10A • November 27, 2015 • Seaside Signal • seasidesignal.com
Q: Since you moved here, what are
5 Minutes with…
some other ways you have become
involved in the community?
Jeremy Mills
Get to know Jeremy Mills, a State Farm agent who lives in Seaside with his family
and loves the community. Mills took over the State Farm offi ce in August 2014.
humbleness and I’m very dedicat-
ed to that. I wasn’t able to relate
with the clients there. When we
came out here, it was very much an
opportunity to come back to what
we knew, which was building rela-
tionships and having friends.
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
Q: Did you move to Seaside for
work or personal reasons?
A: I started with State Farm at $8
an hour working for an agent. As
you get better at what you do, you
start working your way up the lad-
der. It took me about seven years
to get to a point where I earned
the ability to become an agent. We
were in Brookings for almost the
whole time. Then when it became
time for me to go into agency, or
to take over or start my own of¿ ce,
they had offered us an opportunity
in Eugene. And I’m from Virgin-
ia, so I’m country. And they were
very clinical. Everybody was just
like, “Here’s my bill,” and I would
be like, “Hold on, hold on — let’s
talk,” and they’d be like, “Nope,”
and they would run out the door.
And, as you can tell, we’re friend-
ly. That’s a part of what my of¿ ce
stands on the foundation of. We’re
more than just business relation-
ships. I want it to be personal. I
help protect people’s families, I
help protect their homes and their
cars. More so than anything else,
though, I help protect their future.
And that’s an intimate relationship.
For me, I take that with the utmost
Q: When did you start with State
Farm?
KATHERINE LACAZE/SEASIDE SIGNAL
State Farm agent Jeremy Mills
poses with The Good Neigh-Bear at
his offi ce on Holladay Drive. Mills
moved to Seaside in August 2014.
Q: What drew you to this line of
A: I graduated high school in 1996, work?
joined the U.S. Marine Corps, A: In 2006 or 2007, my grandma
spent four years in the Marines, got
out in 2000, and moved to a town
called Crescent City, California,
that is 10 miles from the Oregon
border. I either worked there or in
Brookings, so I started with State
Farm there.
Q: Do you ever miss Virginia?
A: Every day. I miss the food,
I miss the way of life, I miss my
family something horrible. When
we moved here, we didn’t know
anybody. When you bring your
family into a town where you know
nobody on a hope and a dream and
a belief you can make a difference
and the idea that this is the kind
of community I want to raise my
daughter in and have my family in,
it was a big step.
came and said, “Hey, your grand-
father’s passed and I don’t know
what to do about my health insur-
ance.” She was turning 65. I said,
“Grandma, I don’t know what to
tell you. I just know I have car in-
surance. That’s about all I know.”
And she said, “Well, can you look
up Medicare online?” And I went
online and tried to understand
Medicare, and they have plans A,
B, C, D, E, F, all the way to N. I
couldn’t make heads or tails of it,
and I asked her, “Where’s your car
insurance, grandma?” She said,
“State Farm.” I said, “Okay, let’s
go in and meet your State Farm
agent and see what’s going on.”
We went into State Farm and spent
about an hour with her agent, who
was a phenomenal person and, at
the end of the interview, offered
me a job.
A: As an of¿ ce, I have not pursued
community integration through
businesses. What we’ve done is we
have embraced the children. I have a
14-year-old daughter. We sponsored
a Girls Paci¿ c Basketball League
team. We sponsored a Seaside Kids
Girls Softball team. Actually two.
We sponsored the Lunch Buddy
Program. We’ve been a part of that.
We’ve been a part of the North Coast
Food Drive, sponsored by the Bank
of America. Most of the time if peo-
ple with kids come by and say, “Hey,
can you help?” I’m like, “What do
you need?” Those are some of the
ones that we are proudest of. I real-
ly love the Lunch Buddy Program,
because I get to go to recess and eat
school lunch once a week. I’m like,
this is the best thing ever.
Q: So things that are oriented
toward children especially?
A: Yes, because kids and pets,
they can’t defend themselves. And
you can’t tell a kid, “Hey, if you’re
hungry, go get a job.” You can’t tell
them that. We just want to help. If I
died today, and tomorrow was my
eulogy, I hope whoever stood up
just says, “ All Jeremy wanted to
do was help.
Q: Your business is also part of
some civic organizations?
A: Yes, Chamber of Commerce
and the Seaside Downtown De-
velopment Association. ... What an
incredible part of the community.
SDDA does so much for us, and
the Chamber, too. Another thing, I
do gift referrals, or thank-yous, so
if a client sends me somebody that
does insurance with us, we send
our clients a gift referral. A lot of
other agents will use prepaid Visa
cards we get. Here, we actually go
and buy local businesses’ gift cards.
That’s our way of putting it back
into the community. Again it comes
back to the fact that we moved to
Seaside purposely. I have no para-
chute. I don’t have a second choice
if this doesn’t work out. This is our
goal, to live here and retire here and
integrate. For us, we’re all in. If I
had more time, I would be a part
of everything. We’ve embraced the
community like we hope to be em-
braced. And we have been. We’ve
had an incredible ¿ rst year.
Q: As a person and a professional,
what are some values that are most
important to you?
A: My faith in God and my trust
in Jesus are the foundation of what
we come every day to work in. I
hope not to offend anybody, but
I let that lead my choices in how
I interact with everybody. Christ
talked about loving everybody. I
know that if I love my clients, and
I do everything out of love, and
if love is the foundation of why I
talk to you about something, and
love is the foundation of why I say,
“You should probably do this” or
“You should probably not do that,”
then I know I can’t go wrong. At
the end of the day, I want to know
I did the very best for everyone I
could: my team, our clients, the
community. That just kind of
guides me. That is the basis of my
ethical and business philosophy.
