A change of scenery
Couple settles down to ‘retire’ in Malheur County

By LARRY MEYER
ARGUS OBSERVER
Monday, June 2, 2008 11:19 AM PDT

Portland transplants Dick and Darlene Ashby enjoy their new surroundings, and particularly their new friends they have met since buying Sunset Market two years ago.

NYSSA  - Dick and Darlene Ashby, owners of Sunset Market, southwest of Nyssa,  went a long way to get out of the Portland-metro area when they moved to rural Malheur County a few years ago. And though they are far from children and grandchildren, they aren’t planning to move back and feel right at home.

“We opened two years ago, June 15,” Darlene Ashby, said. “We were looking for an opportunity to get out of Portland.”  

They found the sales ad for the store in the nickel ads and came over with her brother to take a look. After talking it over, the couple went to make an offer to the previous owner, Roger Hasselbach. When they got back to Portland there was a one-word message waiting on their fax machine, “congratulations.”

The couple had looked all over the state at a number of different locations, Darlene Ashby said, adding, “something drew us to this place,”

“We didn’t know Nyssa existed,” she said. “We had been through Ontario a couple of times.”

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Although both were born out of state — she in Wisconsin and he in Nebraska — they have lived most of their lives in Oregon, including 10 years when they lived in Medford, while raising their children.

Prior to leaving Portland, they owned and operated a machine shop for 12 years and stayed on another five years to work for the new owner after they sold it. When they were first married in 1960, the Ashbys did work in a restaurant.

“It’s been 46 years since Dick and I have done anything like this,” Darlene Ashby said.

Sunset Market, situated where Lytle Boulevard intersects Janeta Drive, a rural but busy route, is “kind of a convenience store with a big cafe,” Darlene Ashby said.

Dick Ashby has a small shop next to the store, doing repair work for local farmers.

“It’s been kind of a challenge,” Darlene Ashby said, but it has been good.

“The word is getting out the food is good,” Dick Ashby said.

Moving to Malheur County, however, has taken some adjusting.

“I miss the rain,” Darlene Ashby said. “I miss the Portland rain. It’s not the same.”

Having said that, she added rural life really suits her.

“The pace of life is slower,” she said. “Everybody we have met have been great, down to earth.

“We actually came here to retire,” Darlene Ashby, 66, said with a chuckle. Dick Ashby turned 69 last week. “Now we work 12-hour days, seven days per week.”

Business is steady, Darlene Ashby said, and they are looking for it to improve. “We get tourists. We’ve got great regulars.”

And, it is the people that had made the difference for the couple.

“The thing that has made it work out for Dick and I are the people,” Darlene Ashby said. “The ones in Nyssa and the ones out here. We haven’t run into problems with anybody.”

While their children have been out to visit, they may be the least happy by their parents’ move.

“They wish we were closer to Portland,” Darlene Ashby said.