SEASIDE SPOTLIGHT: Our latest profile in a series focused on the behind-the-scenes movers who make Seaside the unique destination it is today. Next. Previously.

When Dawn Fujiwara-Pavlik moved to Seaside from Murrieta, Calif., in 2017, she jumped right into the community. Whether she was volunteering with local organizations or learning to crab, she quickly became known for her can-do attitude and enthusiasm for living on the Oregon Coast. She’s now the co-owner of two locations of Seaside Slushies & Dogs and a cool new maker studio with a retail space for local artists called Crafted in Seaside.

Serving Slushies and Hot Dogs on Broadway

After the COVID-19 pandemic put Fujiwara-Pavlik’s company, Bamm! Promotional Products, on hold, she transferred her creative energy into two unique Seaside businesses. Drawing from extensive food-service experience, she and her husband, Dave Pavlik, opened Seaside Slushies & Dogs takeout eatery in August 2020. This fall the couple opened a sit-down restaurant a block away.  

Besides the icy, colorful shaved-ice slushies, the window-serve takeaway spot offers a range of hot dogs with fanciful toppings like macaroni and cheese and queso, hand-dipped corn dogs, and homemade chili on Seaside’s main drag, Broadway Street. The new sit-down restaurant offers an extended menu including homemade soups. Fujiwara-Pavlik says the couple also hopes to add beer and wine, because, as she says, “beer and a hot dog is kind of iconic!”

Turning Photos Into Art at Crafted in Seaside

On Valentine’s Day 2022, Fujiwara-Pavlik opened her second business, Crafted in Seaside. The outlet features local artists who showcase their homemade goods, as well as DIY craft kits and a creative studio where visitors can create custom keepsakes. The business started with eight artists and has grown to 30 since its opening, with regular “Meet the Maker” and “Craft and Sip” events. 

“The store is so stimulating with all the shapes and colors,” Fujiwara-Pavlik says. “In the creative studio, you can design everything from T-shirts to tumblers through heat-transfer printing. You can get as creative as you want on your phone or tablet and turn your Seaside vacation photos into a keepsake.”

Class topics include a workshop where students create handmade clay mermaids that are raku-fired on the beach and sessions where participants create a scrapbook-style “junk” journal. 

Volunteering With Heart

Fujiwara-Pavlik takes great pride in the artists, staff members and fellow business owners she’s worked with in the past five years. “Seaside is one of the most close-knit communities I have ever been a part of,” she says. “We look out for each other, and the businesses are supportive and collaborative.”

When she’s not running one of her three businesses or spending time with her family, Fujiwara-Pavlik is an active volunteer for organizations such as the Seaside Chamber of Commerce, Seaside Downtown Development Association and Rotary Club. Since 2017, she’s done everything from raising money for the hanging flower baskets and lighted starfish adorning downtown Seaside to organizing a Halloween pet parade. She often rises at 6:30 a.m. to go crabbing and jokes that her dogs live a demanding lifestyle of taking five beach walks a week.

“Dawn made herself a local immediately through her volunteering and big heart,” says Kerri Lambert, executive director of the Seaside Downtown Development Association and manager of the Times Theatre & Public House. “She is so helpful and so much fun to be around. You want her on your committees. She gets it done.” 

Ruth Swenson, owner of the Hillcrest Inn, agrees. “She brings a lot of energy to our little community.”