BUSINESS
Wallowa County Chieftain
A6
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
The familiar Boggans Oasis gets new owners
BIZZ
BUZZ
BOGGANS OASIS
Who: Louis and Tia Villagomez
What: Restaurant, hunting
and fishing guide, cabins, river
shuttles
By Bill Bradshaw
Restaurant getting
new look inside, but
staying the same
Where: 61376 State Highway
129, Anatone, Wash. 99401 at
bottom of Rattlesnake Grade
Phone: 509-256-3372
Online: Facebook
A
SOTIN COUNTY, Wash-
ington — It’s a familiar
landmark to those making
the trip from Enterprise to Lewis-
ton, Idaho, and Boggans Oasis has
new owners.
Louis and Tia Villagomez,
formerly of Buckley, Washing-
ton — at the foot of Mount Rain-
ier — closed on the purchase of
the property in June and relocated
to the area that month. The Vil-
lagomezes bought the property
from Bill and Farrel Vail, who
had owned and operated Boggans
since 1984 and have now retired
to Clarkston, Washington.
“I’ve been coming here since I
was about 10,” Louis said, recall-
ing years of fishing expeditions on
the Grande Ronde River that runs
just across the road. “We’re turn-
ing it from plain Jane to more like
a resort.”
Amid all the work on the inside
of the restaurant, Louis finds time
to take advantage of the river
access.
“I fish a lot and I’m getting
ready for the guiding season,” he
said, adding that he’s a licensed
fishing guide.
The restaurant
Tia said it’s the licenses and
other government red tape that are
delaying Boggans from reopening.
“I think people think we’re
choosing to not be open right now,
but … we aren’t legally allowed
to quite yet,” she said. “That’s
Email: boggansoasisllc@gmail.com
Hours: Seasonal
hunting and fishing licenses, as
well as Discover passes, which are
required for vehicle access to state
parks and recreation lands man-
aged by the state.
Wallowa County connection
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
From left, Louis Villagomez, Kevin Kurfurst and Tia Villagomez string lights Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022, in the restaurant
area of Boggans Oasis. The Villagomezes recently purchased the business and hope to have it open by Labor Day.
Kurfurst is a friend who moved there with them to help out.
been the longest process since we
moved here is all the licenses and
permits.”
Louis said the health depart-
ment wants to see the restaurant
just how it will be when it’s oper-
ating before conducting an inspec-
tion. Thus, they’re taking the time
to revamp the interior by painting,
redecorating and doing a bit of
remodeling.
They are keeping many of the
mounted big-game heads and fish
that adorn the walls of the restau-
rant, a testimony to outdoor activ-
ities of the restaurant since it
opened in the late 1940s. They’re
also keeping the name.
“We had to keep the name to
honor everyone’s past memories,
all of the past guests and hope-
fully, the future guests,” Tia said.
“The name’s really important. …
I was really adamant about keep-
ing the phone number, too. … It’s
kind of like a pit stop for people
driving through. We’re going with
the idea of making it an oasis for
people.”
Louis said he wants to make it
a real oasis.
“A wine-and-dine kind of
place,” he said. “Come hang out,
cool off, check it out, watch some
TV.”
Tia said when they do reopen,
they’ll be keeping the same menu
the Vails had when they closed.
Then, modifications could be in
the works.
“We’ll talk to customers and
see what they like and what they
want and what we can feasibly
do,” she said.
Overnight
In addition to the cabins
they now have, they’re plan-
ning something a little different
— geodesic domes as overnight
accommodations.
Tia called the domes “a differ-
ent, unique way to stay here.”
For those who want to be more
in the outdoors, there’s also camp-
ing across the road at the river
access owned by the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Outdoors
In addition to serving as a fish-
ing guide, Louis plans to have a
hunting guide available. He has
hunted big game in Alaska, but
not yet in Washington, so he’s
leaving the guiding to a contractor.
But Boggans will be selling
Just five miles from Oregon,
the Villagomezes look forward to
getting to know their neighbors in
Wallowa County. They said they
hope to sell pies from one of the
bakeries in Enterprise and to learn
more about the Nez Perce Tribe and
its ties to the land here.
“I’m big on all things Native
American,” Louis said.
With all they’ve had to do to get
Boggans ready to open, they haven’t
had time to explore Wallowa County
yet, but they certainly plan to.
Their kids, too, are eager to start
school in Troy. Gabriel, a 10-year-
old fifth-grader, and Graciella, a
second-grader who’s almost 7, will
make up half of the school’s student
body as soon as their parents obtain
a cross-state waiver.
“We kind of feel an obligation to
enroll our kids there,” Tia said.
———
Bill Bradshaw is a reporter for
the Wallowa County Chieftain.
Have a business tip? Contact him
at 541-398-5503 or bbradshaw@
wallowa.com.
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