14
Columbia Gorge News
Wednesday, May 12, 2021
www.columbiagorgenews.com
GORGE LOCAL — IN BUSINESS
Hood River Coffee Roasters changes hands
Updated website is early
priority for Margottas
Trisha Walker
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
After three years of looking for the per-
fect buyers, Peggy Thompson, founder and
owner of Hood River Coffee Roasters, has
sold the business to Mike and Susie Margotta
of Birmingham, Ala. She’s spent the past
three months helping the Margottas with the
transition.
“A lot of people were interested (in pur-
chasing the business), but nobody fit what I
was hoping for,” Thompson said. “Mike and
Susie fit — their strength is that they divide
and conquer. They have a beautiful plan
that will allow them to keep thing generally
as they have been; the community won’t
notice a huge shift. But they will take this little
business and make it recognizable here and
beyond.
“I couldn’t be happier that Mike and Susie
fell out of the sky,” she said.
While this will be Mike Margotta’s fourth
business, it’s his first with Susie.
“This is something we can do together,” he
said. “Our youngest moved to Portland six
years ago, and our oldest went to college in
British Columbia,” so they were familiar with
the northwest.
“We couldn’t be happier with our choice,”
he said.
They searched for such a business for three
or four years, looking to settle in Oregon. They
began looking for businesses in the service
industry in Bend, Ashland and Brookings.
When COVID hit, they realized that industry
could be risky.
That led them to Hood River Coffee
Roasters.
“We’ve always loved Hood River,” he said.
“We’re so happy to be here.”
Thompson said Margotta is a sponge and
actively seeks to understand all areas of the
business, taking a hands-on approach to
everything from processing orders to roasting
coffee beans.
“I feel a responsibility for keeping this go-
ing,” he said. “We feel a definite responsibility
to maintain the reputation of this organiza-
tion within the community.”
He is impressed with those working for the
company and credits Thompson for nurtur-
ing a positive environment.
“We want to be long-term
contributors to the community. We
want our site to reflect that.”
Mike Margotta
Hood River Coffee Roasters owner
“They are professional, proficient and
courteous,” he said. “They’re wonderful
people and they have a smooth bond. We
couldn’t ask for more stability and you don’t
usually see that.”
The Margottas are focusing their energy
on two areas at present: To understand and
meet customers locally, and to update the
business website.
They are updating the front office retail
space for local customers; the updated
website will feature new product photos and
content, and is expected to launch May 17.
“We want to be long-term contributors to
the community,” said Margotta. “We want our
site to reflect that.”
Thompson has lived in Stevenson for the
past two years and is looking forward to the
next chapter, participate more in the activities
she loves — like biking and surf skiing — and
Mike and Susie Margotta (and pup Riley), at left, have purchased Hood River Coffee Roasters from
founder and owner Peggy Thompson, right.
Trisha Walker photo
becoming involved in hospice.
“I’m learning to stop and recalibrate after
all these years of this being my life,” she said.
“The Stevenson community is amazing. A lot
of the company’s original contacts stem from
Stevenson, so transitioning to living here has
been easy.”
Hood River Coffee Roasters is located at
1310 Tucker Road, Hood River. For more
information, visit the website at hoodrivercof-
feeroasters.com.
Take action for Invasive Species Awareness Week
Cyndi Soliz
■ By Skamania
County Noxious
Weed Department
Tova Tillinghast
■ By Underwood
Conservation District
Residents and visitors of
the Columbia River Gorge
can “take action” to pre-
vent the spread of invasive
species in support of the
National Invasive Species
Awareness Week. While
May 17-21 is the highlighted
timeframe for this issue —
see more information and
free online events at www.
nisaw.org — raising public
awareness about invasive
species and how to prevent
them is a year-round need.
The moment you brush
past a plant or set down
your backpack in a meadow,
you’ve invited seeds to cling
on to your belongings. Then,
while on your trip home or
during your next adventure,
you accidentally disperse
the seeds, spreading invasive
species into a new ecosys-
tem. Those invasive species
can out-compete native
species for food and habitat
and sometimes even cause
their extinction.
Whether you travel afar
or just live locally, invasive
species can cause a nuisance
and even environmental or
economic harm on public
and private lands. Your
favorite destination or your
own backyard could be the
next site for a noxious weed
infestation. Seeds can be
found on your boots, socks,
and clothing: they may be
lying dormant in the mud
between your boot treads,
or caught in between your
shoes and socks, or they may
have simply attached them-
selves to your clothes like
velcro. What’s more, those
same species caught within
the treads of your shoes can
be in the treads of your bike,
ATV, and stroller tires.
