LOSTINE — The Blue Banana — the Lostine coffee shop and landmark notable for eclectic touches such as the back of a Volkswagen Beetle that appears to have crashed into the building — celebrated its 20th anniversary Saturday by throwing a party.

Despite a blizzard, patrons jammed into the business to mark the occasion with favorite coffee drinks and celebratory hot dogs and snacks.

Kasha Tippet, who works at The Blue Banana with her mother, Loretta Wallace, said it’s been a family business from the start.

Loretta Wallace and her late husband, Jerry, were entrepreneurs who traveled for work, selling wood chimes that they made, Tippet said. But as Jerry’s health declined, he couldn’t travel as much — and so the Wallaces started looking for another business, one that would allow them to stay in the community and raise their three children.

“My parents were always entrepreneurs,” Tippet said, and they brainstormed about opening a coffee shop. Loretta bought a book about how to make coffee drinks. They found a location for The Blue Banana — it previously was a stage stop, Tippet said, and later a storage shed — and they opened for business, “with very little knowledge other than loving people.”

Tippet said Jerry Wallace was the creative mind behind some of the touches that make The Blue Banana distinctive, such as the Beetle embedded in the side of the building. (You can sit in the Beetle’s back end to enjoy your drinks.)

“My dad was like an old hippie and had a creative, wild brain. … He wanted to have eccentric touches like that to draw people in, and it definitely did. And still does.”

Meanwhile, Loretta turned out to be a great fit behind the counter, Tippet said.

“My mom really loves the community and she loves her customers. She’s always happy. I’ve never seen her crabby out there with even a single person.”

The Blue Banana remains a family business: Tippet’s siblings, Aaron Wallace and Breanna Cooper, still are involved, Wallace with maintenance duties and Cooper when she’s in town. Tippet’s children also lend a hand.

The community spirit that launched The Blue Banana in 2003 still infuses the business, Tippet said, adding she thinks that’s a major reason why it’s thrived.

“It’s been like this special little sacred spot for people,” she said. “It’s just like this little safe place where it doesn’t matter where you stand politically … It all stays outside and everybody comes in. It’s like the melting pot of the county. I think it’s really awesome.”