Coffee store opens with a grand donation

Tully’s CEO Tom O’Keefe ushered in the opening of his 86^th store by throwing a party for over 100 invited guests and by donating $50,000 to the Bill Janss Community Center.

A lavish spread of pasta, cheese, bread, fruit, wine and champagne lured guests from the coffee bar, but nothing stole the attention of the crowd as much as O’Keefe’s presentation of the check to the Community Center.

Glenn Janss, wife of the late Bill Janss, former owner of the Sun Valley Company, accepted the check on behalf of the Community Center.

The Community Center will be a non-profit, multi-use facility with recreational, educational, athletic and cultural uses. It will include spaces for an Olympic ice skating rink, the Lee Pesky Center for learning enrichment, arts and crafts, strength training, children’s arts and science exploratorium, climbing, meeting rooms, and a gymnasium.

"Kids’ programs are a big thing for me personally," O’Keefe said when asked how he became interested in the Janss Community Center.

An avid fly fisher, O’Keefe said he has been a regular visitor to the Wood River Valley for 25 years and, for part of that time, leased the Janss house in Ketchum.

"The house had the Janss aura," O’Keefe said. "It was exciting to be able to experience some of their life that way."

O’Keefe called Bill Janss a "great symbolic figure" and an image for younger generations to esteem.

"I also like to be the instigator that gets people to open up their wallets for giving," O’Keefe said. "And there are a lot of big wallets here."

Tully’s is a sponsor of the First Annual Bill Janss Community Center Golf Tournament, which will be held August 9 at the Valley Club to raise money for the Community Center.

"Tully’s Coffee has an outstanding reputation for impacting and improving the communities in which they do business, especially in programs where children are involved," said Anita McCann of the Bill Janss Community Center. "Our partnership with Tully’s is an ideal continuation of that kind of involvement."

Guests of the grand opening at Tully’s on Friday night walked away with a complementary pound of coffee and a Tully’s coffee mug.

One of those guests, Ketchum Mayor Guy Coles, seemed delighted with the opening.

"This is very nice," Coles said. "What a wonderful way for a business to start out."

When asked if he would be buying his daily cup of coffee from Tully’s, the mayor said, "I’d better."