Tuesday, April 17, 2001

By Mark Oliva, Stars and Stripes

Jason Carter / Stars and Stripes Kathi Ivascenko, part owner of The Kitchen restaurant on Oak Harbor, Wash., serves coffee.

OAK HARBOR, Wash. — The atmosphere at The Kitchen restaurant is normally so laid-back that customers refill their own coffee cups.

But nothing has been normal at the restaurant in recent days. In fact, the whole town has been bustling since news broke that the 24 crewmembers of the EP–3E plane that made an emergency landing in China would be returning to Whidbey Island. Oak Harbor is home for many of the EP-3 crewmembers and their families.

The return of the "Whidbey 24" — as the crew has been dubbed — thrust not only the crewmembers into an unexpected spotlight, but this sleepy island town as well.

The town has been dealing with the media blitz for more than two weeks, since news broke about the downed EP-3 Aries II reconnaissance plane. More than 500 members of the media descended on Oak Harbor.

"They were in here filming us," said Kathi Ivascenko, co-owner of The Kitchen, a place that displays all the trappings of small-town America. At the restaurant, lacquer Elvis clocks hang on the wall … for sale.

Avoiding (or hiding from) reporters was futile, Ivascenko said. Reporters hit all the local restaurants and shopping centers, even crowding into her tiny restaurant on the main road through town.

"They said the world was watching Whidbey Island," she said.

Reporters haunted high traffic areas, searching for stories and sources with any information about the returning crewmembers and their families.

"Right around the street from Car Quest, that’s where [reporters] hang out," said Ann-Marie Lonecker, a waitress at The Kitchen. "You avoid that part of town."

Workers at Pot Belly Deli, a local sandwich shop, have also been busy.

"A day after it happened, they (the media) were all here," said Jo Anna Drysings, cashier at the deli. "Having the reporters here is a little unnerving. We’re being noticed."

To prepare for the media crush, the town set up an information bureau at the local Red Cross building just outside the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station’s main gate. For the two weeks leading to the crew’s release Saturday, Oak Harbor’s residents became celebrities under the glare of news cameras. Many of those news crews lingered the day after the crewmembers were reunited with families.

"The island’s too small for all these people," said Dru Fowler, a sailor’s wife who also works at the Pot Belly Deli.

Located on Puget Sound, the community of 25,000 is normally a quiet locale, said Kristina Russell, clerk at the Best Western hotel, where some of the 24 crewmembers and their families were rumored to be staying.

"It’s a real nice place to live," she said, comparing Oak Harbor to TV’s Mayberry from the "Andy Griffith Show." "It’s mundane."

But not last week.

"It’s been hectic," said Russell, who was hesitant to answer questions and refused to speak about the families.

Local residents are ready for life to return to normal.

"I don’t know why anybody’s still here," Ivascenko said. "It should be over."

Russell might have best summed up residents’ anticipation for a slower pace.

"It’s something we can bear," she said. "But it’ll be nice when everyone goes home and we don’t have to work so much overtime."

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