Coastal County Life Stories: Yanak Family

When the Coastal Auburn, Washington store first opened, Lesley Yanak was thrilled. She knew her family would find everything they needed for their small farm. But what they also found were folks eager to help, even after the Yanaks moved to another state.

“We lived less than five miles away from Coastal for years,” Lesley said when asked about her first experience with Coastal. “We had a seven-acre farm near the Auburn store. At that time, we had horses, mini donkeys, goats, and chickens. We went there twice a month or more.”

While the Yanak family would miss their family and friends in the Seattle area, new opportunities opened up in Idaho. The family and their animals would be moving far from the Auburn store. Lesley planned to take the horses and other animals with her but hoped to find a new home for her chickens.

“Over the years, I had gotten to know the store manager. He found out we were moving and helped us find homes for our chickens and a rooster.”

In the end, a Coastal employee took in the flock — all 16 of them. Kevin took the rooster home to his brood.

“He and one of his co-workers adopted all the chickens,” she added thinking back on that day when she, Kevin and several others worked for a while attempting to catch and box all of the hens. “I didn’t want to see them all go to the butcher. I was very thankful. Coastal lead employees are part of the greater farming community. They connect people,” Lesley added.

But that wouldn’t be the last time Keven came through for her. Not more than a year later, Lesley was flying back home out of Seattle. The Yanak family was running low on a special grain for their horses. They couldn’t find it anywhere near where they lived, but Coastal always seemed to have it in stock.

“I happened to have a long layover in Seattle,” Lesley added to the story. “ I called Kevin at the Auburn store and asked if he had the grain in stock. He put it in a box for me and packaged it up so that I could send it home as luggage on Alaska Airlines.”
The plan worked out great. Kevin had the box ready to go when Lesley arrived at the store.

“Kevin is great. And so is Coastal.”

Thank you to Lesley with Yanak & Associates, a senior living consulting company, for that country life story.

Share Your Coastal Country Life Story


Do you have a personal Coastal story to share? Email us at contact@coastalcountry.com.