Polk County News
2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • May 31, 2017
Oasis out to break marijuana stereotypes
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Oasis
Cannabis in Monmouth is
ready to break the pothead
stereotype.
“We want to remove the
stigma from pot, and intro-
duce ourselves and educate
our community,” said Ben-
jamin Figueroa. “There’s the
word ‘stoner,’ but we actual-
ly provide medication. We
provide a service to the
community. That would be
my favorite part (about this
business), taking away the
stigma about marijuana that
isn’t necessarily true.”
Manager Patrick Gump
agreed.
“Having experience in
other dispensaries and bud-
tending, our greatest asset
are the people who come in
and see us,” he said. “They
usually come in wanting
something, wanting to find a
little bit of peace and happi-
ness, and knowing we get to
be a part of finding their
happiness and finding them
something that will make
their life a little more enjoy-
able, something that will be
a benefit to them.”
The business had a soft
opening on May 20 during
the annual Monmouth-In-
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Sherrena Jenkins, Benjamin Figueroa, Matthew Mallett, Patrick Gump, Mia Clinton and Palmer Baldwin.
dependence Chamber of
Commerce’s Discover MI
Town, and took the opportu-
nity to show people around
the shop — including fami-
lies.
Figueroa said Oasis prides
itself on its curb appeal.
“We’re not trying to hide
anything,” he said. “We’re
trying to be part of the com-
munity and let them know
we’re here. We’re here to help
you and educate you.”
“I have extreme passion
about the cannabis indus-
try, everything, all the way
from processing at the
cannabis plant to the
f l ow e r a n d s e e d s a n d
everything,” Gump said.
“This plant is magic.”
The cannabis shop offers
both recreational and med-
ical-grade products, from
flower to edibles — and will
begin selling clones — or
marijuana plant starts, and
seeds. It also offers a variety
of methods to consume the
products, from handblown
glass pipes by MJ’s Glass &
Vape, out of Salem, to in-
fusers.
Monmouth is the third lo-
cation for Oasis, and Gump
said they’ve learned a few
things about the business
through their first two
stores, one in Seaside and
one in Newberg.
“We have a fantastic crew
out here,” Gump said. “It’s
been a lot of heart, a lot of
work. We’ve also learned
from our past stores, so we
really expect this to be the
leader of the community as
far as cannabis goes.”
One of their goals in help-
ing to break the stigma is by
sharing research-based in-
formation, Matthew Mallett
said.
“It’s natural,” he said.
“We’re not synthesizing it
from anything. Pharmaceu-
tical companies do more
work than we do.”
Mia Clinton said that she
saw great improvements in
her patients that used
cannabis when she was a
certified nursing assistant.
“I like helping people,”
she said. “I want to give
them something healthy,
something that’s not going
to give you this side effect,
or take something away. It’s
not going to kill you, and
you’re not going to die from
this.”
With two veterans on staff
— Gump and Palmer Bald-
win — Oasis offers veterans
discounts.
T h e Mo n m o u t h C i t y
Council had considered
banning marijuana shops
in the Main Street District,
but decided to allow it at
the end. Gump said he is
grateful for that decision
and the warm welcome he
has gotten from Mayor
Steve Milligan and city
councilors.
“We understand the 360
that took place and are very
grateful for it,” he said.
Oasis Cannabis is at 221
Main St. E., Monmouth.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Monday through Sunday.
WOU grad ready to improve value of the chamber
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH/INDEPEN-
DENCE — Vikkye Fetter is
eager to begin her job as the
Monmouth-Independence
Chamber of Commerce ex-
ecutive director.
She technically started on
May 22, but plans to begin
in earnest — “Without train-
ing wheels,” as she put it —
next week.
“I’m inheriting three peo-
ple’s organizational system,”
she said. “My first plan is to
lock myself
in that of-
fice and re-
ally see
what infor-
mation we
have, what
stuff we
need, what
Fetter
stuff we
don’t need and just have in
there because no one’s had
the time to go through that.”
During that process, Fet-
ter, 26, said she hopes to get
m o re a c q u a i n t e d w i t h
chamber programs, includ-
ing some that could use
some revamping.
“Our Chamber Rewards
program is one,” she said. “I
don’t think that a lot of the
members know that’s a thing
they can be in or know what
it does for them. I’m going to
scavenger hunt to see what I
can do to add more value to
the chamber for folks, so the
question of, ‘What is the
chamber and what can it do
for me,’ isn’t the question so
much as, ‘I heard about the
chamber, and I’d love to be
in it because of this.’ That
would be my dream.”
Fetter graduated from
Western Oregon University
in 2013 and majored in Eng-
lish. After college, she ran a
haunted history tour com-
pany — researching the his-
tory of towns in 30 states
and writing tours while
managing tour guides.
When she saw the job
posted for a chamber direc-
tor in December 2016, when
former chamber director
Jean Love stepped down,
she went for it.
“It seemed like all the
skills that I’d been using my
whole life was in this job,”
Fetter said.
The chamber board of di-
rectors chose Ryan Kingsella,
who announced his resigna-
tion earlier this month.
Rather than repost the job,
board president Miriam Hau-
gen reached out to Fetter.
“I was really excited to
hear that they were still in-
terested in me, and that they
remembered me at all was
very flattering, and that they
still thought of me for the
position,” Fetter said. “I’m
excited about it.”
She didn’t know a lot
about chambers at first —
just through companies
she’d worked with who be-
longed to them.
“As far as I knew, it was a
way to get advertising,” Fet-
ter said. “And it is, don’t get
me wrong, but it’s also an
advocacy group. It’s a net-
work. It’s a way for you to get
connections as a business
owner and as a member that
you would have to search
out yourself, normally, and
not be able to find.”