The fire is out at the OES offices, and we now know a bit more.
It apparently started in a popcorn machine at the Eagles Lodge, which is part of the same building. The entire building is gone, including the symphony office and the Pendleton Coffee Bean, which was a lovely restaraunt and coffee shop next door. They’d poured a lot of blood sweat and tears into building that business from scratch over the last four years, so I wish them well.
In the short term, it looks like the orchestra will be working out of borrowed office space at the Pendleton Art Center. Our next concert will go on as scheduled on May 13th. I would implore all our musicians to check in with Michelle, however, as all of your contrats and contact information will have been destroyed. mkajikawa@gmail.com
Our principal violist and concertmaster were teaching in the offices when the fire started. I’m very, very grateful they got out, and that nobody seems to have been hurt. They actually saved my cello and one of my guitars, which was rather silly of them under the circumstances, but I’ll always be grateful to them for that- both had tremendous sentimental value.
We’ve already had some offers of donations to help us weather the storm. Settling with all the insurance companies will take some time, and in the meantime, all the tools of daily business are unavailable to us, so donations of cash or equipment and supplies are much appreciated.
The loss of the library and the archives, as well as so many of our records is going to make for a rough few months, but we’ll rally.
The orchestra office is the green awning.
KW
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