REVIEW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND
THE GREEN SCENE: Annual garden tour returns to island this weekend. A11
FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 | Vol. 112, No. 28 | WWW.BAINBRIDGEREVIEW.COM | 75¢
Two-alarm blaze destroys The 122 BY RICHARD D. OXLEY Bainbridge Island Review
At approximately 4:40 a.m. Monday morning, Larry Droguett awoke to strange and violent sounds. “The crackling woke me up; I’m a light sleeper,” Droguett said. When he looked to his window he could see an orange reflection on the blinds. He ran to his window and saw The 122 Bar and Restaurant on fire. The flames soared more than 35 feet into the night sky. Droguett, who lives across the street from The 122 on Winslow Way, called 911. “About 10 minutes after I called, that’s when the flames started coming out the from the windows,” Droguett recalled. He watched the fire trucks arrive. Windows began bursting under the intense pressures of the blaze. The two-alarm fire required four fire departments to tame — the Bainbridge Island Fire Department, Poulsbo Fire Department, North Kitsap Fire and Rescue and the fire department from Naval Base Kitsap. “They eventually got a hose on
it and another hose, but by then the whole building was engulfed in flames,” Droguett said. Soon, Art Carbajal, a bartender for The 122, awoke to heavy banging on his front door. Carbajal lives with The 122 co-owner Chris Ortiz. They were told about the blaze by a friend passing by. Carbajal and Ortiz quickly drove down to the restaurant, grabbing co-owner Kim Raymond along the way. “Before we came all the way down on Madison we could see a huge, black plume of smoke going up. The panic just started setting in,” Raymond said. No one expected the intense scene waiting around the corner. “I completely freaked,” Raymond said. “I bailed out of the truck; I went running for the building.” She was stopped by a police officer before getting too close to the inferno. The 122 owners, staff and friends spent the rest of the morning sitting across the street watching their home-away-from-home turned to cinders by the flames. Liz Ellis, a regular of The 122, and friend of the staff, heard of the fire early that morning and imme-
Larry Droguett photo
Winslow resident Larry Droguett took this photograph of The 122 fire shortly before 5 a.m. Monday. diately went down to support her friends. “I wasn’t sure why I was going, but it didn’t seem like I could just go about my day,” Ellis said. “(We) just sort of sat there, feeling useless. I think everyone was feeling that way, like they desperately wanted there to be something they could do.” Ortiz and Raymond began calling all their staff to make sure no one was in the building. The staff was safe at home. Then, there was nothing left to do but watch it burn.
When a bolt of lightning caused the two-alarm fire at The 122, the flames took more than just a building. The fire took a home-awayfrom-home to many, and important corner of the island’s nightlife. Bainbridge Island can boast a very small handful of pubs, bars, or other late-night establishments. In a town where nearly every business shuts down at 6 p.m., a rare few remain open for islanders. Now, that number is even less. The 122 gave islanders a place to go, to meet others in their commu-
nity, instead of storing themselves at home each night. The bar filled up each Monday evening with fierce competitors who religiously attended its pub trivia. Other nights, it hosted local musical acts, or gave islanders a place to exercise their singing pipes with karaoke. “I loved the staff. I went to see Chris and Art and Jeff,” Ellis said. “Plus, I’m a sucker for karaoke.” SEE BLAZE, A9
New lease for Rolling Bay gets stamp of approval from Postal Service BY BRIAN KELLY Bainbridge Island Review
Brian Kelly / Bainbridge Island Review
The U.S. Postal Service has agreed to a new five-year lease for the Rolling Bay Post Office.
Signed, sealed, delivered — and safe. Howard Block and Ce-Ann Parker, the owners of Bay Hay and Feed, have signed a new five-year lease with the U.S. Postal Service to keep the beloved Rolling Bay Post Office in place. With the prospect of post office closures looming nationwide, Block said he was excited to sign a new rental agreement that guarantees the small post office next to his bustling business at the corner of Valley Road and Sunrise Drive will stay put. “I think it’s great for the community,” Block said. “I could probably rent it to things that would bring in more cash, but this is perfect for the community,” he added. “This is a real gathering place.”
Block recalled how the island banded together and petitioned to save the Rolling Bay Post Office before they bought the building in 1979. What made it popular then, he said, still makes it popular today. “That was probably one of the biggest things about this post office,” Block said, standing on the sidewalk outside. “You got two kids in car seats; you could park right here, you could stand right there, get your mail, you’re not schlepping all the kids in and out. It’s really a big difference compared to downtown.” “That’s one of the major reasons that people love the post office. It’s quick. There’s not a lot of waiting around. “And they are doing great,” he said. “As hard as the post office is suffering, they are doing OK.” The Rolling Bay Post Office first
opened in 1892, and moved to the general store that now houses Bay Hay and Feed in 1914. During one span of time, between 1858 and 1926, there were 11 post offices on Bainbridge Island. Only two remain, the downtown Winslow location and the post office at Rolling Bay, which still has its own zip code, of course, 98061. Block recalled the first time he tried to get a new lease from the Postal Service, after he bought the former general store building, and how he asked for a 15-year deal. “They looked at me like, ‘What are you, nuts?’” Block laughed. “I remember this gruff old post office guy came in from Seattle. He scared the bejesus out of me,” Block added. SEE POSTAL, A21