Hermiston born and bred, left to right: Bob Mullay, owner of Hermiston Drug Store; Natalie Adams, pharmacist; Melody Jemmett, pharmacy tech; and Jenny Jeppeson, pharmacy tech. All were born and raised in Hermiston except for Mullay. He moved to Hermiston at the age of 2 and has lived here since.

Although the town of Hermiston continues to grow by leaps and bounds, one spot retains its small town, ?everybody-knows-your-name’ atmosphere Hermiston Drug Store.

The drug store is owned by Hermiston native Bob Mullay and every person who works with him in the pharmaceutical department of the Main Street store was born and raised in Hermiston.

Mullay, who bought the business in 2000 from his uncles, Jack Sobotta and Jerry Sobotta, says the employees are family oriented.

“They have strong family ties with family in the area,” Mullay said.

Mullay began working for his uncles in the drug store as a pharmacist straight out of Oregon State University’s College of Pharmacy in 1980.

“Basically, they kept the job waiting for me while I graduated,” he said.

Mullay filled prescriptions for the store’s customers for 20 years before he bought the business.

“I know my customers, they know who I am,” he said. “It’s a small-town feeling. It’s always been that way.”

Pharmacists Natalie Adams and Katherine Murphy, and pharmacy technicians Jenny Jeppeson and Melody Jemmett see the store as a friendly place.

Jenny Follett Jeppeson, an Oregon State Certified pharmacy tech, earned a medical administration degree from Blue Mountain Community College.

“I thought about working in a doctor’s office, but Bob offered me the position right out of school,” Jeppeson said. “They never had a tech before. I was the first.”

Jeppeson is married to Mike Jeppeson and has one daughter, Mikayla, 3.

She has worked at Hermiston Drug Store for 14 years.

“We’re all family. This is our second family we’ve all been here so long,” Jeppeson said.

Among the fringe benefits of working there are the customers, says Jeppeson.

“We know their names, we know their families,” Jeppeson said. “It’s fun.”

When Melody Jemmett graduated from Hermiston High School, she was invited by Mullay to become a pharmacy tech.

She jumped at the chance and hasn’t regretted a minute of her time at Hermiston Drug Store.

“It sounded like a cool place to work. We know our customers, they’re not just another person,” said Jemmett. “We try to make everybody feel welcome when they come in. And, there are a lot of nice people working here.”

Born in the ?old’ Good Shepherd Hospital on Orchard Avenue, pharmacist Natalie Adams attended West Park Elementary, Hermiston High School, then went to Eastern Oregon University as a pre-pharmacy student.

Adams then graduated from Oregon State University’s College of Pharmacy.

Before she returned to her home town of Hermiston, Adams worked in a couple of other pharmacy stores around the state.

Eight years ago she came home.

“I wanted to be closer to family,” Adams said.

She wanted her boys, Andrew, 15, and Eric, 12, to be closer to her parents, Charles and Andrea Stine.

Adams has fond memories of Hermiston Drug Store from her childhood days.

“I remember the store from when I was little,” she said. “When we were children, our neighbor would always give us gift certificates to the store. They had a music department then. We looked forward every year to buying records and cassettes tapes. We could listen to them with head phones.”

Adams started working with Mullay in 1997.

“I like an independent pharmacy. I don’t like working in chain stores,” she said. “I love the flexibility of this place. It’s so much easier when you have a family. We work around each others schedule. Bob is good about that. That’s the most important thing for me. And the people are great to work for.”

A definite old fashioned feature is Mullay’s soda fountain.

“We give customers a wooden nickel for a free drink while they wait for their prescriptions,” he said.

Bob Mullay also offers greeting cards, gift items, health and beauty aids, jewelry and many other items for the convenience of customer shopping.