Maggie’s On the Prom to hold two ‘surprising’ dinner events
Patrons to get unique
dining experience
during restaurant
benefi t
By Katherine Lacaze
Seaside Signal
Diners will be at the mer-
cy of chef Steven DeKay
during a special two-night
dinner event at Maggie’s
On the Prom. Those in at-
tendance get to pick a pref-
erence between a seafood
or “other” dish but what ar-
rives at the table will be “a
total surprise,” said Andy
Mercer, co-owner of the
restaurant and the Seaside
Oceanfront Inn. That means
one person might be served
a seared scallop dinner and
another may receive a gour-
met burger, he said.
Maggie’s On the Prom
is offering the adventurous
Chef’s Mercy Dinners for the
SUBMITTED PHOTO/SEASIDE SIGNAL
Chef Steven DeKay of Mag-
gie’s on the Prom.
¿ rst time, although similar
events are popular in larger
cities, Mercer said. DeKay,
who has worked at Maggie’s
On the Prom for about a year,
will make different special-
ties throughout each night
— whatever he feels will suit
the diners and pair well with
other offerings.
The dinners will take
place from 5 to 8 p.m.
both Nov. 29 and 30 at the
restaurant, at 581 S. Prom-
enade. Cost is $35 per per-
son and includes a three-
course meal, including an
appetizer, soup or salad and
the entrée.
The second night is a
bene¿ t, as all the proceeds
— not Must pro¿ ts — from
the dinner will go to the
South County Communi-
ty Food Bank. Giving a
cash donation to the food
pantry will allow them to
pick what items they need
during the winter season,
Mercer said.
He also described the
special event as “a fare-
well to the old,” since the
restaurant will be shutting
down for about six weeks
afterward for a remodeling
project.
Mercer and his wife, Sa-
die, along with two sets of
partners — Dean and Patri-
cia Hansen, of Eugene, and
Bill and Robin Montero, of
Seaside — have owned the
restaurant and hotel since
July 2013. The Mercers
oversee the day-to-day op-
erations.
They are in the process
of moving the hotel’s front
desk area out of the restau-
rant and into a revamped
hotel operations area down-
stairs. That project is wrap-
ping up at the end of No-
vember, Mercer said. Then
the restaurant will close
for remodeling, which will
include adding kitchen ca-
pacity, remodeling ¿ re sup-
pression and adding new
equipment. One of the big
issues they currently face,
Mercer said, is having to
turn people away from
dining because the kitchen
originally was created “to
bake muf¿ ns for people
staying the hotel.”
“This will be a remodel
to make it a true commer-
cial kitchen,” he said.
They also will add el-
evated seating and rear-
range the seating area “so
it’s more like a restaurant
than a living room,” Mercer
joked. The remodel will in-
clude creating a more com-
plete and separate bar area
with more seating.
Mercer said they hope
to reopen the restaurant in
mid-January. Then they will
start a project to give some
of the suites at the Seaside
Oceanfront Inn a facelift and
add four new suites. The ho-
tel will still operate during
the project, Mercer said.
Limited seating is avail-
able for the Chef’s Mercy
Dinners and reservations
are required by calling 503-
738-6403.
CO M IN G IN FEBRUARY!
2016 ED ITIO N
of th e a w a rd-w in n in g publica tion from
th e publish ers of Coa st W eeken d
Art Walk coming to Seaside
Seaside First Saturday
Art Walk will be held Dec.
5, from 5 to 7 p.m. At the
event, visitors meet artists,
sip wine or snag appetiz-
ers by favorite restaurants
or personal chefs, view
artist demonstrations and,
oftentimes, enjoy live per-
formances in music. The
affairs are in businesses,
shops, boutiques and dining
establishments located be-
tween Holladay and Broad-
way in the historic Gilbert
District of downtown Sea-
side.
Visitors meet artists, sip
wine or enjoy appetizers
by favorite restaurants or
personal chefs, view artist
demonstrations and enjoy
live performances in mu-
sic. The affairs are in busi-
nesses, shops, boutiques
and dining establishments
located between Holladay
and Broadway in the histor-
ic Gilbert District of down-
town Seaside. Dedicated
parking for the historic Gil-
bert District is on the corner
of Oceanway and Holladay.
Beach Books, located
at 616 Broadway, features
an encore group show by
the Green Cab Artist Col-
lective. The collective was
created with the goal of
encouraging and inspiring
one another, sharing artist
techniques and information
about the business side of
art, and sharing work with
the public. The “Cabbies”
are a synergistic alliance of
artists, working in diverse
mediums from the greater
Portland area.
Author Bonnie Hender-
son will also be at Beach
Books signing and discuss-
ing her newest book, a re-
vised edition of her popular
“Day Hiking the Oregon
Coast.” She is also a ma-
jor contributor to The Wild
Edge, Freedom to Roam the
Paci¿ c Coast. Henderson is
also the author of “The Next
Tsunami” and “Strand.”
Fairweather House and
Gallery, 612 Broadway
presents an opening recep-
tion for “Artful Simplici-
ty,” an exhibition featuring
striking art that is created
with restraint. Art that is
intended as a respite rather
than competing for atten-
tion. Regional artists, each
chosen with careful con-
sideration for their ability
to make a statement in a
quiet aesthetic voice, will
offer a narrative about
their work. Seaside/Gear-
hart nature photographer
Neal Maine will speak at 6
p.m. about what is happen-
ing in the wildlife habitats
found “right outside our
own backyards.” Proceeds
to bene¿ t North Coast
Land Conservancy. Shirley
Smith-Yates will perform
live music.
T h e on ly region a l
m a ga zin e focused on
just th e Colum bia -
P a cific region
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Pr
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