2007

How do I love thee?

Let me count the bagels

(and pastries, and kolaches!)

and espresso steam.

I love thee to the depth and breath

Of green tea.


Oh Wildfire Wildfire

You bring me up when I am down.

I give you tips, to send you from town.

I love the smile on your face

And your sometimes freaky looking, yummy cakes.


I feel so safe, loved, and warm

Each time that I walk through your door.

I don’t want to leave, I want to stay forever

But work calls, and I have to go.


To make more money.

To tip you more.


Each time that I am gone

On that big airplane

You are on my mind

And I send you postcards

Reassuring my eternal love.


You’re always there when I return

Like a dog on a front porch.

But you’re not on a front porch

It’s more like a front - storefront.


You are the best there ever is

And you have good coffee too.


It takes two to tango.


With every favorite cafe...


Comes a favorite customer.


I just know in my heart, that I brighten your every day

When its rainy outside and we are gloomy and don’t wanna play

Or playing name that tune with the music up in the sky

And pranking my coworkers, watching people walk by.


My everyday is more complete with you

When I am there, or just driving by.

Wildfire, you warm my heart

And fill the hole in my life.


That’s all I can say.


I am.


~Your favorite customer.

Trippin’ Through Time,

2009

Solomon’s Mocha Bliss



Wildfire O Wildfire

 

Once on a beach in Hawaii I Lei,

The weather is beautiful, to myself I did say.

But although the coffee is quite tasty here,

To my own taste buds is Wildfire dear.

 

Where fore art thou, O Wildfire

Your coffee most is that which I desire

 

I love all the staff, and especially Lucas,

He dost serve me warm coffee that loosens my mucous.

Mostly I bonded with the lovely maid Trish,

Mark is quite lucky to have captured such a dish.

 

Where fore art thou, O Wildfire

Your coffee most is that which I desire

 

Refreshing on the walls is beautiful art,

That I can appreciate whilst I fart.

Without my reviving Mocha Bliss

My day would be empty and amiss.

 

Where fore art thou, O Wildfire

Your coffee most is that which I desire

2008

  1.     She said she just wanted a new picture. She didn’t necessarily enter to win the contest. It’s just that, you see, Emily’s lost 40 pounds since her portrait was taken two years ago. She looks completely different than she did in 2007, and she figured the best way to change the picture was to win the contest.

  2.     Our Favorite Customer, 2007 — Emily Mitchan — returns as Favorite Customer, 2009. Now, we know what you’re thinking: “A repeat winner? Really? Is this some sort of scam?”

  3.     Trust us, we were right there with you. Repeating as Favorite Customer is no easy task. We set the bar higher for previous winners, as should be expected. We want everyone to feel they have a chance at winning. Initially, when Emily told us she was entering this year, we kind of shrugged and thought to ourselves “Okay, whatever.” And, after seeing the other entries, we figured Emily didn’t stand a chance.

  4.     This was our best contest, yet. The scope and quality of the submitted artwork surprised everyone at Wildfire Coffee Roasters. A family of five turned in their entry: an homage to Wildfire in crayon, construction paper and magic marker. Then came the doctor who sat down, then proceeded to use his coffee as a wash base for his oil on canvas painting. Oh yeah, he painted it right in front of us. Things were just getting rolling when Antione came in, big grin on his face, and debuted his multi-media presentation, Java Wars! The evil Dark Mug and his Steam Troopers were no match for Princess Latte, Luke Chaiwalker and the rest of the Wildfire Rebels.

  5.     Carol and Judy were next. Two long-time friends bound by family, sewing and coffee chimed in with a joint entry: A hand-stitched, beaded quilt patch of our logo. The piece is absolutely beautiful! Soon, we’ll have it framed and hanging in Wildfire Coffee’s “permanent collection.”

  6.     We definitely thought we had a winner. Carol and Judy had eeked ahead of Antione, and we thought that was that. Then Emily showed up.

  7.     She walked into the shop on the last day of entries, a confident grin across her face. She knew she had the winning entry. The ace in the hole. She then presented a poem, “It’s Not Just the Coffee.” It was a heartfelt expression of love for her local coffeehouse. She wrote about friendship, community and loyalty. And she ended the poem with

  8. “You will never really know ~how much you mean to me

  9. My love for you is skin deep.”

    That’s when she hiked up her left pant leg to reveal the tattoo. A real-life, bona fide, 100% real, in permanent ink, like, forever TATTOO OF THE WILDFIRE COFFEE ROASTERS LOGO!

    Was she serious? Did she really expect us to believe she went and got permanent ink of our logo? If it were anyone else, we wouldn’t have believed it.

    But, this is Emily. And we could believe it.

    Our 2009 Favorite Customer.