The community of Blue River was devastated by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire. A lot of work has been done to bring back essentials, including a fire station, post office, medical clinic and library.
But, five years later, the town’s only store is still not open.
Melanie Stanley was hoping to have her store open in time for the five year anniversary of the fire. She said they’re a little over halfway rebuilt, but they’ve had some challenges with permits and funding. She described the Meyer's General Store as a hub for Blue River area residents.
“It’s always been the store that was the community gathering spot. We’ve always had a bench out front,” she said. “We’ve always had people kinda milling around.”
Stanley said bringing back the General Store would attract tourists as well as locals and help boost the town’s economic health. She’s having a hard time making that argument to banks, though. She said she fears people have forgotten about Blue River.
“The further out from the actual disaster you get, the less support you have. The less eyes on things that you have,” she said. “And people go, ‘oh, they’ve got to be doing better. There’s stuff there, so they’re okay or they’re getting better.’”
Stanley told KLCC there’s been a lot of community support to reopen the Meyer's General Store. “People are always asking what they can do to help,” she said.
She said people also send her lists of what they want the store to carry.
Stanley said she’ll keep working to get the store open, but it's just going to take some time.
Overall, Stanley said here’s still a lot of help needed across the state where people experienced the 2020 wildfires.
There are good things happening though: The McKenzie Community Land Trust is building homes up the road from the General Store. Those are expected to be complete later this year.
