The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

In this multi-part series, The Times visits with businesses, organizations and agencies to learn their plans for 2019. This week, we wrap up our walk around Main Street. In future issues we will talk with off-Main businesses, churches, clubs and organizations.

Waitsburg Town Hall

Waitsburg's Town Hall operates on a one hundred percent volunteer basis and is supported solely by community donations. The building was donated to the city by the American Legion in 1976 and the Town Hall Association eventually took over responsibility for its care and upkeep.

Town Hall, with a capacity of 290 people, was used for many community events by a variety of organizations and individuals due to its affordability and features. Last year the Commercial Club and Town Hall hosted a well-attended candidate forum and the popular annual Waitsburg Celebration Days Brewfest.

Amenities include free internet, a wireless projector, an upgraded speaker system, wireless and podium microphones and a commercial kitchen which is available for rent.

Current board members are: President Jim Romine, Vice-President Ron Griffen, Secretary Jim Davison, Treasurer Ron Standring and directors Karl Newell, Walt Gobel and Danielle Carpenter. Carpenter is new to the board and replaces long time director Larry Johnson who is no longer eligible after moving from the area.

Board members frequently perform custodial and maintenance work on the building and oversee fundraising events. In 2018, old and leaking windows were replaced with energy efficient windows, with the help of Tim's Carpentry and Jeremy Elsey, who did the painting. The board also purchased new tables, both rectangular and round, with carts that are much easier to handle and maneuver.

A few "wish list" items for 2019 include updating lighting to LED for greater efficiency, the possible replacement of the projector or an upgrade to a large-screen Smart TV. At some point in the future it will be necessary to remodel the kitchen and re-do the stairway to allow better use of the upstairs, Davison said.

The Town Hall board meets the second Thursday of the month at Town Hall and meetings are open to the public.

The next fundraiser is the annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner and Silent Auction on Sun. March 17 from 4-10 p.m. All proceeds go to Town Hall maintenance and operations.

"Save the date and get your tickets early to help us plan for supplies. Also, contact any board member if you have a much-needed donation for the silent auction," Davison said.

Purchase tickets and learn more at the Waitsburg Town Hall Facebook page.

Star Fitness Gym

Fred Gonzalez opened Star Fitness "somewhere around 2011" as a way to keep the gym in Waitsburg so he didn't have to travel to work out. More recently, Gonzalez and Joy Smith formed a partnership and purchased the building that houses both the gym and the former liquor store.

Smith takes care of marketing, billing and memberships and Gonzalez brings in the equipment and keeps it running.

"If someone lets me know they want something, I try and get it in. That's why we got the calf machine and the rowing machine," he said. "We just want to be able to keep the gym open so that people have access and don't have to go somewhere else to work out."

As it stands now, the facility is packed full. With approximately 30 machines, free weights, barbells, a punching bag, medicine and kettle balls, and more, Star Fitness holds its own against much larger facilities. Television sets and a stereo system is available and the building is outfitted with security cameras.

"We're the best fitness buy in the valley. We're open 24/7. We charge $35 to join, and waive the joining fee with auto-billing, and we have special family and workplace pricing," Smith said.

Smith said membership continues to build steadily each year. Plans aren't set in stone, but the partners are looking at opening a back room which would be an open area that could be used for video classes or floor exercises.

"If people let me know what they want, I'll do my best to provide it," Gonzalez said.

To learn more, call Smith at (509) 539-8773 or message Star Fitness Center on Facebook.

Plaza Beauty Salon

"You can't change your name just because you move!" said Plaza Beauty Salon owner Peggy Jones.

"Customers have been following me and my sink for at least 30 years," she said.

Plaza Beauty Salon started out in the Plaza theater building when Bob and Velma Sickles sold insurance from the upstairs offices. When the building sold, Peggy moved her shop along Main Street until settling in her current home at 123 Preston Avenue, in the back of the former Blue Crystal building. The building is owned by Meredith Huwe and Kelly Mohney who still use the front space as office for their storage business.

Jones says she specializes in men's and women's haircuts, tints and perms. She is typically open Tuesday through Friday and will take walk-ins if available. Customers can call Peggy at (509) 337-8890 to make an appointment.

Waitsburg Clinic

The Waitsburg Clinic is part of Columbia County Health System and CEO Shane McGuire shared with The Times, some of the upcoming initiatives that will have an impact on Waitsburg.

McGuire said CCHS is excited by the early success of having behavioral health providers working alongside primary care providers. A second Licensed Social Worker (LICSW), Tasha Willoughby, has been added to the team and she and Wayne Pollard both spend time in the Waitsburg Clinic.

In addition, CCHS is in its second year of partnering with the University of Washington to offer coordinated care with UW psychiatrists and CCHS LICSWs and providers via telepsychiatry. Learn more about the effort to bring psychiatric care to rural areas at https://goo.gl/P1EiH3.

McGuire said CCHS continues to research ways to assist aging community members with the goal of keeping them in their homes as long as possible.

"As an example, we have started our Memory Café in effort to provide a social environment for residents afflicted with Alzheimer's or Dementia.  We will be having several community training events in 2019 for family members caring for loved ones as well as business owners to help create a dementia friendly community.  If there is enough interest, we would like to start another Memory Café in Waitsburg by partnering with one of the restaurants or coffee shops. We provide both staff and business education," McGuire said.

McGuire said CCHS is continuing its relationship with Caravan Health and participating in the Accountable Care Organization to give coordinated, high-quality care to Medicare patients. The program focuses on annual wellness visits, chronic care management visits and transitional care management visits. Annual wellness visits are free to Medicare beneficiaries and include a review of health diagnosis with many important screenings.

"We've had roughly 500 Medicare patients engaged but would like to see closer to 800 this year and over the next three years. There are roughly 1000 Medicare recipients in our communities who could all benefit from the goals of this program," McGuire said.

In addition, CCHS continues to research solutions for memory care housing, adult family homes, and in-home care options. He said CCHS should have some firm designs and budgets associated for one or more of these solutions in 2019.

Courtesy Photo

Star Fitness Gym boasts approximately 60 exercise machines and a wide variety of strength training equipment.

CCHS continues to operate expanded hours in 2019 with Laboratory, Radiology, Clinic, and Therapy Services all providing scheduled time after 5 p.m. and on Saturdays. Current expanded hours are:

Columbia Family Clinic is open from 5-8 p.m. Mondays and is open 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturday. The clinic is open regular 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. hours Tues. – Fri. The Waitsburg Clinic is still operating 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Mon. – Fri.

Laboratory is open Mon. – Fri. until 7 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. for scheduled labs and all day, every day for emergency services

Therapy Services are open Monday – Thursday until 8 p.m. and normal hours Friday

Scheduled Radiology Services are available Mondays until 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tues. – Fri. and 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturday. Radiology services are still available all day, every day for emergency services.