PORTLAND, Ore. — In Southeast Portland, you'll find Lane and Andrew Weatherly's "sure thing" — a father-son business venture they launched in 2018 that manufactures beer coasters.
"Portland being the brewery capitol of the United States, I figured this was the best spot to put it," said Andrew Weatherly.
"We thought it would be a good recession-proof business," added Andrew's father, Lane Weatherly.
But global pandemic-proof? Not so much.
"It started to grow and was doing really well and then the pandemic happened," Lane said. "All of the bars and restaurants shut down and our sales almost went to zero just right off the bat."
The Weatherlys looked for a way to survive and found their missing piece — a whole bunch of pieces they cut from artwork and turned into puzzles.
"You just keep moving and you keep shaking and try to find your way, you know?" Lane said.
The Weatherlys launched the Portland Puzzle Company and once again began building a successful business. They manufacture custom jigsaw puzzles, both single print and wholesale.
"We work with a lot of local artists and photographers and turn their artwork into puzzles," Andrew said.
In some ways, the Weatherlys see the business as a different kind of sure thing since the pandemic increased the popularity of jigsaw puzzles. The pandemic is over now, and for the Weatherlys, the real fun is just beginning.
"We start at 6:30," they said, looking down at their watches.
Right on schedule, the doors open on a recent Wednesday night and droves of giddy people file into the building, excited for what may be Portland's next big thing: Speed Puzzling.
Among the crowd is Erin O'Shea. It's her first time joining in for Wednesday night speed puzzling at the Portland Puzzle Company. She said her friends are speed-puzzling regulars and talked her into it.
"It's this fun, relaxing, easygoing thing to do with the edge of speeeeed and competition," said O’Shea with a laugh.
The Weatherlys started hosting speed-puzzling nights last fall. Each week attendance has grown. On this night, 23 teams of about four people each are signed up.
"It's crazy!" Lane said, laughing, as he checked in participants.
Each team pays $30 to play and they all get the same puzzle. First prize for the winning team is $100. There is no prize for best team name, but there should be.
"Where’s Separation Anxiety?" calls out Lane as the crowd cheers.
"How about, The Jig is Up?"
Rose Robbins and her mom Leah are part of Queens of Pieces. They've won a couple of times.
"There's so many people who are incredibly fast," Rose said.
"It feels very Portland; it's very organic," added Leah. "We've been here since October, and we've seen it grow."
A giant clock counts down to zero, followed by a loud beep giving players permission to dump out their puzzle and get to work in a frenzy.
"It's like twister!" observed Lane. "Everybody's trying to work on top of each other and through each other!"
Queens of Pieces is off to good start and so is team BLEM.
"The name is our initials," explain Beatrice, Larrissa, Erin and Mary.
"BLEM, that's the team to beat," said Rose and Leah, without looking away from their puzzle.
About 38 minutes in, the winners emerge and BLEM takes first place.
"Oh my gosh, come on! Keep going!" yell Queens of Pieces before finishing their puzzle just 12 seconds later.
"Done!" they yell, standing up with excitement.
Unlike a jigsaw puzzle, life, as we know, doesn't always come with reference art to guide us through challenges. But it might look pretty good after some time and gained perspective. The Weatherlys think about that as they step back and observe the business they never planned on, and the pandemic that cornered them into it.
"Everybody says, 'Well, that's just a piece of the puzzle,'" reflected Lane. "It's strange that that was four years ago."
This story is part of our series, Pacific Storyland. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, we'll bring you the most heartwarming and inspiring stories from where you live. Know someone you'd like to see featured? Let us know! Email us at PacificStoryland@KGW.com or text your story ideas to 503-226-5088.