Emil and Alice Peil could “keep an eye” on the store from their house on Granite Street, but walking there was another matter. The drop-off from Granite Street to Winburn Way was (and still is) the height of a two-story building.
Peter Finkle: I enjoy finding “hidden” art throughout Ashland. One of the most dramatic and beautiful “hidden” artworks — an entire mosaic courtyard — was just completed in the summer of 2023. You will find it at The Palm, the Siskiyou Boulevard motel with an iconic palm tree sign. Here is the story of this mosaic art masterpiece.
Ashland resident Tom Giordano didn’t know until recently that his grandfather Salvatore Giordano was a world-renowned opera singer who sang in Ashland 110 years ago at the opening of a new theater on East Main Street.
Ashland has a wealth of historic stories and sites, but the stories need telling and the sites need marking. An organized process called Marking Ashland Places (MAP) began a few years ago. Thanks to years-long work by volunteers from the Historic Preservation and Public Arts committees, we now have a large sculpture in Railroad Park along with five historic markers in the Railroad District.
The oldest hotel in Ashland has just been reborn as a place “where the culture of music, art and Ashland vibes meets the relaxing rhythm of nature in the heart of the great Southern Oregon outdoors.” This quote from the newly renovated Columbia Hotel’s home page expresses much of the essence of what makes Ashland attractive to both visitors and residents.
Thirty artists, including three Ashlanders, are sharing $65,000 in grants, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 each, from the Haines & Friends Visual Arts Grant Program. The visionary Ashland artists who received grant funds for the 2023-24 cycle are Gabriel Barrera, Micah Ofstedahl and Kristy Kún.
The Ashland library will host a talk about Lithia Park’s historic Butler-Perozzi Fountain at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 410 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland.
If you haven’t seen this Halloween world on East Main Street yet, prepare to be impressed. If you’ve visited the family’s yard and trick-or-treat room in previous years, prepare for even bolder and scarier displays this year.
Channel your inner Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot or Juliet Capshaw at the first-ever Ashland Mystery Fest Oct. 20, 21 and 22. Meet and interact with 10 mystery book authors at the Ashland Library and at author pop-ups around town. Attend a Mystery Mixology event, an Hercule Poirot play, the Mystery Pub Crawl or a Haunted Ashland walking tour.
Jackson County Library Services and the Southern Oregon Historical Society will hold a presentation dedicated to taking a look at past local Independence Day celebrations from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, at the Ashland library, 410 Siskiyou Blvd.
Obituary: Amanda Louise (Butler) Pyle, 80, a longtime Rogue Valley resident and elementary school teacher, passed away Sept. 3 at Celia’s Hospice House in Medford. Teaching was not a “job” for Amanda — it was a passion. She is especially remembered for involving students in creative projects and also for giving every one of them a hug as they left her classroom at the end of each school day.
Local law enforcement agencies say they’d love nothing more than a break in the investigation into the cause of the devastating Almeda Fire of Sept. 8, 2020. Sadly, four years since the fire destroyed more than 2,500 homes and burned 3,200 acres between Ashland and Phoenix, investigators don’t know much more than they did immediately after the fire.
While the mayor’s office and one council seat failed to draw incumbent candidates, council seat positions 1, 2 and 3 and Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission seats 1 and 2 all have multiple candidates filed for the approaching election.
After five years of display and many weeks of discussion, a decision was made to take down a pride banner at Ashland Public Library, the library’s management decided on a split vote at a meeting Aug. 21, a followup to an earlier meeting on July 29.
Janai “Grandma Boom” Mestrovich: Mom collected frog memorabilia and also enjoyed drumming. It just made sense to be near the frogs when I drummed and chanted to honor her.
Herbert Rothschild: Detainees are handcuffed for days, often leading to amputations. Surgeries are performed without anesthesia. Prisoners are held in painful positions and blindfolded for long periods. They are malnourished. Punishments include beatings that have led to broken bones and teeth. There is evidence of rape.
(It’s free)