A6
THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020
Lehn: Site was
created about
10 years ago
Continued from Page A1
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Curry & Coco Thai Eatery owner Nalinrat ‘Lily’ Sahunalu plans to close the restaurant after Christmas and doesn’t know if she’ll reopen.
Restaurants: City restrictions loosened to help
Continued from Page A1
year, including 10,000 over
the past three months. In
Clatsop County, Astoria has
been hit the hardest. Baked
Alaska, Albatross, Charlie’s
Chophouse, 3 Cups Coffee
and Street 14 Cafe have all
closed their doors .
Side Road Cafe was one
of the only closures in War-
renton. Sutton said the deci-
sion was a combination of
increased demands on the
couple’s time, from school-
ing kids at home to making
the small cafe safe and profi t-
able during the pandemic.
The cafe occupied the
lobby of a building on Marlin
Avenue sharing several busi-
nesses, leaving Sutton and
Elston to police good behav-
ior while managing a small
space severely limited from
indoor dining. Despite hav-
ing a drive-thru, Sutton wor-
ried about losing the com-
munity feel of the cafe and
essentially becoming a cof-
fee kiosk.
“A big part of our place
was ‘Warrenton’s living
room,’ where you could come
in and sit down and feel wel-
come … and not being able
to offer that was painful,” she
said.
Elston landed a job at the
Clatsop Community Action
Regional Food Bank. Sutton
stays at home with the chil-
dren, taking online baking
classes and making deliveries
to friends and family to stay
relevant in hopes of one day
restarting a business.
Adjusting
Restaurateurs
have
adjusted with the closures
and government restrictions.
After closing Sweet
Basil’s Cafe in Cannon
Beach, chef John Sowa
went to work at the Silver
Salmon Grille in Astoria. Eric
Bechard, owner of Albatross,
continues working on the
Union Steam Baths building
he had purchased in Union-
town and hopes to reopen as
a sauna.
Baked Alaska co-own-
ers Christopher and Jennifer
Hailey Hoff man/The Astorian
Amyleigh Sutton scores a loaf of sourdough bread. She hopes
to reopen a cafe or bake shop in the future.
Holen scaled down to Nekst,
a to-go brunch space just east
of their old restaurant catered
toward weathering shut-
downs in dining.
As executive director
of the United Way of Clat-
sop County, Jennifer Holen
would usually be organizing
the cooking competition Iron
Chef Goes Coastal. The fund-
raiser can bring United Way
$100,000 to funnel into local
social service groups. Unable
to hold the gala during the
virus, she instead started
a Dine United campaign,
offering $5 gift certifi cates
to local restaurants for each
$25 donation to United Way
at clatsopunitedway.org. The
campaign runs into January.
“The idea was we wanted
to do an event that could
hopefully help inspire peo-
ple to continue to get takeout
or dine in when it’s available
or to highlight local restau-
rants,” she said.
The Oregon Restau-
rant and Lodging Associa-
tion surveyed 400 businesses
across the state. Nearly 40%
of restaurateurs said they
wouldn’t survive until the
summer without additional
government support.
Nalinrat “Lily” Sahu-
nalu, who opened the Curry
& Coco Thai Eatery in Asto-
ria last year, is closing after
Christmas to travel and
doesn’t know if she’ll reopen
when her lease expires in
March.
“We just want to wait and
see if things (are) getting bet-
ter,” she said. “We love Asto-
ria. We want to be there …
We have a lot of good reviews
and good support from local
people.”
Parklets
Astoria, while pumping
unused coronavirus funds
into regional business grants,
has loosened restrictions on
outdoor dining and approved
several parklets in parking
spaces outside The Merry
Time Bar and Grill, the Green
Door Cafe and Blaylock’s
Whiskey Bar to increase
capacity during restrictions
on indoor dining. But restau-
rateurs don’t see outdoor din-
ing making much of a dif-
ference until the weather
improves.
Greg Astley, director of
government affairs at the
Oregon Restaurant and Lodg-
ing Association, has called
for more government sup-
port and criticized the state
for scapegoating restaurants
amid the virus.
“Even just as (recently)
as a few weeks ago, we were
less than a percentage of the
workplace outbreaks,” he
said. “So it’s not being trans-
mitted in restaurants. In fact,
the governor and the Oregon
Health Authority have said
it’s these small gatherings by
people — these social gather-
ings in private settings — that
have been the primary source
of transmission.
“And so we question why
people are allowed to gather
in their homes to do these
kinds of activities, when
we’re not allowing them
to gather in one of the most
heavily regulated industries,
where we sanitize and clean
the tables, the restrooms, the
chairs, the menus, the door
handles.”
The National Restau-
rant Association has galva-
nized Astley’s and other state
restaurant groups to pressure
Congress to pass the Blue-
print for Restaurant Revival ,
a relief package totaling more
than $900 billion.
The blueprint calls for
a $120 billion fund to pro-
vide restaurateurs with grants
for operating costs, a new
round of forgivable, tax-de-
ductible Paycheck Protec-
tion Program loans and other
long-term borrowing pro-
grams. The association wants
enhanced tax credits for
employee retention and well-
ness, improved insurance
coverage for business inter-
ruptions and legal protections
from liabilities related to the
virus.
