JANUARY 29, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A7
GUITAR,
continued from Page A1
won't stop until I fi gure it out
but, when I do, the feeling is
amazing,” said Cowan.
Cowan is going to be one
of four student instructors –
alongside Nicole Ecklund,
Marissa Rogers and Aarone
Marin – who will assist teacher
Jesse Deher.
Each of the students will
assist on either the acoustic
guitar, electric guitar, ukulele
or bass. Students do not need
to own an instrument or have
previous experience playing to
enroll in the class, which won't
even begin until next month
and is nearly full.
“I'm excited about bringing
music into people's lives. It's
such a huge thing and it can be
for everyone,” said Rogers.
Ecklund moved from playing
upright bass to the kind you
strap around your neck. She's
anticipating having her own
students.
“It's empowering to know
I can use it to bring music to
other people. Having the bass has
meant so much to me because
the one thing that's been really
solid in my life,” Ecklund said.
Not to say there aren't jitters.
“I'm scared about dealing
with teenagers because teenagers
can be mean. I'm a teenager, so
it's weird,” Marin said.
Keizer's Uptown Music is
playing a large role in making
the class a possibility. For the
past couple of years, the business
has been quietly operating a
refurbishing service.
“We call it Play It Forward.
We have folks that will donate
all sorts of instruments and the
store donates the parts and our
repair guys donate their time
to repair them. Then we look
for opportunities to give those
instruments to the schools,” said
Paul Elliott, owner of the store.
When Elliott heard about
Taylor’s guitar class plans, he
jumped in. For the past couple
of months when customers
brought in guitars to donate, the
shop has repaired and stockpiled
them for MHS. The store is also
donating new guitars.
“The thing that I didn't
expect was the four or fi ve
people who came in and bought
new guitars to be donated to the
school off-the-shelf,” Elliott said.
The shop has collected 12
guitars and donated two so far.
Elliott said Uptown is always
looking for intruments.
While Uptown works with
numerous local schools, Elliott
said the guitar class feels like
the fi rst big launch of Play It
Forward.
For Taylor and the Celtics it's
a highly visible way of fi lling in
the gaps.
“Everybody needs to know
how to bowl or to garden or to
hike by themselves in the woods.
This is an opportunity for our
students to become their own,
personal musician,” Taylor said.
GROCERY,
continued from Page A1
plans together to say 'we're
going to open a store here' is
going to get the (customers’)
money.”
Clark noted the recent
sale of Schoolhouse Square
to Washington-based Bloch
Properties (as mentioned in the
Jan. 15 Keizertimes) and said talk
has been about something other
than a grocery store fi lling the
former Roth's space there.
Speaking of Roth's, current
councilor and former mayor
Dennis Koho said he had
talked with company president
Michael Roth, now a Keizer
resident, earlier in the day.
“I've heard from people
they're not coming back
here,” Koho said. “That's not
necessarily true. They have
one project going on now and
they're a small chain. Michael's
interested in coming back if
things are right when this other
project is done.”
Councilor Brandon Smith
said the main thing leading
chains to build a store is data.
“It's all market driven,”
Smith said. “They do a ton of
research. It's got to make good
business sense.”
Smith
also
addressed
mentions he's seen about
tax incentives the city could
potentially offer.
“We don't have a business
tax and can't do an enterprise
zone for this type of business,”
Smith said. “Some ideas being
tossed around aren't things
we're legally able to do.”
Councilor Amy
Ryan
recalled growing up in Keizer
with several grocery stores.
“We have to have affordable
groceries for families,” Ryan
said. “I'd love a variety. I want
to see several stores. But it's not
something we can go out and
make happen. That's not the hat
we wear.”
Hersch Sangster has lived
in Keizer most of his life and
recalled multiple stores.
“There have been a lot of
stores here over the years,”
Sangster said. “We used to have
more grocery stores when it
was a smaller town.”
Several audience members
brought up rumors they'd
heard, such as WinCo not being
allowed in because their stores
are open 24 hours.
