Submitted by: Over Easy Cafe owner Jamie Bohnett
Over Easy Café in Bellingham is a place of second chances for second chance people. Let me explain. My father was one of the two founders of a national restaurant chain called Sambo’s founded in 1957. (If you are old enough you remember, if not Wikipedia it!) His partner was “Sam” Battistone and Dad, Newell Bohnett was often called “Bo” by his friends.
Thus the name of the restaurant was a combination of these two men’s names, capitalizing upon the classic 1899 children’s story by Helen Banner called “Little Black Sambo.” The restaurant chain ran into trouble in the late 1960s into the 1970s when it spread to certain areas of the country where the name, though unintended by the author, had morphed into a hurtful racial slur to many African-Americans. The problem with the name wasn’t the main reason for the chain’s demise, but it sure didn’t help!
My father had retired from Sambo’s as we had moved to Hawaii in 1968, but he was still on the board and had to watch something he had worked so hard to build, a chain of over 1,100 restaurants nationwide, decline beginning in 1977 and finally going into bankruptcy in 1982. Today you will find only one standing, the original one in Santa Barbara on the beach, owned by Sam Battistone’s grandson, Chad Stevens. Dad and Sam’s pictures are hanging on the wall. Chad does a great job, by the way, owning and operating this historic store. Check it out next time you visit Santa Barbara.
My father passed away a year and a half ago at 93 years old. Though our relationship had its “ups and downs,” he will always be a hero to me for the bold way he lived out his life from World War II and Korean War hero to highly successful entrepreneur. I miss him greatly.
I was too young to work at Sambo’s when we lived in Santa Barbara, and Dad decided to never have a Sambo’s in Hawaii so he could enjoy his retirement in relative peace. But when I was in my twenties, after college, he was talked into starting a new restaurant in Hawaii by a group of admiring young investors. It was to be called BIB’s (Big Island Beef to showcase his Big Island ranch’s beef through featuring burgers and steaks.) He invited me to join the partnership. For the next three years he was very distracted with the drama of what the Sambo’s chain was experiencing on the mainland. Our relationship became a bit strained during that time. Regrettably, I walked away from BIB’s after only three years.
For the next many years I worked in the nonprofit realm and raised four children with my former wife in Redmond Washington. After going through a divorce five years ago, I got in touch with some unfinished business I wasn’t aware that I still had to take care of. I needed to prove, really only to myself, that I could develop a successful restaurant, building upon the valuable lessons I had learned from my dad and yet applying some of my own values I have learned through my Christian faith. Over Easy, a promising young franchise out of Scottsdale, AZ, founded by a father and son team of Brad and Aaron May, gave me that second chance nearly forty years after my experience with BIB’s.
Over Easy in Bellingham isn’t only my place for a second chance. We have attracted great “second chance people” to work for us who are making the most of the opportunity to work at the restaurant for themselves and their families. Also, we are seeking to serve people needing a second chance in our community by supporting Whatcom County nonprofits through A Future & A Hope Foundation working in direct partnership with the restaurant. The restaurant provides the venue for fundraisers, informational gatherings and networking events. Often the foundation is able to sponsor those events making it no cost to the organizations.
I think one of my most rewarding second chances has been to employ my grandkids for a few weeks in the summers at the restaurant, giving them the opportunity to learn some valuable work lessons. This wasn’t something I could easily provide for my kids in my nonprofit work during their childhood.
One last thing, in keeping with the spirit of this article, I have one favor to ask of you, the reader. If you visited Over Easy once before, and it wasn’t a great experience for you, please don’t write us off. I ask you to come back one more time … and give us A SECOND CHANCE!