One of our favorite com-
panions, our dogs, can also
give invasive plant seeds a
ride to their next home. It is
important to inspect your
four-legged companions and
remove any plant material
you find before traveling to
another site.
There are many habits
people can adopt to lessen
the probability of trans-
porting pests. Here in the
Columbia Gorge, many trails
have installed Boot brushes.
Hikers can clean their boots
before their hike in order
to reduce the chances of
any unknown hitchhikers
escaping into trail systems
and after a hike to prevent
the spread of weeds to
other trails or even their own
backyards.
Boot brushes can reduce
the spread of weeds from site
to site. It is important to use
them before and after your
hike, as weed seeds can be
very small, so clean boots
even if you suspect they
are clean. Be sure to clean
camping gear, including
sweeping out tents and
brushing off tarps on site
before packing up to leave.
Spreading invasive species
doesn’t stop at seeds or
plant pieces. Many pests and
plant diseases can spread as
well. On farms and forestry
operations, specific agricul-
tural sanitation practices
are necessary to prevent
invasives, pests, and crop
diseases from spreading
when moving equipment or
tools between forests, fields
and farms.
A key action to prevent
the spread of invasive insect
species is to buy and use
firewood locally. Dangerous
forest insects like the Bark
Beetle and Gypsy Moth,
which affect our forestry
and orchard industries, can
hitchhike their way into a
new area on firewood trans-
ported long distances.
Invasive plants and pests
are not limited to land! There
are a host of aquatic inva-
sives to be aware of like the
zebra mussel, New Zealand
mudsnail, and plants like
Eurasian milfoil. Clean
off visible aquatic plants,
animals and mud from wa-
tercraft, gear, paddles, floats,
ropes, anchors, trailers and
dip nets when you exit a
waterbody. Drain any extra
water from your gear, and
dry everything for five days
or more unless otherwise
required by local or state
law when moving between
waters to kill small species
that are not easily seen.
Never empty aquariums into
local waters or release fish or
other pets.
To learn more about
essential actions we can
take to prevent the spread of
invasive species visit play-
cleango.org. Most counties
Simon, 2, uses a boot brush at Rowena Plateau trailhead. May 17-21 is National Invasive
Species Awareness Week, but preventing the spread of invasive species is a year-round effort.
Contributed photo
also have noxious weed
departments and soil and
water conservation districts
with access to expertise and
resources for identifying
suspected plants and pests.
•••
Conservation districts
are local, non-regulatory,
public agencies charged
with assisting landowners
and residents with re-
sponsible natural resource
management and steward-
ship. Wasco County Soil and
Water Conservation District
in the Dalles, Hood River
Soil and Water Conservation
District in Hood River, and
Underwood Conservation
District in White Salmon
are available to assist with a
variety of natural resource
issues, including soil health,
water quality, fish habitat,
wildfire risk, forest man-
agement, noxious weeds,
pollinators, wildlife, livestock
and agriculture.
Friendly competition results
in donations to non-profits
Report
■ Staff
Columbia Gorge News
Adopt-A-Dog executive director Sherry Bohn, lead shelter tech Denise Perimeter, Insitu CEO
Megan Davies, and Insitu community relations coordinator Kip Miller.
Contributed photo
On Friday, April 9, Insitu’s new CEO
Megan Davies traveled to three Gorge
non-profit organizations to distribute $10,000
in donation checks to representatives from
Hood River Adopt-a-Dog, FISH Food Bank
and Columbia Gorge CASA.
The donations were the result of a friendly
competition Insitu sponsored for its employ-
ees that let them earn points for their favorite
charitable organization by volunteering their
time at company and community events.
Hood River Adopt-a-Dog received $5,000,
with FISH Foodbank and CG CASA receiving
$3,000 and $2,000, respectively.
“As a new Gorge resident, I am inspired
by the dedication of organizations like Hood
River Adopt-a-Dog, FISH Food Bank and
CASA to deliver critical services in our area,”
Davies said. “On behalf of the Insitu team,
thank you to all of our local non-profits for
the incredible work you do to build better,
more remarkable communities in this beau-
tiful place where we live and work.”
SUBSCRIBE for less than a fancy cup of coffee per month.
subscribe@gorgenews.com
541-296-2141 ext. 112
HOOD RIVER | THE DALLES | WHITE SALMON
Columbia Gorge News
ColumbiaGorgeNews.com