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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2016)
4 A ❘ WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ JUNE 1, 2016 Siuslaw News P.O. Box 10 Florence, OR 97439 RYAN CRONK , EDITOR ❘ 541-902-3520 ❘ EDITOR @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM Opinion Showing support for our Coast Guard F lorence hosts Lane County’s only sea port and we have an active Coast Guard unit stationed on the Siuslaw River. We have approximately 34 active duty personnel and their families as well as some extended families. We feel that they make a significant contribution to our community both in terms of community involvement as well as economically and that their contribution is often not recognized. The U.S. Coast Guard has a “Coast Guard Cities” pro- GUEST VIEWPOINT gram to recog- B Y J OE H ENRY F LORENCE M AYOR nize a city that makes special One important aspect efforts to acknowledge the of the application is professional work of the letters of support from Coast Guard men and women assigned to its area. I elected officials, local busi- nesses, military support believe that Florence could groups and community and should be designated as members. We would like to a “Coast Guard City” and ask the community to help our City Council recently with this effort by writing a approved the submission of letter of support for Florence an application on behalf of the City of Florence to work to become a “Coast Guard City.” toward that achievement. Letters can be addressed “To whom it may concern” and sent to me c/o the City of Florence, 250 Highway 101, Florence, OR 97439. Letters could include actu- al experiences with the Coast Guard and mention things that the community has done to support the Coast Guard. Another thing that we will be doing to show our support is to sponsor a Coast Guard appreciation dinner for Coast Guard personnel and their guests. It will be a formal affair and will be funded by donations from these same elected officials, local busi- nesses, military support groups and community members and organizations. We will be asking for donations to support this event and tickets will be available once the event has been scheduled. Any dona- tions in support of this event will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your support. E XTRAORDINARY P EOPLE C ATHERINE J. R OURKE For the Siuslaw News _____________ Gilmar Ortiz said. “But it teaches you the most important life skills… like how to get along with anyone.” In a culture that idolizes academic degrees and mighty suffixes behind a name, that shuns manual labor and reduces it to the bottom of the work- place hierarchy, most people aspire to white collar “professions” in pres- tigious industries. Not Gilmar. Instead, the native Guatemalan, who moved to the United States with his family at age 6, yearned for a steady income instead of years of student debt. Fueled by determina- tion and good old-fashioned hard work, he took low-wage jobs as a teen growing up in Los Angeles. “I have no regrets about starting out as a dishwasher,” Gilmar said. “It was very humbling, but I wanted to learn an industry from the ground floor.” Gilmar got what he asked for and ended up in the basement, with piles of dirty dishes, long shifts on his feet, plus plenty of the hot grease and tempers of the trade. But he also got something else: a “PhD in human psychology, without the col- lege loans.” “Restaurants offer such a great education,” Gilmar said. “They have taught me everything about life … to stay flexible and adapt to every per- son and circumstance.” “W hen you start at the bottom, there’s nowhere left to go but up.” That vision paved the road to redemption for Gilmar Ortiz, who catapulted from debt-ridden dish- washer to budding entrepreneur with his own restaurant in just four record years. While things are certainly looking up for Gilmar, who opened the doors of Fresh Harvest Café in January, there was a time when he felt trapped down in the depths of despair. After moving to Florence in 2011, broke with nothing but a bed and an unbroken spirit, he gladly took the only job he could find, washing dishes at a trio of establish- ments owned by Florence restaura- teur Marianne Brisbane. Armed with persistence and perse- verance, Gilmar would climb to the top of the restaurant pyramid, rising above the steam, scum and sweat of the most unheralded yet critical posi- tion in the food-and-beverage busi- ness. Without a dishwasher, most restaurants would fall apart. Somebody’s gotta handle the nasty, soggy, filthy task of the “I want to inspire people that they dreaded dish pit. Working long can always do better as long as they hours in split stay focused on their dream.” shifts, Gilmar —GILMAR ORTIZ bravely faced the grunt work of scrubbing and mopping in a world Now his diligence has paid off of constant grit and grime. The first with a business providing a steady worker to arrive in the morning, he pipeline. But the journey actually was usually the last to leave at night. began with pipes of another sort. “People often look down on folks Long before scrubbing plates on who work in restaurants,” Gilmar Bay Street, Gilmar worked as a jour- neyman plumber in Southern California, earning a good income to support his wife, Angela, and two children. Then the economy crashed and his plumbing business “went down the drain.” “We lost everything we had worked so hard for,” he said. “It was devastating.” With nowhere else to turn, Gilmar and Angela moved in with relatives who had resided in Florence for 20 years. “We came here with nothing but our bed and a garage to stay in,” Gilmar said. “I knew I would have to start from the bottom all over again.” Living in a garage with two kids for a year wasn’t easy, but the family endured hard times with hard work. Instead of wallowing in regret, Gilmar saw dishwashing as a spring- board to move forward. “People told me that I was going backwards,” he said. “There were times I felt like I was in the gutter, but I knew that this was the catapult to propel me forward. That’s how I kept my spirits up.” After a year, Gilmar moved to the front of the house, rotating as a busser between the Waterfront Depot, Restobar and Spice. Two years later he advanced to bartender and then became a host and food server. “I had to know three different menus at the same time,” he said. “It was physically and mentally intense. We saved every penny and paid and paid and paid. Florence was a huge turning point in our financial recov- ery.” Finally, after settling their debts, the couple felt ready to purchase a home in 2015. Then a business ven- ture appeared last December with a turnkey opportunity. “Instead of buying a house, we bought a restaurant,” he said. PHOTO BY CATHERINE ROURKE Fresh Harvest Cafe owner Gilmar Ortiz worked his way to success from the bottom up with a great education in the dish pit. “Angela and I feel overwhelmed at how the community has supported us. And we are very thankful to Marianne for her mentorship.” Understanding the ebb and flow of restaurant tides — the feast and famine, the back of the house and the front of the house, the best pur- veyors and suppliers, the subtle nuances of pleasing customers and the qualities to look for in hiring his crew — provided Gilmar with a crash course in success. “You have to leave your ego and problems at the door,” he said. “You have to believe in yourself even when everything falls apart. It’s the toughest business but also the most rewarding.” If you’ve dined on Bay Street in recent years, chances are that Gilmar showed you to your seat, poured your beverage, took your order, served your meal, removed your soiled utensils, packed your doggie bag or washed your dirty plate. Continuing that enthusiastic serv- ice, Gilmar still works long days that begin at 5 a.m., and he still rolls up his sleeves in the dish pit when nec- essary. But now he enjoys a long- held goal: sharing dinnertime with his family. “Caring for others is the most important thing in my life,” he said. “If I can make a good life for my kids, I’ll have a good life. I want to inspire people that they can always do better as long as they stay focused on their dream.” ______________________ Catherine J. Rourke is an award- winning writer, journalist and book editor who teaches creative writing at the Florence Regional Arts Alliance. She may be contacted at CJReditor@gmail.com. USPS# 497-660 Copyright 2016 © Siuslaw News Published every Wednesday and Saturday at 148 Maple St. in Florence, Lane County, Oregon. A member of the National Newspaper Association and Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association. Periodicals postage paid at Florence, Ore. Postmaster, send address changes to: Siuslaw News, P.O. Box 10, Florence, OR 97439; phone 541-997-3441; fax 541-997-7979. All press releases may be sent to PressReleases@TheSiuslawNews.com. 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