Shriners grill up Hoot Owl help
<p>Hoot Owl Cafe employees Dell Daniels and Scott Robertson fire up some breakfast in an outdoor kitchen loaned out by the Panhandle Shrine Club. (Photo by CAMERON RASMUSSON)</p>
PONDERAY — After everything the Hoot Owl Cafe has done for the community, the Panhandle Shrine Club is happy to return the favor.
The local fraternal organization has loaned an outdoor kitchen and grill to the popular restaurant. The donation will allow the Hoot Owl to serve a limited menu of breakfasts and lunches while owner Wendy Sater organizes fire damage repairs for the kitchen.
“Wendy Sater to me is a true angel in Sandpoint,” said Lee Hope, president of the Panhandle Shrine Club. “She’s done so much for the community, so this was the least we could do.”
The contribution of the outdoor kitchen followed a fire in the restaurant’s grill and plenum chamber on Sunday.
The blaze, which was spotted by a 3-year-old and reported by the child’s grandmother, according to Northside Fire District Chief Brad Mitton, inflicted serious damage on both the grill and ventilation equipment. The plenum system succeeded in protecting the rest of the building from the flames, but according to Mitton, the fire had worked its way into the framework before emergency personnel extinguished it with a fire extinguisher.
According to Sater, the kitchen repairs will take longer than initially anticipated, probably totaling around two weeks of downtime. Based on that timetable, the outdoor kitchen and grill will be a tremendous help in keeping her employees earning their paychecks.
The shriners decided to make the contribution after Hope called her following the fire. He asked if there was anything the organization could do to help, and Sater mentioned mobile cooking equipment as one possible solution to the problem. The organization had just finished using the outdoor kitchen for the Festival at Sandpoint, so Hope made some calls to get an OK from other members.
“We all agreed that it was no problem,” he said.