Just weeks after a vehicle crashed into Masonry Cafe’s Doodle Buns building on Oct. 13, the restaurant’s owner, Shelly Brown, said the businesses damaged are being impacted, but none of them are closed.
Following the incident, Brown hopes the community will continue to support both the Masonry Cafe and Doodle Buns Bakery as they restore the buildings.
Brown said the accident occurred around 12:15 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13.
“We were filling up for lunch. There were quite a few people in here,” Brown said. “It just sounded like a freight train. We all thought someone hit a parked car. When we went out the door, we were surprised to see a car in the building. Kim and Derrick from Doodle Buns were right behind the counter too, but nobody got hurt. We were so lucky that nobody got hurt.”
The Oct. 13 accident occurred when a driver, heading eastbound on Yelm Avenue, lost consciousness because of a medical emergency and smashed into the building, according to the Yelm Police Department.
“The response from Yelm PD and the fire department, they were here like, boom, before the dust settled. They orchestrated getting everyone out and ensured they were all safe,” Brown said. “It could’ve gone so bad. I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if someone had gotten really hurt.”
Brown added that prior to the incident, Tim’s Pharmacy employees were working “next door” and a Masonry Cafe employee had exited the restaurant. She said she’s thankful that nobody got hurt in spite of the high amount of foot traffic coming in, out and near the restaurant.
According to Brown, once the fire department cleared the scene, a company called “Board Up” came to board and frame the building’s wall to ensure safety.
“It’s going to affect Doodle Buns. We’re hoping that everyone supports them at this time through the holidays. There are some holiday menus posted on their Facebook page,” Brown said. “This has affected business. A lot of people thought we were closed down. People were emailing us asking if we were still able to cater. People think it’s closed because that building is all boarded up.”
Despite the vehicle smashing into the cafe’s Doodle Bun’s Bakery, Brown said that Masonry Cafe still fulfilled its commitment to cater a wedding scheduled for the same day of the crash.
“That same Friday after the fire department came, we still had a wedding to tend to. We still made it to that wedding,” Brown said. “It felt pretty good to still be able to get to that wedding.”
Immediately following the car accident, Brown said she made three phone calls before she walked through the door to see the damage. She contacted insurance, Jenny Richardson and Keystone Masonry.
“This building has been in Jenny Richardson’s family and Isabelle Rosano’s family since the 1940s. Someone in their family built it. They are longtime residents of Yelm,” Brown said. “It’s going to be rebuilt, but it’s going to take a while. With Steve Borman, owner of the Keystone Masonry, we’ve had a really good relationship over the years. When we expanded over here, he was the first person I called before I decided to do it. He was one of the first people I called on Oct. 13, as well. I asked him what steps I needed to take (to rebuild), and he said they were going to do it.”
Brown said the Masonry kitchen area sustained “quite a bit” of damage to the kitchen area, but that was washed, cleaned and boarded off from the damage in Doodle Buns.
“It was like someone detonated [a bomb in] the building,” Brown said, adding the damage to the bakery could have been worse if the kitchen hadn’t been remodeled. “There’s quite a few hoops to jump through right now, but it is cleaned up. We called Mathis Bosch from Rainier [to remove debris], and he came in Monday night and got everything out. They did great work.”
Overall, Brown is thankful that nobody was hurt in the car crash. She added the support from the community has been tremendous in the following weeks.
“We had so many people reach out, my phone started blowing up. Catering customers, regulars, people that’ve done work for us over the past few years, all made sure that everyone is OK. They asked if we needed anything and told us not to hesitate to reach out. It could’ve been so bad,” Brown said. “The response from all the regular customers has been great. That’s the biggest reward — how many people reached out to make sure everyone was OK.”
