At least we know she’s not going far.
So monumental is the moving-on of our beloved Heather Endicott, so consequential and emotional the departure of someone so instrumental in the day-to-day operations of the Brewstation and Coast Fork Feed Store for nearly nine years, that it must first come with a disclaimer:
Don’t worry, she’s not going far. Heather has accepted a position in business development with the Coast Fork Willamette Watershed Council, so she’s spending her working days less than a block away from here. She and her husband, Stephen Mathys (who’s still brewing beer here!) and their beloved daughter are still proud Grovers. And she’ll be returning often for the fun stuff – Trivia Night, Celtic Jam, Halloween, and more.
It’s been a few weeks since this great-big change, and Heather says she’s been busy learning the ropes of the Watershed Council’s wonderful work, studying projects that help restore and protect our beloved Coast Fork, learning vast amounts from Reilly Newman and the “two Amandas,” Gilbert and Ferguson.
But by now, we know our Heather pretty well, and we know the getting-to-know-you period won’t last long. Pretty soon, she’ll be making her mark, making herself indispensable and helping out wherever she sees the opportunity. It’s how she’s always operated, after all, and why she’ll be rather impossible to replace here at Coast Fork.
“I’m bad at sitting still,” she says. “If I see a colleague that needs help doing something, I would much rather learn exactly what that is and how I can assist than sit back and say ‘oh, that’s not my problem.’ It’s never been my style.”
These days, after years of having Cottage Grove’s preeminent power couple in our midst and watching them create a new family together, it may be difficult to believe, but Heather and Stephen weren’t even together when they started working here. He joined us first, back in 2013, and Heather learned about the vibe of the place soon after.
“I knew it was a cool place right off the bat,” she said. “Everybody who owns and works for this place wants to see it grow and thrive. (Our owner) Dale is always here working hard. It’s obviously a labor of love, and a community effort. This whole place thrives on being a place the community finds extremely useful for so many reasons. They want to gather with their families, shop, and tell their friends about it.”
Heather started working here part-time, and as she’s wont to do, just kept making herself more and more useful. An every-other-Sunday gig soon grew to include a position in the Feed Store, a place she grew to love.
“I really liked the Feed Store,” she said. “It’s got totally different energy. The pub is super fast-paced. With the Feed Store, the physical labor is harder, but it’s mentally more rewarding.”
Along the way, Heather accumulated an impressive base of knowledge about the hundreds of products we sell there and the companies we source them from.
“The first time I volunteered to do inventory, I had no idea what most of the stuff was. Now, I not only know what everything is, I know exactly where it is. And I can usually tell you how long it’s been there.”
She also found that she quite enjoyed her frequent collaborator, our own Jason Smith.
“I love working with Jason because he’s always had my back,” she says. “He’s one of the best, most upstanding, kindest individuals I’ve ever met. I can’t say too many good things about him.”
Of course, it wasn’t all about work. With such a diverse array of talents, Heather has made her mark here (and will continue to make it, remember?) in such delightful ways. She first brought Trivia Night to us in 2016, and it’s now a weekly staple that she’ll alternate hosting with Gerald Santana. Heather and Stephen staged our first Robert Burns Night, an event that sells out every January. Celtic Christmas is always a smash, as are May Day and Halloween.
“I’m keeping them all,” she says of her extracurriculars. “I have a hard time saying No if it sounds like it’s going to be fun.”
We have fun in a family kind of way around here, and from the beginning, Heather says she appreciated that.
“Having been so embraced by the family here, it’s indescribable,” she says. “How do you put that into words? These are my chosen family members. I’ve seen more of them than most of my family, and they’re there for me through thick and thin.”
Not one to be outdone, she went ahead and started her own family, too!
“I came here because Stephen is one of my dearest and closest friends forever,” she recalls. “We met at 18, and we’ve been friends through thick and thin. I’ve known Duncan (Stephen’s son) since the day he was born.
When I came here, everybody was super welcoming. And when circumstances changed in both our lives and brought he and I together, I was very surprised that happened. The Pub could’ve been not-so-friendly about an employee relationship. But they were really kind. And I’m intensely grateful for that. My kid’s grown up here – she’s gonna be 7. This is the first place we brought her outside the hospital and our home. This is her family. Her middle name is Emily!”
Through it all, Heather says she’s beyond grateful for the time she’s spent here.
“I look forward to many beautiful times her in the future,” she says. “I know it will continue to thrive, and I hope I get to continue to be a part of that. This thing that is Coast Fork has never stayed one thing. It’s modeled on the love that the people who work here have for that idea, whatever it means to them. Sometimes that’s meant that we have disagreements on what that means. But we’re all coming from a place of love and wanting to create something that is wonderful. It’s been a true honor to be part of that.”
Our owner, Dale Smith, emphatically agrees.
“Heather will be deeply missed by all of us at Coast Fork Brewing and Feed,” Dale said. “Her contributions are numerous, and we are so grateful for her beautiful artistry and grace. We know she will use her many talents in support of the Watershed Council; they are blessed to have her on their team. We are happy that we will continue to collaborate with Heather with her music, art and trivia.”
