Nathan Macinata and Mike Healy
are two disabled Vietnam vets who "met over a freezer."
They now share a residence in a Highway 101-frontage Rockaway
Beach property that has formerly been a hotel and a pizza parlor,
as well as the offices of the Rockaway Beach Chamber of Commerce.
Just last August, the two turned the front 350 square feet of
the building into The Reading Room.
Nathan is originally from Las Vegas, Nevada and he moved here
in 1977 to be near his sister, who lives in Tillamook County.
His prior experience was to run a donut shop for eight years in
Las Vegas. "Each day we were putting over $1,200 worth of
donuts on the street," he said. He had never been involved
with computers before March of this year.
Mike, on the other hand, is from Denver, Colorado. He minored
in computers in college and has worked on leading edge technology
at Intel, on 3rd generation mainframes, and for a while, making
kidney dialysis machines. Though Mike calls himself "the
silent partner," he seems less than silent. He is active
in the daily operations of the business and develops Web pages
for a church, area businesses and tsunami awareness.
The Reading Room offers incoming and outgoing faxes in color and
black and white; color and black and white photocopying; and Internet
access. When they first opened The Reading Room, on August 2,
1999, they had one computer. Now they have four computers and
four printers networked together, with computer games, graphic
design and business applications software. They offer scanning,
photo enhancement (complete with 11 x 17 photo printout capability),
and word processing, Quick Books, flight simulators and grand
prix racing (complete with steering wheel and foot pedal), war
and adventure games, role playing games, and Website development.
They have printed media of all kinds from USA Today to Reader's
Digest and a wealth of other newspapers and magazines. They offer
package delivery services by Federal Express, UPS and Airborne.
You may access the computers on an hourly basis or purchase a
monthly pass. The passes cost $65 per month, or $40 for kids.
On Saturday, November 13 they will be having an open house to
showcase their newest computer, an Athlon, which they say rivals
the Pentium III. The open house will be held from 10am until noon,
and be hosted by The Reading Room, Our Place Seafood~Steakhouse
of Rockaway Beach, Bayfront Bakery & Deli of Garibaldi and
Computer Savior of Tillamook. KTIL/KMBD will be doing a live broadcast
during the open house and prizes and numerous raffles will be
available.
The following day, Sunday, November 14, Reading Room staffer AnJerie
will host "Kid Time," from 1 to 3pm. Children ages four
to 12 are urged to drop by for interaction with the computer.
There will be story time and art work with some of The Reading
Room's new software available from Crayola and DK Multimedia.
Future plans include expansion into blueprint plotting, full laser
color printing, mailboxes, and offering the services of a Notary
Public.
The Reading Room got its start with help from the Small Business
Development Center of Tillamook Bay Community College and a $6,500
grant from the State Economic and Community Development Council.
LCB
The Reading Room, Cyber Cafe
Owners: Nathan Macinata & Mike Healy
Address: 480 Highway 101 South
P. O. Box 137
Rockaway Beach, Oregon 97136
Telephone: 503/355-3832
Fax: 503/355-8604
E-mail: the_rrm@excite.com
Website:
www.oregoncoast.com/thereadingroom
NEW Hours: 9a - 7p - M - F,
8a - 6p Saturday, 10a - 5p Sunday
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