Writing It Down

I'm not a huge fan of New Year's Resolutions, but I do believe strongly in the power of writing down dreams so that they become goals. For me, it is the secret to accomplishing the things that matter the most to me. I'm not sure when or how it happened, but early on in life I came to the conclusion that time moves too fast, and it shouldn't be wasted on fleeting thoughts or passing dreams. Action must be made. Chances must be taken. Fear of failure must be put aside. A full, rich, and successful life has nothing to do with luck. Care, thought, and study go into making something succeed. Luck is something you get playing the lottery or roulette.

I read somewhere that humanity is divided into three parts:

1. Those who make things happen

2. Those who watch things happen, and

3. Those who don't know what's happening

I also believe strongly in documenting life as it happens. It's the only way I have been able to look back and see what worked, what didn't, and the amazing journey along the way. So, I added on a fourth one to that list:

4. Those who don't remember what's happened.

I just want to fall in category 1.

John Atkinson once said, "If you don't run your own life, someone else will." This makes sense to me, too, and reinforced everything else. I just don't want to wake up on day, realize this short life is near it's end, and find that I didn't live it to it's fullest. To me, that would be seriously tragic. So, the "Bucket List" was started early on, still in high school, while sitting in my room on my purple and white lace comforter, staring out my window to the street down below. I remember it so vividly. The list has been altered some throughout the years, things have been removed and other things added, but not by much.

Several decades have passed, and as I start this new year, I get motivated to start writing down new goals to achieve new dreams by reviewing the past ones. One of my favorite accomplishments was the restaurant. I still smile when I think about some of my favorite customers, my amazing co-workers, the feeling I got when I stepped inside in the morning or closed up for the night. The smells, the shade of the pecan trees overhead, the sound of the drive-through bell.... ah yes. Such amazing memories, and such a wonderful experience I hope to never forget!

Coffee and tea shop finds niche near industrial center

by Joy Hampton, Staff Writer

The menu is written in colored chalk with no sign of a chicken-fried steak in sight. The Pecan Porch Coffee and Tea Company isn't the kind of establishment one expects to find across from the Port of Catoosa with its industrial occupants and hungry truck drivers.

Everyone knows better than to put a foo-foo coffee shop in a spot like that. Everyone but Susan Gates, that is. Everyone would be wrong.

Susan and Chris Gates moved to Verdigris from Colorado to be near family. They loved the community but missed Colorado's quaint cafes.

Northeastern Oklahoma seemed worth the trade-off. Susan's parents live in Justus-Tiawah and a sister lives in Claremore. For the Gates, family comes first, and they wanted their two young boys to grow up near grandparents.

The Gates had been coming to visit family in Oklahoma for years, and Susan said she always noticed the old school house on Highway 266 across from the Port of Catoosa. Once "a greasy spoon kind of diner," it had been closed for years. Shortly after they moved to Verdigris, she saw the place was for sale.

"I told Chris, 'We've got to buy it and fix it up.' He thought I was crazy," said Susan. So did pretty much everyone else.

"Everyone told us, 'It will never go over. You cannot put a foo-foo coffee shop café across from the Port. They said 'it just won't work,'" remembers Susan. "It's been nice to prove them wrong."

Susan's vision of a family-friendly place fit in nicely with the small town values she appreciates about Rogers County. She called her café the Pecan Porch.

"We make everything fresh," said Susan. "My mom use to cook for farm hands so she does things very traditionally. She knows how to cook."

The appeal is clear through the broad range of customers streaming through the doors. Customers from Verdigris, Catoosa, Claremore, Owasso, Chelsea and Collinsville line up at the counter to place their orders.

Truck driver Charlie Johnson of Springfield, Mo, is a regular who stops by whenever he's in the area. He delivers to a local business.

"I've been coming here four to five times a week, ever since Susan opened up," said Doin Bradley of Chelsea. "It's a family atmosphere. We talk and joke. It's a few minutes away from work."

Like many other of her customers, he's spreading the word. "I'm taking coffee back to the boss," said Bradley. "We'll get him hooked on this stuff, too."

"This stuff" is specialty drinks, flavored coffees, lattes, and cappuccinos served at the Porch.

Pecan Porch opened two years ago on Feb. 14. By summer, business was taking off and Susan realized she needed employees besides her parents, Bob and Judy Kinnard, who opened the store with her and work every morning so that she can stay home and get her two young sons off to school.

"We have people who say they drive from Bixby over here," said Susan. "It's crazy."

She believes the casual family feel and fresh offerings that differ from strip mall restaurants are part of the appeal, but she credits her employees with making the real difference.

"I have to give credit where credit it due," said Susan. "The employees I have here dote on the customers. I think that's why it works."

Two customers from Owasso say it's just down the hill and worth the drive.

A steady stream of traffic fills the small café. Susan said she's running one of her customer appreciation specials, advertised by mass emails. She also has a punch card lunch program.

"It's a way of saying 'thank you,' said Susan. "We have so many regulars."

Scott and Angela Holland have driven in from the Collinsville area to have breakfast in celebration of the 8th anniversary. "It's out of our way, but it's definitely worth it," said Angela. I've never tasted smoothies this good."

Pecan Porch was selected recently by Rogers County Industrial Authority as Entrepreneur of the Year for Retail, but Susan said she never would have made it through the first year without the support and help of her parents. "Dad is all-around maintenance," she said. "He fixes everything."

Café manager Megan Moore of Owasso and key employee Melinda Patterson of Verdigris contribute more than just hours. "Megan and Melinda bring fresh ideas almost every week," said Susan. "They're not just employees, they take ownership and have pride in the restaurant. They do everything that's creative."

Soups and sandwiches are made fresh on the premises, with pastries brought in from area bakeries. Fresh fruit smoothies go over well for breakfast or lunch, and milk shakes of a variety of flavors are especially popular in the summer.

"You have to have good food," said Susan, "but you have to have good service." It's too small of a community not to care about your customers."

She said Megan and Melinda have a motto that if a customer comes in grumpy, they will change that person's day and send the customer out with a smile.

Some customers have become family. Susan said Sandra Sexton of Verdigris in one of her first and most loyal customers. "She's become my second mom, and I didn't even know her before I opened the place," said Susan.

The idea she started with over two years ago was to provide fresh, different menu items, a family-friendly atmosphere and the customer service they wanted to experience for themselves. "Let's treat them different," Susan said she told husband Chris.

The smiling customers walking through the doors this Tuesday morning stop to greet one another though they come from towns across Rogers county. They sip smoothies or coffee and chat across the tables.

Though a drive-through window serves those who don't want to get out of their vehicles, it appears that the friendly atmosphere is as popular as the food in this café the naysayers thought would never make it.

A sign near the counter sums up the attitude of Porch owners, employees, and customers: "Speak kind words / Receive kind echoes."