Question,  Have any of you ever been a mentor to a young apprentice meat cutter or a young meat cutter. 

Casey Miller (at right), who started out as 15-year-old "clean-up kid," now owns The Meating Place where his mentor, Steve Crossley, will work part-time.

The Meating Place, Hillsboro's old-fashioned butcher shop, opens its doors again Friday after closing 15 years ago.

"I'm one of the few people in my generation brought in the business bottom up," said Casey Miller, 33, the new owner.

Miller started at The Meating Place as a clean-up kid in 1993. The original butcher shop, off Northwest 185th Avenue and U.S. 26, opened in 1974.

The original owner, Steve Crossley, rejected a boy-faced, 14-year-old Miller the first time he applied. Crossley told him to come back in a year. And he did.

"I could tell, even as a young kid, that (Miller) was driven and had potential," said Crossley, now 66. "I'm delighted that our family tradition is continuing."

Crossley learned the craft from his father, who owned a meat market in Bay City. His brothers also went down the meat path, but his son chose a military route instead.

The Meating Place shut its doors in 1998 as Crossley decided to spend more time hunting and fishing. Without many small butcher shops hiring, Miller went to work for Safeway meat departments for 11 years.

Crossley became antsy in his retirement, as did his old customers. He brought The Meating Place back in 2004, not as a retail store but with custom cutting and wild game processing. Miller stayed in touch with his old boss, and bought the business in 2011.

View full sizeThe new owner of The Meating Place, Casey Miller, shows his modern, programmable smoker which can also "cold smoke" cheeses and filberts.
 

Almost immediately Miller wanted to revive the old butcher shop, with the same old-fashioned environment but new equipment.

"I compare Casey's smokehouse to mine being like a tank in World War I, and his being a tank in Iraq," said Crossley.

The new computerized machine, lumbering more than six feet tall, can be controlled with an iPhone. The old one had a crank.

Huge glass cases hold local beef, pork, sausages and chicken. Customers can watch through a window as the sausages are made and stuffed. Besides typical meat offerings, The Meating Place stocks raw dog food.

The meat does not travel far to the cutting board. Laney Family Farms, in Canby and Tygh Valley, expect to provide eight whole hogs and four whole cows a month.

View full sizeAfter a 15-year hiatus, a once-popular butcher shop, The Meating Place at 6495 NW Cornelius Pass Rd., reopens April 12 under new ownership.
 

Former customers have popped into the new building, across the auction house near Northwest Cornelius Pass Road and Northwest West Union Road. They can expect to see the old owner in the store again.

"I'm going to apply for a clean up position just like he did," Crossley said with a grin. "If he needs the help, I'll be here when I'm not hunting and fishing."

6495 Northwest Cornelius Pass Road, Hillsboro. 503-533-0624 http://meatingplacepdx.com