 Walk down Broadway towards City Hall and you will see them clustered on a small lot across from the Broadway Grill. Modified motor homes and trailers that are seeing new life as food trucks offer those who wander in a selection of foods from boba tea to hot dogs to Mexican cuisine. But they are struggling, and multiple factors are at play as the small businesses fight to survive. Luava’s Place owner Savannah Celeste isn’t sure what the future holds for her. Serving such fare as baclava in her European oriented business, she has learned recently after a visit from Fire Marshall Brian Sayles that she is required to install a fire suppression system, which will be spendy. Unlike a sprinkler system that releases water to extinguish a blaze, a fire suppression system uses gaseous, chemical or foam agents in bringing a fire under control. For places that use highly combustible substances such as gas or oil, a fire suppression becomes necessary due to water not being as effective in quelling flames when these substances are combusted. For Celeste, this will cost $10,000 because two spots will need to be welded in her trailer for this to be able to occur and there will also need to be a deep cleaning before the welding can even be done. Celeste has been given an extension until the end of the year to get this take care of. The food truck pod got off to a bumpy start upon opening when a $300 cord was stolen so the copper within could be stripped and sold. This meant that Doggie Style Hot Dogs owner Tim Lycett had to scramble to try to save his food and wound up having to replace $500 worth that was ruined without the necessary refrigeration. These days however, local homeless citizens keep watch for the owners and report anything suspicious. It is also helpful, Lycett notes, that nearby brush has been cleared, thereby removing a hiding spot for those who would wish to commit a theft from the food trucks. Nonetheless, staying in business has become a struggle to the point that Kento’s Japanese food and La Fresca have left for other locations due to a lack of business that has come from the food trucks’ location. This leaves only Boba Works and Morelos along with Celeste’s and Lycett’s businesses at the pod. Celeste, whose business name is a combination of her children’s names, Lucien and Ava, tries to do events to help her business remain profitable such as providing orders at Veneta Elementary every Friday and suppling food at a recent wrestling tournament at Elmira High. She tries to come up with ways to offer specials and she and husband James are planning to raise pigs for the meat. She has expanded her menu to include breakfast burritos and sandwiches such as BLT and grilled cheese and lemonade. But, between rent, phone, and Wi-Fi bills, it has gotten difficult and to add to difficulties, the city of Veneta has required the payment of fees for the privilege of operating a food truck. A grant through the state had been a possibility but is now no longer being done. Because of the need for fire suppression systems, approximately half of the 30,000 food carts in Lane County may have to close. Celeste recently made a post on the community Facebook pages to ask what food truck operators can do to bring people to the Broadway site and those who read the post were generally supportive. In response to people’s concerns, Luava’s Place, which formally had hours from 11:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. now operates from 10:00 a.m. until 8 p.m. Luava’s is also open on Sunday’s from 12:00 p.m. until 6 p.m. Lycett opens his Doggie Style Hotdogs from 11:00 a.m. until 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday during the winter but will be open six days a week come summer. These hours mean he will have to do his shopping at 7 a.m. so he can begin cooking at 9 a.m. to be ready for those who show up between 9-10 a.m. Food shopping, too, has become a challenge, Lycett says, as Cash & Carry, where he purchases many of his supplies, is being bought out and prices are being raised. High egg prices are also factoring into difficulties in turning a profit. People have complained about the prices that are asked for the food at the food trucks, but Celeste points out that everything is made to order. There has been talk of adding a fire pit or heaters at the food truck pod and last summer Smitty’s, the owner of the food truck pod, opened the sliding doors of the vacant building next door and served alcohol. Food truck owners want to have indoor seating but there are issues with the building and an architect needs to be found to rectify this. Also, a ramp for the disabled needs to be installed out front. The future of the food trucks is unknown at this point but those who are still there don’t want to have to leave. Celeste and her family live out here and this food truck is convenient for her. She doesn’t want to have to see this dream come to a crashing end any more than Lycett wants to have to say goodbye to Doggie Style Hotdogs. But with only 3-5 customers currently visiting the food trucks during the winter months versus 20-30 in the summer, it is uncertain if they will be able to survive these various expenses. All they can do is work hard and hope that more business will come their way despite their location being off the main drag. In the meantime, they continue to do what they have been doing and run their businesses while hoping that things will change, and they won’t have to make the painful decision to close.  Savannah Celeste and Tim Lycett pose at a picnic table at the pod after a conversation about the food trucks' struggles.
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 Danielle Parker has spent the last 34 years in early childhood education. Beginning as an aide at Churchill High School’s Child Development Center while a student at Elmira High, she has made the teaching and nurturing of preschool aged children her life’s work.
