Shari’s wasn’t a great restaurant, but for a lot of Oregon teens, it was still our place

I went on my first date to Shari‘s – a double date dinner before Corvallis High School’s winter formal my freshman year in 1997.

I wore a black and leopard print dress from Maurice‘s, my contacts, my mom‘s pearl necklace and makeup for maybe the first time in my life. And I was furious that after all that, my date had shown up and taken me to Shari’s…

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