Business
AgLife
B
Thursday, May 27, 2021
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Concerns
mount over
wildfires
in Oregon
SUZANNAH
MOORE-
HEMAN
CHAMBER CHAT
A light at
the end of
the tunnel
By MICHAEL KOHN
Oregon Capital Bureau
H
ave you ever heard
“these unprece-
dented times” or
“what a year” so many
times before?
Looking back, I can’t
believe it’s been more than
a year since the COVID-19
pandemic forced our busi-
nesses to shut their doors.
I remember standing at the
doorway in the chamber
office, looking outside,
while myself and my team
watched. Watching what,
I am not sure, just waiting
for some “sign” things were
suddenly closed.
Never, in my wildest
dreams, would I have imag-
ined chamber life would
be filled with meetings on
public health and supporting
local businesses whose
doors were closed to their
customers.
But we also watched with
admiration as our businesses
persevered. We watched as
our community adapted and
evolved. If the COVID-19
pandemic showed us any-
thing, it was a true test —
and testament — to the nev-
er-ending innovation and
resiliency of businesses
and communities of Union
County and Northeastern
Oregon.
Make-your-own-pizza to
go? Check. Thanks to Local
Harvest.
Curbside delivery of all
your outdoor gear for the
next socially distanced hike
at MERA? Check. Thanks to
Blue Mountain Outfitters.
Virtual showings and gal-
leries? Check. Thanks to Art
Center East.
Things might not have
looked like they ‘normally’
do, but there was plenty
of creativity to keep us
motivated.
Now, we’re starting to
see a few more open signs.
We’re starting to see a few
more people. We’re starting
to feel like there’s light at the
end of the tunnel.
What’s felt the weirdest is
not having the opportunity
for the in-person outreach to
our members. Not holding
our banquets to celebrate
and honor community mem-
bers and our strong ties to
agriculture. Not having the
ribbon cuttings or the Busi-
ness After Hours to meet
and catch up with ambassa-
dors and community mem-
bers. But we never stopped
working on our end — it
might have just been a little
quieter. The chamber is
rested up and revving to go,
and our plans and projects
have certainly done nothing
but grow.
Get ready, because 2021
is going to be our boom year.
Not only do we have new
events and programming up
our sleeves, but we’ve also
recharged and revamped our
vision and plans so we are
prepped and ready to best
serve our community and
elevate our business envi-
ronment. What’s our theme?
Who knows? All we know
is we’re getting after it —
maybe that’s our theme.
Walks, runs, hops, learning,
growing and sharing —
nothing but action.
I’m looking forward
to sharing what we have
planned. And I’m really
looking forward to launching
new things and watching
the chamber blossom and
thrive. We have a strong,
dedicated board of directors,
wonderful and enthusiastic
ambassadors and a great
team at the office.
See, Chamber/Page 6B
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
An American flag reflects in the window of Benchwarmers Pub & Grill on Tuesday, May 25, 2021. The historic La Grande pub — one
that contends to be the second longest running bar in the Pacific Northwest — has been put up for sale by owner Matt Scarfo.
up For sale
Popular La Grande restaurant and tavern Benchwarmers on the market
By DICK MASON
The Observer
LA GRANDE — An iconic La
Grande business now is for sale.
Benchwarmers Pub and Grill,
210 Depot St., has been put up for
sale by its owner, Matt Scarfo, who
is chairman of the Union County
Board of Commissioners.
Scarfo, who also owns Long-
branch Bar and Eats, said that he
is putting Benchwarmers on the
market because he wanted to have
more time to focus on his work as
county commissioner and owner of
the Longbranch.
“I can’t focus all of my time
on all three. It was time for me to
lighten my load,” he said.
Scarfo said parting with
Benchwarmers will be hard
because of his longtime ties to it.
“I’m very sad. I have loved
operating it,” he said.
Scarfo purchased
Benchwarmers in 2005 after
working there for seven years after
graduating from Eastern Oregon
University in 1998.
He said operating it has been
enjoyable because of all the inter-
esting people he has met in the
process, including its employees
and customers.
“Everyone has a good
Benchwarmers story,” Scarfo said.
He hopes that whoever pur-
chases the business will continue
operating it as the same business.
“I want to be able to go in
there after I sell it and enjoy it as
Contributed Photo
This is how the interior of Benchwarmers Pub & Grill appeared about 100 years ago
when it was named Herman’s Tavern.
Benchwarmers,” Scarfo said.
The building Benchwarmers is
in has a long history as a restaurant
and tavern. Scarfo has photos of it
as a restaurant and tavern dating
back to 1904.
La Grande historian Bob Bull
said the building at 210 Depot St.
housed a business named State
Saloon and Billiard Parlor in 1912.
Bull said from 1920 through the
early 1950s the business operated
there had many names including
Herman’s Quick Lunch, Herman’s
Tavern, Herman’s Rail School
Center, Herman’s Lunch and Her-
man’s Place.
