Larry and Sarah Conaway sit on the picnic table outside of the Conaway Coffee drive thru. After kicking around the idea of starting a drive-thru, Larry first spotted the For Sale sign on the property, which is just a block away from their house.
Sarah and Larry Conaway say that they always liked to get coffee at a drive-thru spot when visiting other towns. So much so that they fell in love with the idea of opening their own.
Shana Washington grew up in Condon and began working at Conaway Coffee shortly after it opened a couple of weeks ago. Shana says that she is enjoying her time interacting with locals, and that a lot of people from outside of the area are also stopping to get a drink.
Signs for Conaway Coffee flank the drive-through along Highway 206, just west of the Main Street intersection.
Is there anything better than a "coffee" sign for the weary driver or sleep deprived worker or parent?
Coffee drive-through huts are seemingly everywhere in cities like Bend and in thoroughfares like Sisters. Throughout the Northwest, motorists que up in their cars, waiting to place their order.
Now, folks looking to get a caffeine fix in Condon can do so at Conaway Coffee, located just off of Main Street and Highway 206 by Oregon Street.
Sarah Conaway has thought about opening a coffee drive-through for years, and with help from her husband, Larry, that dream has become a reality.
Sarah, who is from Long Creek, first moved to the area 16 years ago from Burns when Larry got a job teaching in Fossil.
"We love drive throughs and whenever we go out of town, we get a coffee," says Larry Conaway. "We thought, let's do it here in Condon."
When a lot just a block from their house was listed for sale - next to the Main Street / Highway 206 intersection - Larry called Sarah.
"The lot next to our house, this place right here," Larry said. "It was perfect."
Sarah, who had worked at M&A Auto Parts and Hardware, decided to pursue the coffee venture full-time.
"I loved my job at M&A," says Sarah, "but this is something I just really wanted to do."
Larry retired from teaching at the Fossil School last year, so the couple now had time to chase the dream. They purchased a garden shed and set out to finish the interior and get equipment.
Larry worked to put down flooring, dry wall, and lighting and to build counters and storage. A former shop teacher, he put his skills to use and developed the space, which has a walk-up window on one side and a drive-through window on the other.
The only bit of help they needed was to have the power connected to the building.
With the structure finished, Sarah had planned to open for the Fourth of July but the health inspector delayed visits to Condon. Sarah and Larry say that initially, they were disappointed that they couldn't open for the holiday but that it was probably for the best.
"I'm glad we didn't," says Larry, "we would have run out of everything."
The coffee stand opened three weeks ago and has a steady stream of customers. Starting early, at 4:30 AM, Sarah serves co ffee for workers who are on their way to Waste Management. She also has biscuits and gravy and breakfast burritos. Then comes the morning rush before 8 AM when people are on their way to work. Sarah is also preparing for parents to come through before or after dropping kids off at school. So far, the customers have continued to stream through into the afternoon.
Conaway Coffee is open from 4:30 AM to 4:30 PM – and Sarah says it "ebbs and flows" throughout the day.
"We don't know exactly what the hours should stay at," Sarah says, "but I'm going to stick it out and see what happens, and see what hours work best."
Sarah beams when talking about the business and how much support she has gotten from people in the community.
"Everybody has been so supportive," Sarah says. "This town has always been supportive, they've been wonderful to me – but we've had people coming out of the woodwork to make sure we are successful."
Realizing that she would need help, Sarah hired Shana Washington. Shana also juggles the childcare business she runs after school but says that the coffee drive-through has been a fun way to interact with people.
"There are a lot of people that I don't know that are coming through," Shana says.
Sarah says that recently she's been thinking of fun names for drinks and she regularly bounces ideas off of Shana and Larry.
"I want to name drinks that are related to Condon," she says. "I have one called the Harvester, it'll have extra shots of coffee in it and another called the John Deere."
Sarah says that it feels great to work for herself and to be her own boss.
"In a small town, you've got to work your own business," Sarah says. "It's been great, I love it."
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