The upper left edge. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1992-current, August 01, 1998, Page 2, Image 2

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    C
H
“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to
have fun.” Benjamin Franklin
e v .
u l t s
Editorial Ê
Now & Then
B ig M c ’s
(or the K in gd om o f the F at Boys)
Most of our readers know that your beloved rev. is
a musician of sorts, and some even have noticed that
he has been playing gigs lately. Well, some of those
gigs were at taverns owned and operated by the
Brothers McMenamin, so your intrepid editor
decided to call ‘the fat boys’ as their employees call
them. (Sorry, but true.) Mike returned the call and
said he would be at Duffy’s in St. Johns. We
consulted the bus schedule, grabbed a couple of
Bud’s and a cheap tablet & pen, and set off to do
interview. We had been taught that it’s not what you
say, but it’s what you do that counts, and how you
do what you do is what is all about. So we wanted
to know how these guy’s do what they do.
For our readers who have never heard of these
guys, they build taverns and Brewpubs here in the
Northwest, and they seem to be very good at it.
Well, Mike was at Duffy’s which used to be the
National Cash Register Building at the Lewis &
Clark Exposition, back in ought whatever, and then
was a church and then an American Legion Hall and
finally a tavern. We had a nice talk while all around
us a bunch of guys with long hair were using power
tools and various implements of mass construction.
Questions needing answers, and decisions needing to
be made by the boss, were handled quickly and
quietly by Mike as we sat amid the rubble that was to
be a fully functioning tavern in four days. People
from the neighborhood wandered in the open front
door. Mike greeted them with, “Come on in take a
look around, we’,1 be open Wednesday.” No one
seemed to believe him. One woman lived down the
block and used to be president of the PTA at the
Kennedy School, which is now a McMenamin’s
Tavern/Theatre/Restaurant/Bed & Breakfast and
something of a community center. She went on and
on about what a wonderful job they had done and
what a grand addition to the neighborhood it is.
Later, Mike explained that they hadn’t started out
with saving historic buildings in mind. The purchase
of the old poor house, ‘Edgefield Manor’, the
‘Kennedy Grade School’, ‘Boon’s Treasury’ in
Salem and to your beloved editor, most importantly
‘The Crystal Ballroom’, seemed to be a ‘ just how
we did it’, sort of thing. He said they finally had to
put a full time ‘historian’ on the payroll, just to keep
up with what they bought. We reminisced about
when he opened his first tavern “Produce Row” as
your beloved editor was struggling to open his first
tavern, Euphoria, just around the corner. And the
efforts of the McMenamin brothers and the Widmere
brothers and the Lawrence brothers and the whole
Ponzi family to get the Brewpub law through the
Oregon Legislature.
But we were not to be denied, this was our chance
to do ‘interview’ and ‘journalism’ demanded we ask
the tough questions.
“So, how many places do you have now?” we
asked.
“Forty four, I think.” he said. “
“How do you keep track of ‘the kingdom’?”, we
questioned.
“We have a lot of good people that do that.”, he
replied.
“How many?” , we pressed.
“Around a thousand, maybe.”, he said vaguely.
“Why does every one that works for you look, well,
like hippies?”, we probed.
“You work well with people that have the same
attitude as you.”, he said evasively.
“Where do you get the money to buy all these
places?” , we demanded.
‘T h e bank.” , he stated blatantly.
‘
“They actually loan old hippies money to start
taverns these days?”, we asked incredulously.
“Well, I didn’t say it was easy, we had to borrow
$4.3 million to do the Kennedy School, and they
were not too sure we knew what we were doing.
We hadn’t done a Bed & Breakfast at that time.
They wanted us to make all the places the same like a
Big Mac franchise, or something, so they could use
the same numbers over and over. But that’s no
fun.”, he confessed.
“People seem to like working for you guys, do you
pay better than other places?”, we wondered aloud,
hoping to butter him up.
“We are competitive on salaries and, of course, we
offer health, and dental, and profit sharing, 401K’s
and bonuses. And we try to treat folks that work
IN AN UNJUST WORLD... JUSTICE.