The business became known as
Herman’s Lunch and Tavern in the
mid-1950s, a name it held through
at least 1968, Bull said. The busi-
ness by 1971 was listed as Her-
man’s Tavern, which it was known
as through the mid-1990s before it
became Benchwarmers.
The individual for whom
the business was long named is
believed to have been Herman
Roesch, who was listed as its pro-
prietor in the 1920s, Bull said.
SALEM — As wild-
fires grow in number and
severity each year, Orego-
nians are expressing greater
concern for how wildfire
affects their own lives.
A recent survey con-
ducted by the Oregon
Values and Beliefs Center
found a strong majority of
Oregonians see wildfires
as “a somewhat or very
serious threat” to residents
of the state.
Respondents described
challenges with managing
the forests, as well as cli-
mate change that is drying
out forest areas and making
them more susceptible to
wildfires.
The survey was con-
ducted May 4-10, with 918
Oregonians responding.
The survey has a margin of
error of 2-3%.
Here are some of the
hard numbers: Nine out
of 10 (93%) Oregonians
see wildfires as a some-
what or very serious threat
to life and property. Most
people expressed concern
about wildfires affecting
the people of Oregon rather
than their own community
(68%) or their family (58%).
Most Oregonians are
also convinced that the
number of serious wildfires
will continue to rise. More
than half said wildfires in
the state will increase in
both frequency (55%) and
severity (53%).
Beliefs that wildfires
will grow in frequency and
intensity are not tied to
political beliefs, the survey
found.
Even though liberals
and conservatives have
diverging viewpoints on
the existence and causes of
climate change, more than
85% of Oregonians of all
social and economic ide-
ologies agree that fires are
likely to become more fre-
quent and more severe.
Two-thirds of young
adults (aged 18 to 29) in
Oregon said wildfires are
a serious threat to their
family (66%) and nearly
three-quarters said they
are a serious threat to their
community (73%). This is a
significant increase (19 and
See, Fires/Page 6B
New business in Enterprise will offer fresh seafood
Pier 303 is set to
open this summer
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Wal-
lowa County soon will
have its own pier from
which fresh seafood can
be shipped to local seafood
lovers, as Pier 303 Seafood
Market gets ready to open.
“We called it Pier 303
because we’re trying to
connect the ocean to the
mountains, so that’s where
the idea of the pier came
in, and 303 is the address,”
said Mac Freeborn, who
owns the business with his
wife, Zuly Freeborn.
Pier 303, set to open in
mid- to late-summer adja-
cent to their home on Gar-
field Street in Enterprise,
will provide both fresh —
for home cooking — and
prepared seafood to cus-
tomers, as well as beer and
wine to either consume
on-premises or to take out,
he said. Freeborn recently
received approval for a
liquor license from the
Enterprise City Council.
Mac is the manager of
Wallowa Lake State Park
Bill Bradshaw/Wallowa County Chieftain
Zuly and Mac Freeborn stand with their dog, Coda, outside what will become Pier 303 Seafood Market
on Garfield Street in Enterprise on Thursday, May 20, 2021. They hope to open by mid- to late-summer
and bring fresh seafood to Wallowa County from the coast.
and Zuly works from home
for Edward Jones Invest-
ments. They’re still consid-
ering whether to step away
from those jobs as Pier 303
takes shape.
As for getting freshly
harvested seafood to Wal-
lowa County, it’s not as
simple as casting a net or
reeling in a line. It will
have to be shipped.
“We have several dif-
ferent vendors,” Mac said.
“One of our oyster vendors
ships within 24 hours (of
harvest), which is a really
good thing. ... Those come
out of Washington (state).
We’re working on some
other vendors to try to do
things. One of our goals is
to make trips to Newport
and pick up the fish on our
days off, and then it’ll be
fresh.”
He also mentioned
a place in Portland that
serves as a storage drop-off
for fishermen.
“We would just drive to
Portland and pick it up,” he
said. “We’re still working
out those details, but we’re
trying to figure out the way
to make it the freshest we
can.”
They anticipate a variety
of seafood will be on hand.
“As much as we can,”
Mac said of their potential
offerings. “Oysters, razor
clams, stinger clams, rock-
fish, tuna, salmon, lobster,
if we can get our hands
on an abalone, Dungeness
crab, blue crab — we’re
still trying to figure out
everything.”
Zuly said all species will
not always be available.
“The ones that are ‘best
practices’ for catching
in season,” she said. “A
lot of fish are not always
in season, so they’re not
always going to be fresh.
So (we’ll be) using ‘best
practices’ when it comes
to catching fish that are in
season.”
The Freeborns had
hoped to open in early
summer, but Mac had
shoulder surgery, which
delayed work on the place.
They have done much of
the work themselves.
In addition to seafood,
See, Seafood/Page 6B