BUSINESS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 2015
A4 HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Send submissions or story ideas for the Herald Business page to Editor Jessica Keller, jkeller@hermistonherald.com
BUSINESS BITES
Campus Life Alive
After Five event
planned
Campus Life will host
a Hermiston Chamber of
Commerce Alive After
Five event at 5:30 p.m.
today at Campus Life,
595 S. First St., across
the street from Hermiston
High School.
School district
hosting educator
job fair
The Hermiston School
District is hosting the
2015 Northeast Oregon
Educator Job Fair from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at
Hermiston High School,
600 S. First St., Hermis-
ton. All prospective teach-
er candidates are encour-
aged to attend and meet
one-on-one with building
principals and hiring of-
¿cials from northeastern
Oregon school districts
and education service
districts. Registration is
available online at https://
hermiston.tedk12.com/
hire/ViewJob.aspx?Jo-
bID=226. Registration en-
sures that regional admin-
istrators are ready to meet
with teacher candidates
and discuss teaching inter-
ests. Additionally, teacher
contact information will
be provided to hiring of¿-
cials through the 2015-16
hiring season. For more
information, contact the
Hermiston School District
Human Resources De-
partment at hr@hermis-
ton.k12.or.us or by calling
541-667-6031.
U.S. Cellular
offering technology
workshop
The Hermiston U.S.
Cellular business experts
are hosting a no-cost
workshop demonstrating
how businesses can take
advantage of the latest
cutting-edge mobile tech-
nology from 7:30 a.m. to
8:30 a.m. April 16 at U.S.
Cellular, 650 N. First St.,
Suite A, Hermiston. The
Business Solutions Work-
shop is a free and private
event helping Hermis-
ton-area business owners
and managers learn about
the latest mobile tech-
nologies and connected
devices. Participants will
explore numerous stations
with live demonstrations
throughout the store on
topics like mobile securi-
ty, the mobile workplace,
mobile registers, overall
productivity and more.
Learn about vehicle mon-
itoring, The Square Read-
er and devices from U.S.
Cellular’s lineup, includ-
ing the Apple iPhone 6
and the Samsung Galaxy
S 5. Give-aways and re-
freshments will be provid-
ed.
Administrative
professional day set
for April 28
The Hermiston Cham-
ber of Commerce will
host an administrative
professional day luncheon
beginning at 11:45 a.m.
April 28 at the Hermiston
Conference Center, 415 S.
Highway 395.
During the event,
guests will enjoy a catered
lunch and entertainment
by Sharon Lacey, a moti-
vational humorist. Tick-
ets cost $18 and can be
purchased at the chamber
of¿ce or online at www.
hermistonchamber.com.
For more information,
call the chamber at 541-
567-6151.
Oregon NRCS
accepting proposals
for Conservation
Innovation Grants
The USDA Natural
Resources Conservation
Service announces up
to $250,000 of funding
available in Oregon for
eligible individuals, local
and state governments,
non-governmental organi-
zations and tribes through
the Conservation Inno-
vation Grants program.
The deadline to submit an
application for the CIG is
May 29, 2015.
Authorized by the 2014
Farm Bill, CIG funds sup-
port the development and
adoption of innovative
conservation approaches
and technologies to fur-
ther agricultural produc-
tion solutions. Projects
must be within Oregon
and may be county-based
or state-wide in scope.
“CIG is an integral part
of our overall conserva-
tion strategy in Oregon,”
NRCS State Conserva-
tionist Ron Alvarado said.
“The innovations and
technologies developed
from CIG have helped
farmers and ranchers
address their critical re-
source issues and helped
improve the sustainability
of their operations.”
CIG proposals must in-
volve producers who are el-
igible for the Environmental
Quality Incentive Program
and should demonstrate
the use of innovative tech-
nologies or approaches to
address a natural resource
concern. These resource
concerns must ¿t into one
of the following sub-catego-
ries: energy, air quality and
atmospheric change, water
quality or quantity, plant
health/vigor, soil quality and
health, and wildlife habitat.
CIG does not fund research
projects.
Eligible applicants sub-
mitting proposals for the
Oregon CIG may request up
to $75,000 of matching fed-
eral funds. Applicants must
match the USDA funds
awarded on a dollar-for-dol-
lar basis from non-federal
sources with cash and/or in-
kind contributions.
Additional information
about the ¿scal year 2015
CIG is available with-
in the Oregon CIG An-
nouncement of Program
Funding, online at: http://
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/
portal/nrcs/detail/or/
programs/?cid=STEL-
PRDB1262659.
Oregon CIG grant ap-
plication materials are
available on Grants.gov
at: www.grants.gov/ap-
plicants/apply_for_grants.
jsp or on the Oregon
NRCS website at: http://
www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/
portal/nrcs/detail/or/
programs/?cid=STEL-
PRDB1262659.
Completed application
packets must be received
by 4 p.m. May 29, 2015,
either through Grants.gov
or by mail to: USDA Nat-
ural Resources Conserva-
tion Service
Conservation Innova-
tion Grants (CIG) Pro-
gram Manager
1201 NE Lloyd Blvd.,
Suite 900
Portland, OR 97232
Applicants with ques-
tions regarding the applica-
tion process should contact
the CIG Program Manager
Todd Peplin, at 503-414-
3292 or by email at todd.
peplin@or.usda.gov.