W H X U TO O BT AN EDO I
C a n s o s Beach Jupiter's Rare and Used Book». O sburn’s
Grocery. The Cookie Co.. Coffee Cabaña. Bill » Tavern. Cannon
Beach Book Co.. Hane s Bakerte. The Bistro. M idtow n Cafe.
Once Upon a Breeze Copies & Fax. H eather’s. The Homegrown
Café. Haystack Video. M ariner M arket. Espresso Bean. Leola
Square A Cleanline S u rf
M a n x a n lta M other Nature s Juice Bar. Bayside Gardens.
Cassandra's. M anzanita News A Espresso. A Nehalem Bay
Video
NehaJem M erm aid Cafe
R o ckaw ay Sharkey's
T illam o o k; Rainy Day Books
Bay C it y
A rt Space
Yachats By-the-Sea Books
P acific C ity; The River House. Far C o u n try Books. A Village
Merchants
O cean sid e Ocean Side Espresso
L incoln C ity T rilliu m N atural Foods. Driftwood Library. A
Lighthouse Brewpub
Depoe Bay* Oregon Books
N e w po rt Oceana N atural Foods. Café DIVA. Cosmo Café.
Bookm ark Café. Newport Bay Coffee Co.. Cuppatunes. Bay
Latté. Ocean Pulse S u rf Shop. Coastal Coffee Co.. Sylvia Beach
H o te l Green Gables Bookstore/ BAB. A Canyon Way
Eugene: Book M ark. Café Navarra. Eugene Public Library.
Friendly St. M arket. Happy Trails. Keystone Café. Kiva Foods.
Lane C .C .. Light For Music. New Frontier M arket. Nineteenth
Street Brew Pub. Oaal
sis M arket. Perry s. Red B arn Grocery.
Sundance N atural Foods. U o f O.
X A W OW Hall
C o rv a llis The Environm ental Center. O SU
Salem . Heliotrope. Salem Library. A The Peace Store
Astoria: KMUN C olum bian Cafe. The C om m un ity Store. The
Wet Dog Cafe. Astoria Coffee Company. Café Uniontown. A
Sh ark Rock Café
Seaside Buck’s Book Barn. Universal Video. A Café Espresso
Portland: Artichoke Music. Laughing Horse Bookstore. Act III.
Barnes A Noble. Belmonts Inn. Bibelot A rt Gallery. Bijou Café.
Borders. Bridgeport Brew Pub. C a p tn Beans (two locations).
Center for the Healing Light Coffee People (three locations).
Com m on G rounds Coffee. Cast Avenue Tavern. Food Front.
Goose Hollow Inn. H ot Lips Pizza. Java Bay Café. Key Largo. La
Pattlsaerie.
*‘ Lewis
*
“ A
“ C lark Colliege. ■
- - -•- Only.
Marco's Pizza.
Locals
(
¡CC.
(two locations). NW Natural Gas. O H SU Medical School. Old
Wives Tales. Ozone Records. Papa Haydn. PCC (four locations).
PSU (two locations). Reed College. Third Eye. TransCentral
Library. A YWCA
C o rn elius: The Weekend G arden M arket
T h e Dalles: Kllndts Bookseller
Hood R iv e r Purple Rocks Art Bar A Café
Ashland: Garo's Java House. The Black Sheep. Blue Mt. Café.
A Rogue River Brewery
Cave Ju n ctio n : Coffee Heaven A Kerby C o m m u n ity M arket
G ra n ts Pass: The Book Shop
(O ut o f O regon)
V a n c o u v e r, wA: The Den
Lon gview , W A The Broadway Gallery. A C arat Patch
Long Beach, W A Pacific Picnics
Naselle, W A Rainy Day Artistry
N a h c o tta , W A Moby Dick Hotel
D u vall. W A D uvall Books
B ainb ridge Islan d, W A Eagle Harbor Book Co.
S e a ttle . W A Elliot Bay Book Co.. Honey Bear Bakery. New
Orleans Restaurant. Stül Life In Fremont. Allegro Coffeehouse.