“That is not true,” Smith
said. “That's just a rumor.”
At one point, Post asked a
popularity question.
“I didn't want to go that way,
but who here wants WinCo?”
Post asked.
A vast majority of those in
the room raised their hand.
John
Morgan, Keizer's
fi rst director of community
development, stressed patience.
“The market will correct
itself,” Morgan said. “Vacant
storefronts are costing businesses
money. There are 15,000
rooftops in Keizer. There's an
overwhelming market demand
and opportunity. We just need
patience. I'd bet at least one
(vacant grocery store building)
will be fi lled in the next year.”
Amy Lietz noted the need
isn't for a WinCo in particular,
just a place with lower prices.
“I don't want to pay $4.69
for Cocoa Puffs when I pay
$1.98 for them at WinCo,”
Lietz said. “It doesn't need to
be WinCo, but it needs to have
better prices than Safeway.”
Larry Jackson wondered if
proposed increases in minimum
wage in Oregon are hurting
Keizer's chances of getting a
new grocery store.
“If they're waiting to see
what happens with legislation,
the minimum wage is huge,”
Jackson said.
George Grabenhorst with
Sperry Van Ness commercial
advisors said WinCo is building
an 86,000 square foot facility
in Albany and is interested in
Keizer.
“They like building 80,000
square foot buildings, plus or
minus 10,000 with 10 acres
of ground,” Grabenhorst said.
“That's hard to fi nd here. Area
C (in Keizer Station) is probably
too expensive for what they
need to do.”
Grabenhorst noted WinCo
has Waremarts, scaled down
stores of about half the size.
Bob Shackelford noted
chains looking to come in also
look at why previous stores
closed, which led to a response
from Grabenhorst.
“The reason Roth's left is
when Walmart was taking a
look at coming here (to Area
C), Orville Roth took a long
look at how that would affect
his business. It didn't look good,
so he left. They didn't come, but
it was too late by then.”
Former mayor Andy Orcutt,
whose family used to have a
grocery store in town, pointed
to things from a store’s view.
“I hear people want a WinCo
and don't want to go to Salem,”
Orcutt said. “WinCo is looking
at it, saying why build when
they're coming to our store in
Salem already?”
Bill White noted he and co-
workers talked with company
leaders while at WinCo.
“We asked at meetings
why we didn't open a store
in Keizer,” White said. “They
said they needed 60,000 in
population. Then they said they
didn't want a new store to draw
customers from the Lancaster
store. We said if Walmart opens
(in Area C), they will be taking
your customers.”
Orcutt noted he was
surprised Albertsons stayed
open as long as it did and was
asked what it would take for a
chain to open a store in Keizer.
“I think it's going to be
individual businesses and chains
looking at their studies,” Orcutt
said. “It's not going to happen
unless dollars appear on a sheet.
The grocery industry is tough;
margins are very low. You do
loss leaders to bring people
in. When everyone is driving
down the street for a loss leader,
no one is making money.”
on trying to attract WinCo,
which has a distribution center
in Woodburn. A “Keizer Wants
WinCo” page on Facebook has
nearly 800 members.
“I remember when there
was four, three, two and then
one grocery store in town,” Post
said. “My wife and I liked to
run to Albertsons for these four
things, Roth's for these seven
things and Safeway for these
three things.
“There's nothing we can do
to force a grocery store to come
here,” he added later. “I want
everyone to understand that. I
wanted to have an old-fashioned
city hall meeting where people
could say, 'Doggone it I'm
frustrated and I just want to let
it out.' I'm listening. These guys
are listening. If it were up to me,
there would be 18 stores here. I
like competition.”
Mayor Cathy Clark was
joined by all city councilors
except for Marlene Parsons, a
bit ironic considering Parsons
has experience in the grocery
industry. Clark emphasized
Keizer is “open for business”
and ready for more grocery
stores.
“Properties large enough
for a grocery store are properly
zoned,” she said. “Our planning
department is ready to go. The
fi rst person to get money and
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