The $55 million Gov. Kate
Brown recently provided
in coronavirus relief grants
helped, as would more fed-
eral support, Astley said, but
opening up more restaurant
capacity is the only way to
keep people employed.
“We’ve shown that restau-
rants are a safe place,” he
said. “In some ways, it’s up to
us as operators to make sure
consumers have confi dence
in the steps we’ve taken to
make them a safe place to
come and work and visit.”
Sutton keeps her eye out
for vacant storefronts around
Warrenton or Hammond, or
for a food cart where she can
cook . But the barriers to re en-
try are high.
“It would be great to have
… maybe a bailout,” Sut-
ton said. “Bailouts are hap-
pening all over, but not for
restaurants that I’m seeing.
There’s not much incentive to
reopen, especially not at this
point in time, not for at least a
year probably. You’re already
at low margins, so there’s not
that much incentive to put
yourself out there.”
Lehn, 66, divides his
time between tending his 5
acres off Cranberry Road
and approving online posts.
“I have had to space things
out ,” he said. “I could sit
at the computer all day,
but I kind of have to take a
break.”
The site was created
about 10 years ago by Ed
Archer, who asked Lehn to
administer it. It now boasts
more than 14,800 members.
“That’s one heck of a
babysitting job you have,
Frank,” posted Susan
Seidl when Lehn updated
the membership num-
ber recently. People even
chimed in from as far away
as Boston thanking him.
“And everyone’s been
nice,” posted Susan Moretz.
Lehn moved to Long
Beach in 2005, having cher-
ished visits when he was
growing up. He graduated
from Camas High School
in 1972, and became the
third generation of his fam-
ily to work at his home-
town’s paper mill, which is
twinned with Wauna.
“After 27 years, I was
diagnosed with degenera-
tive disc disease and given a
medical retirement. I sort of
fl oundered around for a few
years and then was given
the opportunity to move to
Long Beach.”
Lehn is a collections
volunteer at the Columbia
Pacifi c Heritage Museum in
Ilwaco, giving him access to
old photographs, which he
posts with accompanying
stories. He marks anniver-
saries of storms which have
buffeted the region, most
recently the Great Coastal
Gale of 2007.
“I’ve always been inter-
ested in history, and this
area is rich with it,” he said.
“I fi gured the group would
be a good place to share
what I know about local his-
tory, starting with my local
shipwreck stories.”
Local
photographers
post shots, including ocean
waves crashing at Cape
Disappointment, eagles and
sunsets.
No sales listings are
allowed. Bear and coy-
ote sightings are reported.
Some amuse: Shelby
Mooney posted a photo of
wildlife poop and wrote,
“City girl needs help with
scat ID — elk or bear?”
and drew 93 humorous
replies.
Others reveal the com-
munity’s caring spirit.
When Californian Rose
Wells posted that her plans
to move to the area were
on hold because her part-
ner had just died at 43, it
prompted an outpouring of
sympathy. “May we help
with your healing process
and help to get you back
on your feet?” asked one
poster, Kathy Erskine.
Lehn shares emergency
information with Joanne
Rideout from Coast Com-
munity Radio in Astoria.
H er Ship Report broad-
cast gives him credit for old
shipwreck stories.
“He’s really good at
keeping a lid on interlop-
ers on his page who try to
steer the conversation to
politics or bashing visitors
who don’t know the ropes
about common mistakes,
like parking on the beach at
low tide,” Rideout said.
Lehn said he enjoys the
people he meets online.
“I sometimes feel like
I’m herding cats, but if you
stay on top of it, it’s OK,”
he said. “My real reward
comes from the members
who appreciate the positive
nature of the group.”
Vaccine: ‘Light at
the end of the tunnel’
Continued from Page A1
Patrick Allen, the direc-
tor of the Oregon Health
Authority, said vaccinations
will likely not be available
for most Oregonians until
s pring.
“The vaccine is the light
at the end of the tunnel, but
we will be in this tunnel for
several months,” Allen said
in a statement. “We need
to keep doing what we’ve
been doing to help our
friends, neighbors and our-
selves stay safe.”
Columbia
Memorial,
Providence Seaside and
public health offi cials have
been meeting since early
October to coordinate vac-
cine delivery and storage
and plan for a community
immunization program.
Chris Laman, the direc-
tor of pharmacy and cancer
center services at Columbia
Memorial, said the hospi-
tals and county will partner
to hold mass vaccinations
when the time comes.
“While we’ve got this
vaccine that’s here, it’s not
here for everybody yet,”
Laman said. “And it’s going
to be a few months, maybe
many months, before every-
body in the community gets
offered the vaccine.”
Laman said that in the
meantime, it is important
to continue wearing a mask
and following other pub-
lic health guidance. He also
urged people to go to trusted
sources for information to
avoid misinformation about
the vaccines and the virus.
Gary Warner of the Ore-
gon Capital Bureau con-
tributed to this report.
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