HermistonHerald
VOLUME 109 ɿ NUMBER 22
JESSICA KELLER
EDITOR
jkeller@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4533
SEAN HART PHOTO
Beason’s Chuckwagon Cafe owner Cathy Stolz, center, works with employees Tia Mathison, left, and Margie Hendricks at the
restaurant on Highway 395, north of Hermiston, Monday.
Offering comfort and hospitality
Chuckwagon Cafe
provides
affordable meals
and a place to meet
The details
Name: Beason’s Chuckwag-
on Cafe
Location: 81027 Highway
395 N., Hermiston
Hours: 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Mondays through Saturdays
Website: chuckwagoncafe.
net — people can also find
a link to its Facebook page
on the website and sign up
for email notifications.
Twitter: @chuckwagoncafe
BY SEAN HART
HERMISTON HERALD
Even with many repeat
customers from throughout
the area visiting, Beason’s
Chuckwagon Cafe is using
new techniques to attract
more people while continu-
ing to offer its classic favor-
ites.
Owner Cathy Stolz,
whose mother and step-
father opened the cafe on
Highway 395 north of
Hermiston in 1970, said
the business is now using
social media and offering
less expensive dinner plates
with fewer side dishes to
bring in new people and
keep regulars coming back.
“With our new menus,
we’ve been working to
make it affordable for peo-
ple to, if they want, they
can just get a piece of meat
and our salad bar,” she said.
“They can get our ‘small
chicken fried dinner’ —
it’s still the big, whopping
chicken fried — and a one-
time salad bar. It goes from
quite spendy to get the
whole dinner to something
that’s more affordable.
When they see the ‘small,’
they think they’re going to
get a small chicken fried,
but, no, it’s just the side
items that go with it (not
included).”
Stolz said the restau-
rant’s salad bar has always
been popular, but the one-
time-through option is new.
Employees work hard to
keep all of the salad items
fresh, she said, and the cafe
offers a variety of entrées
with “hefty portions at a
reasonable price.”
“We have Southern
comfort foods cat¿sh on
Tuesdays and Saturdays,
hand-pounded
chicken
fried steaks,” Stolz said.
“We serve a couple of
things you can’t ¿nd any-
where else. That would be
liver and onions and hot
open-face sandwiches —
hot beef, hot meatloaf, hot
burger and hot turkey din-
ner sandwiches.”
The cafe offers many
other options and “break-
fast all day long,” Stolz
said, and also invites groups
to schedule meetings. She
said businesses host safety
meetings at the restaurant,
along with Boy Scouts and
Girl Scouts and other club
functions.
“We’d love to have any
other groups come,” she
said. “We can cordon off
our dining room back there
and give them a private
area. They don’t have to
pay for the use of the room,
just if they order something
that’s ¿ne, even if it’s just
beverages. We have prayer
groups that meet early. We
open at 6 (a.m.), but my
morning waitress lets them
in 10 minutes early, so they
can start their prayer activ-
ities and get their breakfast
done and be out of here by
7.”
A local band, The But-
tercreek Boys, conducts a
meeting and practice ses-
sion from 6 p.m. to 7:30
p.m. the second Wednes-
day of each month, Stolz
said, and people can listen
to “nice, mellow” songs on
guitar, banjo, bass, ¿ddle
and saxophone.
Business is going well,
Stolz said, and many peo-
ple travel in from as far as
Pendleton and the Tri-Cit-
ies. She said she is always
impressed when regular
customers tell her they were
shopping in the Tri-Cities
and chose to return to eat at
the Chuckwagon Cafe.
Stolz started working at
the cafe in 1985 and said
she loves the job.
“I don’t feel like I’m
coming to work,” she
said. “They say ¿nd a job
you like to do, and you’ll
never have to work. I
look forward to coming
each day, and, of course,
that’s helped along by
having a staff that know
what they’re doing. They
know my heart, how I like
things done, so when I’m
not here, they carry on
that. I get here at the crack
of noon every day. They
open for me, and I’m the
night shift.”
To contact the Hermiston Herald for news, advertising
or subscription information:
• call 541-567-6457
• e-mail info@hermistonherald.com
• stop b\ our of¿ces at 333 E. 0ain St.
• visit us online at: www.hermistonherald.com
SEAN HART
REPORTER
smhart@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4534
SA0 %AR%EE
SPORTS REPORTER
sbarbee@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4542
SEAN HART PHOTO
In 1985, Cathy Stolz began working at the Chuckwagon Cafe,
which was started by her mother, Dorothy Beason, and stepfa-
ther, Duane Beason, in 1970.
SEAN HART PHOTO
Tia Mathison, an employee at Beason’s Chuckwagon Cafe,
grabs an order of onion rings for a customer at the restaurant
Monday.
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES
Delivered by carrier and mail Wednesdays and Saturdays
Inside 8matilla0orrow counties .........................$42.65
Outside 8matilla0orrow counties ......................$53.90
JEANNE JEWETT
SEAN HART PHOTO
Beason’s Chuckwagon Cafe offers Southern comfort foods
and a place for groups to meet from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Mon-
days through Saturdays at the restaurant, north of Hermiston,
81027 Highway 395 N.
MULTI-MEDIA CONSULTANT
jjewett@
hermistonherald.com
541-564-4531
The Hermiston Herald (USPS 242220, ISSN 8750-4782) is published twice
weekly at Hermiston Herald, 333 E. 0ain St., Hermiston, OR 97838, (541)
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OFFICE COORDINATOR
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hermistonherald.com
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