“What happens in the past leads to what the present is and directs what the future will be.” So said Tom Giordano as he received a distinguished service award from the Ashland Historic Preservation Advisory Committee at the appropriately historic Butler Bandshell in equally historic Lithia Park on Wednesday, May 17.
A new bilingual book and photo exhibit focused on Talent residents’ experiences during the Almeda fire will be unveiled at an open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the Talent Historical Society Museum, 105 N. Market St., Talent.
The Talent Tomato was born 65 years ago, and the Talent Historical Society is throwing a party to celebrate the anniversary and the man who helped make it possible. The Talent Museum, 105 N. Market St., will host David James and his band — The James Consortium — at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 28, for an evening of music and memories.
Grants Pass’ Daily Courier, Josephine County’s daily newspaper, will release more than 60 years of the publication’s archives for digitization at the Oregon Digital Newspaper Program.
Built in 1909 by railroad workers and dedicated in 1910, Ashland Elks Lodge No. 944, 255 E. Main St., has a booming membership of 892.
Al Willstatter, an Ashland World War II veteran who helped liberate Jews from concentration camps and later served as an Ashland City Councilor, died on Nov. 3, just more than a week shy of Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11. He was 97.
The block on North Main Street between Laurel and Manzanita streets has been associated with education in Ashland for 150 years, since the Rev. Skidmore first started a college called “The Academy” in 1872. Briscoe Elementary was dedicated in 1949 and closed in 2004. The school is now owned by the city and leased to the Oregon Child Development Coalition.
Ashland City Band, Part 3: The band’s history since 1876! Including why the City Band is different from other bands, how it can rehearse as little as it does, and a reminder to see them play free in the park on Thursday evenings through Aug. 11.
Ashland’s oldest hotel is once again open for business. Ashland has two historic hotel buildings, the Peerless Hotel, built in 1900, and Ashland Springs Hotel, built in 1925. The Peerless, at 243 Fourth street in the Railroad District, was closed for three months for renovations by its newest owner, Shawn Donnille.
Originally called “Ashland Mills,” Ashland was founded around Abel Helman’s water-powered sawmill on Ashland Creek, later transformed into a flour mill. The Ashland Woolen Mill, on Helman Street, was one of the city’s major employers in the 19th century. As late as the 1950s, Ashland still boasted half a dozen lumber mills.
Obituary: Proud mom and devoted wife, Mary Louise “Mary Lou” Viola Carlson, 93, passed away in hospice Jan. 19 in Medford. A celebration of life will be held this spring when the flowers are blooming and the birds are singing.
Because the list of Ashland’s accomplishments in 2024 would be too long to read out loud, she would have to stick to the highlights, Mayor Tonya Graham said Wednesday, starting off her annual State of the City address in a packed Rogue River Room in Stevenson Union at Southern Oregon University.
Review: “Spotlight on the Judds,” starring Livia Genise as Naomi, Rebecca K. Campbell as Wynonna and Janina Brown as singer and narrator, is playing at the Camelot Theatre through Feb. 9. Rebecca K. Campbell as Wynonna performs with such confidence. She possesses a strong, muscular voice that you can feel right down to the tips of your toes.
A 76-year-old man died after colliding with a tree at Mt. Ashland Ski Area on Friday morning, according to a ski area news release. The helmeted skier, whose name was not released, was on Windsor Chairline, a trail categorized as “most difficult,” the release said.
People in Southern Oregon and far Northern California will likely see ongoing changes in weather patterns in coming years, and those changes aren’t necessarily positive. During a Wednesday evening presentation, “Southern Oregon Climate Trends, Projections, and Consequences,” Dr. Alan Journet, co-facilitator of Southern Oregon Climate Action Now (SOCAN), offered a series of possible scenarios if steps are not taken to immediately stop or at least slow climate change.
As part of an ongoing commitment to addressing homelessness in Jackson County, individuals are invited to volunteer for the annual “Point in Time” (PIT) Count, which will take place throughout the last week of January, beginning Monday, Jan. 27.
(It’s free)
