Natalie Ocampo, owner of the he Blue Moon Restaurant & Lounge, just celebrated the first anniversary of managing her family’s business. World Photo by Alex Powers

COOS BAY — Natalie-Monique Ocampo hasn’t changed much about the Blue Moon Restaurant & Lounge since her parents purchased the Coos Bay business one year ago. A chalkboard here, a big screen TV there and Ocampo was set to step into her new career as manager last October.

But the 33-year-old, who was new to the area at the time, wanted to be able to offer her customers something more — and that something was entertainment.

“I try to keep something going on every night,” Ocampo said, sitting inside her dark bar earlier this week.

Ocampo recently marked her one-year anniversary as manager with a celebration. Her parents and aunt and uncle came up for the occasion.

Customers lined up for a free buffet. Her father, who is a disc jockey, contributed as part of the entertainment.

But when Ocampo moved to Coos Bay from Sac-ramento, Calif., the one thing missing was her family.

She had left her parents, “Pineapple” and Evelyn Ocampo, behind.

Luckily for Ocampo, who moved up all by herself, the former owners, Janet and Mike Gonzales, 14 employees, plus a regular crowd of customers quickly filled the void.

“I have my family here now,” Ocampo said. “It was like just going in blind. My staff is just awesome. Without them I would have been lost.”

The Blue Moon had an established 30s-to-older clientele when Ocampo arrived, and Ocampo said she wasn’t about to change what they liked. So she catered to this crowd by offering live bands that they would want to hear —  both rock ’n’roll and country.

“Right now we have five different bands rotating and I’m trying to get new bands in,” Ocampo said.

That’s not to suggest Ocampo is changing things.

This summer, she began trying to appeal to a younger crowd, too. The Blue Moon now features an open mic night from 8 p.m. to midnight on Tuesdays. She got the idea when she met Kayla Colvin, who was playing guitar at a barbecue.

“She came the next Tuesday,” Ocampo said.

Now Colvin is paid for leading open mic, and Ocampo benefits since the entertainment has attracted a 20- to 30-year-old crowd.

Performers have included guitarists, drummers, even poetry readers.

“There are so many talented people,” Ocampo said. “It’s very interactive.”

The bar also offers free billiards on Monday nights and karaoke on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

The Ocampos are just the third owners of the Blue Moon, a two-story structure along which has been around and hasn’t changed its name since 1937. A picture of the establishment with a wooden boardwalk in front of it hangs over the bar.

Ocampo said she and her parents had been eyeing it for about two years before making the decision to buy.

“My dad was looking for somewhere to retire,” Ocampo said.

“It’s a lot smaller,” she said of the Coos Bay-North Bend area. “It’s somewhere where they can enjoy themselves. That’s what I want to do, too.”

Ocampo led the way for her parents by running the restaurant. Born in San Francisco, her family relocated to the Sacramento area when she was young. Ocampo also lived in New York for about eight years, where she did some modeling jobs.

She had to work a lot of restaurant and bar jobs while she was pursuing her career. That experience is helping her now. She said she likes the Oregon Coast because she can sit out in her car and look at the beach while doing paperwork.

“We go where our lives take us,” Ocampo said. “As long as we’re smiling on the way, that’s all that matters.”