After high school, Parker attended Lane Community College and obtained her degree in Early Childhood Education and then proceeded to teach preschool in Eugene until the school was closed in 2006. It was then that her husband suggested she start a school of her own in Veneta. She liked the idea and began to look around for a suitable place to do so, finally finding space at the Cornerstone Worship Center on Jeans Road, though the school is not affiliated with the church. Fern Ridge Child Development Center began small with three classrooms and a handful of students. These days, the center boasts six classrooms and an afterschool program. Eighteen teachers round out the staff and four high school students also work at the afterschool program for school credit and extra cash. The center’s programs are open to children from age six weeks to 12 years, though only four babies at a time are currently allowed to be enrolled. There is a cook on staff who prepares the children’s lunches in the church kitchen and all staff members must pass a criminal background check and be certified in CPR and first aid. Regular 15-hour child development training sessions are also required. Typical of preschool, such concepts as shapes, colors, letters and numbers are taught as are life skills and problem solving. The children also engage in circle time, go over the calendar, sing, and dance. The center is licensed for 60 kids though 85-90 are enrolled, with some attending only in the morning and some of the children share a time slot and only come on certain days. Originally, the center also had school-aged children come in the afternoon as part of its afterschool program. Then, Elmira Elementary officials came to them in 2018 and inquired about them starting a program at the school. Parker and her staff agreed and today, students from Veneta Elementary are bused to Elmira Elementary where the high school students and adult staff serve the kids in the program a snack and engage them in sports activities in the gym and activities such as Legos and crafts in the cafeteria. The center doesn’t do a lot of advertising, preferring instead to rely on word of mouth and while Parker has considered moving to bigger quarters, she doesn’t want the center to become too big as she likes having a close relationship with parents, something she could not do if the center were to serve many more children. Unlike other schools and school programs, the Fern Ridge Child Development Center stayed open during Covid, and it was stressful. Approximately 20 school-aged kids stayed in one classroom and did their lessons over Zoom while sitting six feet apart and wearing masks. The smaller children, meanwhile, remained in their classrooms rather than comingling on one of the two small playgrounds and much work was done cleaning and sanitizing. It’s a happy, busy place, this preschool, and the children are cared about by the staff and well cared for. A life’s calling for Parker has helped enrich the lives of countless children who have passed through the center’s doors over the past 19 years and countless more will be the beneficiaries of this introduction to education and will enter elementary school prepared to continue to learn and grow. One preschool’s closing has benefited an entire community, and the Fern Ridge area is all the richer for the Fern Ridge Child Development Center being a part of it.  A fire burns in a small fireplace in the waiting area of G Street Integrated Health in Veneta Attempting to schedule an appointment to see the doctor can be trying at best these days and impossible at worst. Most physicians are scheduled out at least three months, so seeing one for illness or injury isn’t really possible unless a trip is taken to either an Urgent Care or an emergency room. For a patient, it is frustrating and demoralizing and dealing with office staff who don’t seem to care too much care only makes an unpleasant situation worse. Jennifer Ocker wants to change this, and to this end, she founded G Street Integrated Health in Springfield in 2019 with the objective of offering to all citizens of Lane County a completely integrated community health center that is able to provide services for the entire family. Despite Covid engulfing the world just a year later, the clinic has grown, and the staff has remained dedicated to their mission of providing good medical care. Seeing further need, however, Ocker, who specializes in administration, has opened another clinic in Veneta. The Fern Ridge area holds a special place in Ocker’s heart. Her father, Dr. Rob, practiced in the medical building on Territorial many years ago and as a fourteen-year-old, Ocker worked at the clinic as a file clerk during her summer vacation. She describes this clinic as being “near and dear” to her heart. Originally, Dr. Rob, who now resides in Mexico, asked Ocker to get the building ready to sell in 2010 and after sitting empty for several years, it was purchased in 2016 by Eugene Urgent Care who eventually became rebranded as NOVA. Best Med took over from NOVA, but those in charge didn’t seem to understand “county medicine” Ocker explains, while relating a tale of a woman who arrived 10 minutes late for an appointment after becoming stuck in traffic on Highway 126 from Eugene when a car accident slowed things down and had to reschedule, something the new clinic would not require a patient to do. Ocker also relates how her father would often take salmon and elk for payment in lieu of money. When Best Med closed the clinic down, the building sat vacant for another three years until Ocker decided to bring it back to life and work began on the Veneta office of G Street Integrated Health. On January 6th of this year, the doors officially opened after the interior was painted, new carpeting was put down and a new HVAC system was installed. A non-profit with a board of directors, the clinic has gotten off to a good start. Currently, the clinic only offers primary care, but Ocker hopes to see this change as word gets out and the clinic grows. There is no Urgent Care as of yet, but walk-ins will be accessed to see if what they have come in for is something quick like needing treatment for a UTI or perhaps the removal of a tick. While the clinic in Springfield does have a behavioral therapist on staff, there is not one at the Veneta office yet while Ocker tries to determine if there is a need. Addiction treatment can also be added if necessary as there is a treatment specialist in Springfield who would be able to visit the Veneta office. Community ties run strong in the Veneta clinic. The office staff are both local, a Medical Assistant used to live in the Fern Ridge area and Physician’s Assistant Carrie Patterson is a graduate of Elmira High. Keeping things in the family, Ocker’s son Jace is the clinic’s accountant. Should the need to expand arise, the clinic already owns four tax lots south to Bolton Rd, East, and plans for this summer include painting the exterior, (the cedar came from Dr. Rob’s Ham Road property in Creswell.) and working on the landscaping. “We’re only limited by our imagination,” Ocker states plainly when speaking of plans for the clinic’s future. Appointments at the clinic are scheduled out only three weeks and the staff does have to be mindful of how many new patients they can take at this time. The clinic boasts both a small lab, and x-ray facilities and hopes to add more services as things progress such as performing minor procedures. G Street is a delegate for Vaccines for Children program which provides immunizations for youngsters whose parents or guardians may not be able to afford them. For those who don’t qualify for the Oregon Health Plan, there is a sliding fee. Medicine practiced the way it should be is what one will find when they walk through the doors of G Street Integrated Health. It is run by individuals rather than a corporation and providing all-inclusive care while showing kindness and empathy to all are of utmost importance to the staff. The practice of medicine doesn’t have to be impersonal; it doesn’t have to be profit driven at the patient’s expense. It can be done so patients are seen and heard and cared about. G Street Integrated Health is proof of this.  A welcome signs greets those who come into the waiting area. |
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