**Barry Bruster stands near his Bruster’s Whimsy business in the middle of Main Street in downtown Toledo. Bruster is president of Toledo’s Main Street Business Association.** (Kathleen O’Connor/Lincoln Chronicle)

By KATHLEEN O’CONNOR/Lincoln Chronicle

New ideas are constantly popping up in Barry Bruster’s head – ideas for his businesses, for his family and for Toledo, his community.

Although he wasn’t born in the old Toledo Hospital, which he jokes is a requirement for being considered a “local”, he has lived in the city for three decades, plenty long enough to witness many changes. He owns several businesses in town, and along with his fellow business owners he is constantly looking for ways to draw people to this long-established coastal town.

Bruster’s early life took him across several states, starting near San Jose, Calif., where his father was a successful but very stressed building contractor. When Bruster was just eight his parents decided to make a dramatic shift, stepping away from that high pressure life to join an international Christian ministry group called Youth with a Mission. The family served with the organization for a year, but then made another major change, deciding to pursue independent ministries of their own, not sure where that decision would take them, but trusting in divine guidance.

After many enterprising, unconventional years, they chose to put down roots in Lincoln County, eventually in Toledo. Bruster’s parents live just blocks from him, and most of their business ventures have been family efforts.

Bruster spent 17 years as a Lincoln County Sheriff’s patrol deputy and after retiring five years ago has managed the family’s businesses at his office in Bruster’s Whimsy, his board game café on Main Street.

Q: What were some of the adventures your family had while pursuing an independent ministerial life?

**Barry Bruster’s mother, Sandy, painted the three large fish that decorate the walls of his board game café in downtown Toledo.** (Kathleen O’Connor/Lincoln Chronicle)

A: One that stands out are the years that we spent on a vast cattle ranch north of Amarillo, Texas. It was owned by an oil/cattle baron who had an interest in green technology, and he hired my parents to build a huge greenhouse and an “environmental” house made of caliche clay adobe, its walls two feet thick. The cowboys, cattle and horses were fascinating for me as a young teenager. One very early morning, I rode out with them, so tired I forgot to properly cinch the saddle. I nodded off and found when I woke up that I had slid halfway over the side of the horse. Within a few seconds I had fallen off completely. The cowboys had a good laugh, and probably the horse, too.

Another unforgettable year was spent in Glendale, Ore. at a shelter/refuge for runaway teenagers owned by Maranatha Farms. They were required to let their parents know where they were but then could stay as long as they liked. We remodeled the hay loft of the old barn there, and used it as our living quarters, sleeping next to hay bales.

Q: How did your parents manage your education?

A: I was homeschooled from kindergarten through grade 12, at a time when homeschooling looked quite different than it does now. My parents used Calvert Correspondence Courses, and when the packet of books and workbooks arrived at the beginning of each school year I was largely left on my own to work through them, spending each morning doing schoolwork.

When I reached high school level math, I started having a little trouble on my own, so my parents devised a unique set of hands-on manipulative tools that helped me to visualize the advanced math concepts. Before long they realized other homeschooling families might benefit as well, and they manufactured and sold those tools for a while, calling the business Cube It Math. I did spend one month of junior high school in a regular classroom during the time we lived in Texas, but that didn’t work out well. Having never had to hand in homework I didn’t know how important that was in a conventional classroom. I kept forgetting it, and each time I was paddled by the principal, something my parents found completely unacceptable. Back then, the only requirement of homeschoolers in Texas was that each child learn the U.S. Constitution.

**Barry Bruster has set up The Night of the Living Dead to play with his sons, William and Ben in his coffee and board game shop in downtown Toledo.** (Kathleen O’Connor/Lincoln Chronicle)

Q: What is Bruster’s Whimsy, and what other small businesses do you own or are you working on?

A: In 2023 I purchased a vacant three-story building on Main Street and had to decide what it should become. I started with Bruster’s Whimsy, a board game café, which is open now Saturdays and Sundays on the main floor. I have 300 board games people can check out to play. The Newport Model Train Club currently stores its magnificent trains in one half of the basement, and the trains will be set up as soon as that space is more accessible. Then we’ll finish the rest of the basement, perhaps as a cozy lounge. I also plan to remodel the upstairs as a short-term rental and add that to the two that I already have here in Toledo.

**Barry Bruster paints the game pieces for Blood and Plunder, a war game featuring pirate galleons. Game players often take the time to personalize their playing pieces.** (Kathleen O’Connor/Lincoln Chronicle)

I started the Toledo Tribune about two years ago, which is a public Facebook page. My goal is to use it as a space where Toledo folks can communicate and educate and influence one other – a place to spark change. Most posts are my own, and they are quite spontaneous.

My family and I have owned the old Midway Theatre building in Newport since the late 1990s. We lived in the building for a time when we first purchased it. After we moved to Toledo, our nonprofit organization, Ark Ministries, began using the space in a variety of ways. For about four years it served as an after-school center for high school students, and after that came ballroom dancing lessons, Art Deco District events, art exhibits, and a turn as an antique store. Then for seven years, a church rented the space from us, eventually changing its name to The Ark Bible Church because the community had long referred to the building simply as “The Ark.” It is now once again being used by Ark Ministries.

Most recently, I acquired another building on Main Street, along with the business on the first floor – Posh and Polish Hair/Nail Salon. The salon is a cornerstone for this community – it’s the only one in town and the hairdressers and nail techs visit with dozens of our neighbors every month.

Q: Toledo has faced significant economic blows in the last several years. How is the town facing these challenges?

A: Toledo has made tremendous progress drawing people in during the summer and fall months with regular weekend events.

**If one of his players orders Turkish coffee, Barry Bruster can serve it from a Turkish coffee set, making the experience as genuine as possible.** (Kathleen O’Connor/Lincoln Chronicle)

The most well-known, of course, is the Summer Festival and Logging Show, but there are several others, and there is a weekly farm/craft market at the waterfront. Winter remains the tougher season. Which comes first for Main Street – the businesses or the customers? It’s the classic “chicken-egg” question. As the president of the Main Street Business Association and a member of the Chamber of Commerce I spend a great deal of time talking with people who have ideas about how Toledo should move forward. We are a one-of-a-kind community and we want its future to reflect what the community itself wants — we’re trying to draw that vision out.

Q: How has your family maintained such a close relationship over time?

A: My parents and I embraced the extended family culture long ago, believing that we are a unit whose strength depends on all of us supporting one another. My wife, Ginger, came from a family equally committed to one another, so together all of us are stronger.

Tell us a secret.

Bruster’s Whimsy is actually still a secret. We haven’t had a grand opening yet – just a soft opening. I’m waiting for the right moment to open officially, in a big way.