Couple’s return to cafe an ‘Echo’ of earlier life

Published 7:00 am Tuesday, March 27, 2007

ECHO – Word around town is Patty Harshman makes a mean potato salad.

Echo residents are in luck, because she’s back to make it for them again.

Harshman and her husband, Noel, recently returned to operate H&P Cafe after “retiring” for nearly five years.

They previously owned and operated the cafe for more than 14 years.

Patty said she felt like a stranger when she first returned to Echo, but that was short-lived.

“Now I feel like we never left,” she said. “We’re just getting back into the groove of things.”

Noel agreed.

“Everyone knows us,” he said. “It was really heart-warming.”

The Harshmans describe their food as simple and they stick to the basics. Their main concern is people get enough to fill them up.

“We’re the old people, back at the old place with the old menu,” Patty said with a laugh.

The Harshmans left Echo to return to their roots in Hardman, a small blip on the map tucked away 20 miles southwest of Heppner. They enjoyed their short-lived “retirement” working with Morrow County Parks, including the Off-Highway Vehicle Park and Anson Wright Park.

Noel particularly enjoyed working at the OHV Park.

“That’s where my heart lies,” Noel said. “I’d do it for nothing probably.”

The Harshmans acted as hosts and provided cleanup and tours at the parks – just pitching in wherever they were needed.

They’ve enjoyed the life of snowbirds, traveling to Arizona for several winters. They’ve also traveled to California. They particularly enjoyed exploring Death Valley and ghost towns.

“We’re rabid outdoors people – hunting and fishing,” Noel said.

Patty also enjoys walking and hunting for rocks and minerals.

Back in the late 1980s, when the Harshmans ran the cafe in Echo, they needed help. When Patty saw a young high school girl walking down the street, she asked if she wanted a job. Challis Buck worked for the Harshmans through high school and then set out to New York to attend nanny school.

After arriving in New York, Buck eventually went to culinary school and now is working in a five-star restaurant in the Big Apple.

As luck would have it, Buck recently returned to Echo for a brief visit, just in time to help the Harshmans get things back up and running at the cafe.

“She’s been a Godsend helping us,” Noel said.

He said it’s a perfect example of what comes around goes around. They helped her and now she’s helping them.

After being born and raised in Hardman, Noel left for Alaska where he got his start cooking on tugboats. He continued working in kitchens when he returned home.

Patty initially lived just outside of Hardman and then moved into Heppner.

“I was a Main Street brat,” she said with a laugh. “I learned to ride my bike on Main Street – I learned everything on Main Street.”

The Harshmans’ paths crossed when Noel returned to Morrow County.

“She was working in a joint and I was working in a joint,” Noel said. “We got together and bought a joint,” he said.

Even though they’re “having a ball,” after 37 years in the food business, the Harshmans are looking forward to returning to Hardman to stay.

The Harshmans bought the house Noel was born and raised in.

“If you have a place in Hardman, it’s a lifelong job,” Patty said.

However it’s not likely the couple will retire, even at 73 and 63, the OHV Park keeps calling to them.