ProducersLivestock.com
541-473-3136
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Doug Fir is $415.00/mbf
White fir is $365.00/mbf
Ponderosa Pine is brought sold
on diameter splits
6 to 11 inch dib $300 to $310/MBF
12 to 17 inch dib $350 to $375/MBF
18 to 23 inch dib $400 to $430/MBF
24 inch plus dib $450 to $500/MBF
DIB is diameter inside bark at
small end of log.
MBF is thousand board feet lumber, net scale.
People interested in selling logs
should call and get specific
quotes from saw mills.
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: 1,077.70
Silver: $14.25
Platinum: $872.40
Palladium: $552.35
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $372.00/bu/USD
Wheat: $479.00/bu/USD
Soybeans: $891.50/bu/USD
Oats: $225.00 bu/USD
Rough Rice: $10.95/cwt/USD
Canola: $491.30 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $129.15/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $154.50/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $56.63/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com