Sharon's Pizza changes hands

Less than a year ago, Sharon Buennagel was celebrating a decade at her restaurant, Sharon's Pizza. Today, she, husband John and daughter, Sarah are beginning a new chapter in Honolulu, HI, while new owners hope to continue her vision and success.

On August 10, Buennagel handed over the keys to Ginger Schmitz and her husband Jake Collins.

"If I could handpick someone to take over, it would be Ginger," Buennagel said. "She wants to give back to the community like we did. That's important to me. It needs change. It's time. They've got some good ideas."

"Obviously it's worked very well for the last 10 years," Schmitz said. "Sharon and John have made a great name for themselves, not just by being great people but by having this place. We want to honor that. We're going to keep the menu, pretty much all the recipes. We'll add our own little tweaks here and there, and change up the decor a little bit, but why fix it if it isn't broken? People love it here. Our goal is to keep Sharon's Pizza up and running."

Schmitz, who grew up in Skamokawa, has been in the food industry since she was 13. About six years ago she and her husband were feeding the Road Scholars who were participating in the program at Columbia River Kayaking. All these years later, they still are. Schmitz picked up some work at one of the local B and Bs and three years ago, she and Jake started Jack and Jill Catering, working at wine tastings and different local events and parties.

"Sharon came to me and asked me if I wanted to take over the business," Schmitz said. "I used to babysit her girls, Abby and Sarah, when they were little. I couldn't pass it up. It's what Jake and I have been working for for the past five years. We had all these ideas but we knew this is what we wanted to do."

"Now we are." Schmitz is still a bit stunned and starry eyed about the whole situation.

Her husband, Jake, was a butcher for 15 years and always interested in food.

"He makes all his own sauces from scratch," Schmitz said proudly. "He roasts his own peppers. He makes incredible meat rubs. We hope to incorporate some of those here."

They will continue to deliver to the brewery on the weekends, and are considering expanding a special menu for them.

The two will still honor all gift certificates and hours will be the same.

What won't be the same?

The Buennagels. They were finishing up some last minute errands on Sunday before they flew out early Monday morning.

They had already packed nine boxes and put the rest of their stuff in storage. The airline would allow them these boxes, but each one will cost them $50.

Still, it was much better than the $7,000 it would have cost them to ship their things to Hawaii in a container.

Sharon's oldest lives in Hawaii with his wife and children and the Buennagels have been thinking about this move for a year. Three months ago, they began to take the action needed to be closer to family, to be able to watch the grandkids grow up.

Their youngest daughter, Sarah, who will start eighth grade this year has already got a school picked out. Going from approximately 30 kids in her class to 700-800 kids in her school will be an adjustment, but she looks excited. Sharon is pleased that despite the large size of the school the ratio of students to teachers is 15:1.

Sarah might also be a little excited about learning how to surf. As for Sharon and John, they are looking forward to snorkeling.

And taking time off.

"One of the ideas is to take a break from all the work," John said. "The last 10 years we've been doing nothing but working."

"Right now, it almost feels like we lost our life," Sharon added, "because the only life we had was at the shop or family. We never had time for friends."

"We'll miss being here," John said. "Couldn't find a better community to live in."

Still, it's no time for looking back. Adventure and new challenges await. Some require their immediate attention.

"It's going to be fun," John said. "We have a vacation rental for two weeks. We've got to find a house."

"And a car," Sharon said, laughing. "Though it's pretty easy to get around."

Eventually they'll start working again. After 10 years of six day work weeks, there is no rush.