Throwback to a McMenamins newsletter article in the December 2007/January-February 2008 issue With the flurry of excitement about this weekend’s wintery weather forecast, we thought it was time to take stock of our many fireplaces, and in doing so, we stumbled across an old article! Much of what was written in this 2007-8 piece still…
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When McMenamins Edgefield first opened in 1991, a marching band of bagpipers in kilts played “Amazing Grace” to herald a new era for the former Multnomah County Poor Farm. This pomp and circumstance was an echo of the past, reminiscent of the military band drills that high school cadets practiced at the Bealey Military Academy,…
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Under the reddish glow of a neon ceiling at the Barley Mill Pub back in 1984, Mike McMenamin penned the first installment of the story “The Adventures of Captain Neon.” No stranger to the glorious subtleties of illumination, inspiration struck when Mike considered the pulsing glow of a newly filled neon tube. In a classic…
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SPEAKERS Mike McMenamin, Shannon McMenamin, Thursday Jane, Brian McMenamin, Patrick McNurney Shannon McMenamin 00:00 Hi, I’m Shannon McMenamin, host of The Red Shed Tapes and part of the leadership team running our family owned company. Growing up, my dad always drove a van; my brothers and I spent a lot of time rolling around in…
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I’m Shannon McMenamin, host of The Red Shed Tapes. Growing up, my dad always drove a van; my brothers and I spent a lot of time rolling around in the back of those vans. In the center between the bucket seats, he always had a cassette holder full of bootlegs of Grateful Dead shows. They…
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Music can be a key into another place and time. For No-No Boy, songs contain clues to follow, like a sonic time capsule. Portland-based singer, songwriter, and scholar Julian Saporiti is the mind and heart behind No-No Boy. This music-meets-history project is the manifestation of Julian’s doctorate dissertation at Brown University, from where he holds…
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Hal was always running around like crazy, with a big, warm greeting for everybody. You could hear him from across the restaurant. It wasn’t just that his voice carried throughout the place. You felt him buzzing around! Hal Finkelstein couldn’t make an enemy, even if he tried. Earnest and genuine with a mischievous twinkle in…
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Resonance from the Festival – March 2001 Before the light of the McMenamins Blue Moon illuminated the intersection of NW 21st and Glisan, and even before the commercial building was constructed there in the 1910s, there stood proudly the home of Andrew and Sarah Johnston, later the House of Wisdom. Records have revealed a surprising,…
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The very first McMenamins UFO Festival took place on May 11th, 2000 at Hotel Oregon in McMinnville, Oregon. Ufologist Dr. Bruce Maccabee, the expert on the Trent case, was invited as a guest speaker and presented on the famous UFO sighting by Paul and Evelyn Trent in 1950, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of…
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Like moths to a flame, the lights of the Hippodrome were irresistible to the people of Bend, Oregon, over a century ago. This painting by Jenny Joyce sets the lively scene, displayed at McMenamins Old St. Francis School. The original definition of “hippodrome” is an arena for horse chariot racing in ancient Greece. Over the…
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