The Last E xit Coffee House. A Bulldog News
San Francisco , C A C ity Lights Bookstore
D e n ver. Co: Denver Folklore Center
New Y o rk , N T The Strand Book Com pany
W ash in g to n , D .C .: Hotel Tabard Inn
with us fair, no one has to pee in a bottle or
anything.” he finally admitted.
“Speaking of jobs” your beloved editor cuts to the
chase, “Have your heard about our new band The
Phoreheads?” “We sure would like to play at the
Crystal.”
Mike was called suddenly away.
“Well, what about taking an ad out in our paper?”
we pleaded as he ran screaming from the building.
We didn’t even get a chance to offer him a Bud,
which we have heard is what he really drinks, and
makes us think we might be able to get that gig,
sooner or later.
So, we wandered around St. John’s until we found
a house that looked familiar, and went in drank the
Bud’s in good company, watched a little baseball and
called it a day.
.
Any way we suggest you check out the Big Mc’s in
a neighborhood near you, or you can get a complete
listing of their activities on their web sit
www.mcmenamins.com.
They seem to be unique to what we call the upper
left edge of America and thus should be celebrated.
So if you find your self in one of their taverns,
order a beer, smile and think of your beloved rev.,
and remember Uncle Mike says, “If it doesn’t fold,
it’s not a tip!”
Editor/Publisher/Janilor: The
Beloved Reverend Billy Lloyd Hulls
Graphics Editor: The Humble Ms.
Sally Louise Lackaff
Copy Editor/Science Editor/Voicc
of Reason/Vncle Mike/etc.: Michael
Burgess
W ildlife InformantZMusic Reporter
at Large: Peler "Spud" Siegel
Education E d ito r Peter Lindsey
Improvisational Engineer: Dr.
Karkeys
Paste/Production/Proof Reader:
Myma Uhlig
Bass Player Bill Uhlig
Poetry Editor: John Buckley
Political Consultant: Kathleen
Krushas
History E d ito r Douglas Deur
Environmental News: Kim Bossé
Lower Left Beat Victoria Sloppiello
M r. Baseball: Jeff Larson
Local C olour Ron Logan
June's Garden: June Kroft
WEB Builder: Liz Lynch
WEB Ad Sales: Virginia Bruce
Essential Services: Ginm Callahan
Ad Sales: Katherine Mace
M ajor Distribution: Ambling Bear
Distribution
Assistant W hite Space
Coordinator: Karen Brown
And A Cast O f Thousands!!
Advertising rates:
Business Card Size Ad
$30.
1 /16th approx. 3 x 5
S35.
1 /8th approx 4 x 7
$50.
1 64 th approx. 6 1/2 x 9 $ 100.
1/2 page
$150.
Full page
$300. .
Back page
$400.
.. . per month. Pay ment is due
the 15th of the month prior to
the issue in which the ad is to
appear. Camera ready art is
requested. We are usually' on
the streets by' the first
weekend of the month.
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‘I ’m more like I am now than when I came in here.’
graffiti in McMenamin’s
Gcppetto’s
RICHARD BANT
Pressure HfesP/ng
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Shoppe
Construction
200 N. Hemlock
Cannon Beach, OR
HOME and BUSINESS
436-2467
Voice Mall
15031 738-4516
Home
15031 436-1246
LICENSED & BONDED
E .C .B .N 7 9 4 2 0
'"Where quality and tradition make kids happy”
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BUBBLE TOYS
BEACH BALLS
PAILS & SHOVELS
SAND MOLDS
BOATS
THINGS THAT FLY
GAMES
BABY TOYS
BOOKS
TAPES & CD'S
TRAVEL TOYS
If From
beach
to boulevard,
a natural choice for
women's clothing.
Portland (503)239-4605
Cannon Beach (503)4361572
Personal Injury Lawyer
G R EG O R Y K \K )I RV
202 Oregon Pioneer Building
320 S.W Shirk Slreel
Portland. OR 97204
2
A computer once beat me a chess, but it was no
match for me at kick boxing. Emo Phillips
Phone:
Í W I 224-2647
Any interference with nature is damnable. Not only
nature but also the people will suffer.
Anahario
UFPtt LtFTEbGE ÆM5Î W l
<4 . . .
Whitebird
CANNON
Rf A C M
O ffIG O N
Fusion