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So, we have been kicking around a few internal discussions here at LocalsGuide specifically about editorial content and so I wanted to bring some voice to this. I think you can still see that LG is in it's infancy but is sitting on a huge potential to really move forward when we begin to have more active engagement. One issue which we have observed in regards to content submission is that people are very self focused with their attention, such as: If I write a story will you print it sort of thing. PLEASE spare us.. we are much more interested in our audiance than the cingularity of your business and the point of LocalsGuide is not to say something if you get printed, its to say something because you can. So do something intersting, do something great.. take us on a journey of what it's like to see the world thru your eyes.. but then get out of the way enough so we can see it. It's not you that we want to see it's what you see and how you see it that is of interest to us. Ok that is my rant for today! Thanks for your Attention.
Mini Profile from the Downtowne Coffee House in Talent, Oregon John & Julia Lucier
Born and raised in Ashland / Talent Area
Julia has family roots with the Zemke's which have a road named after themselves in Talent. The Zemkes homesteaded up there and some still live there to this day. Julia's family homesteaded in 1912 originally moved from Germany to Redmond to the Valley.
John's Family moved to the valley in the 40's his great grandfather originally from Quebec traveled down through Montana and settled in the Applegate where he met his wife. Then they moved to Talent in 1940. worked at a school up on Wagner Creek Road. Both he and his father went to school in Talent Oregon. Even to this day a large sign on an old building can be seen in Talent which reads Ed's Mechanic Shop. This was originally his grandfathers shop.
We've added a new feature to the site. If you scroll over the links a snapshot of the site should pop up:
Yahoo.com
Google.com
So add some external links to your blogs if needed to get a snapshot automatically.
 When you think of going to the Ashland Bi-Mart you almost certainly will think of Irene McBride. She has been working there as a cashier for the past 14 years and has developed a reputation which far exceeds herself.
When we were doing our interview adoring customer fans kept jumping in to share their own remarks of praise and admiration. One of Irene's customers even sings her a song every time he leaves "Good Night Irene".
My own curley haired son tries to duck and run by as Irene reaches out to say hi. Irene reaches out all 200 - 250 customers who pass thru her line daily. Checking into to say hi and making sure they found what they needed.
Stories and lives are woven together piece by piece, each concluding or continuing from where the left off from before. Irene has watched children become parents who's own children now come thru her register line.
Irene is not short for celebrity attention, she was joking that she might need dark sunglasses to go out now,and after our interview started I was actually thinking that I could have just interviewed the customers as they passed thru the line.
All 250 of them probably would have probably had something to say.
She has won multiple awards of recognition for here hard work. In 14 years she has never been late or missed a day of work.
So what's the trick you might be wondering? Irene told it to me this way and it just seems to make sense, "I meet somebody like I've known them all my life".
It works and the customers respond.
Irene even has her own daily special. "Irene's Deal of the Day" even when she is out buying goceries people ask her what the special is.
One Ashland Restaurant owner has a special Drinking Cup which she purchased from Irene. Supposedly it's not a favored item until it is disclosed that the cup had it's origins from Irene's Special.
It makes all the difference!
This year Irene will turn 62 on Sept 11th. She will be in Reno with her husband so make sure to drop in early with your birthday wishes!
For those of you who haven't met Irene it's worth the trip. Ask her what she has been reading recently or any trips she she has gone on this year.  
 chump change n. Slang A small amount of money. If you think nobody buys candy from those candy machines in the mall, think again. This is not some kinda chump change business. American's love Sugar and expecially in the Rogue Valley where the Gumball Gourmet machines roll out between 20,000 - 40,000 pieces per month!! Check this out below! 2005 Confectionery Statistics
(sales for the 52 weeks ending December 26, 2004) Product Category Sales Chocolate Candy Nonseasonal $3,145,211,420 Chocolate Candy Seasonal $1,099,966,633 Nonchocolate Candy Nonseasonal $2,052,467,148 Nonchocolate Candy Seasonal $349,222,465 Fruit Snacks $555,481,728 Marshmallows $127,115,128 Cough Drops/Squares $252,748,576 Ready to Eat Popcorn/Caramel Corn $183,895,600 Snack Bars (includes breakfast/cereal bars, granola bars, nutritional health bars and all other snack bars) $1,816,073,422 Gum (regular and sugarfree/sugarless gum) $1,008,465,248 Source: The Manufacturing Confectioner, April 2005, p.28
data provided by Information Resources Inc. from grocery, chain stores and mass merchandisers (exluding Wal-Mart) (sales for the 52 weeks ending October 2, 2005) All Chocolate Candy $3,347,921,740 All Nonchocolate Candy $1,945,153,030 Fruit Snacks $535,904,500 Marshmallows $130,508,200 Cough Drops/Squares $392,595,100 Ready-to-eat Popcorn/Caramel Corn $188,646,300 Portable Oral Care $16,565,470 Total Snack Bars (breakfast/cereal bars, granola bars, nutritional health bars, rice snack bars, and other snack bars) $1,806,941,630 All Gum (regular and sugarfree/sugarless gum) $1,044,724,400 Source: The Manufacturing Confectioner, January 2006, p.15
data provided by Information Resources Inc. from grocery, chain stores and mass merchandisers (exluding Wal-Mart)     
 The other day I was at the Ashland Dutch Bros grabbing a Chai when in conversation with Nick (The Barista) I learned that Dutch Bros. of Southern Oregon had its own Limousine. This had to be an interesting story… So I set out to find out why.
Dutch Bros started as little coffee stand in Grants Pass, Oregon --- years ago. It was started by two brothers who claim to have some degree of Dutch ancestry, though we are not sure if this has ever been officially confirmed, the name stuck however and the business the business began to grow.
Essentially the company has done a really good job mixing fun and good coffee with fast and friendly service. Making fun and having a positive attitude not only a priority but have become a way of life.
Ty Sullivan, owner of the 19 Southern Oregon locations, calls the energy that the business puts out: “DUTCH LOVE.”
Probably most easily described as an experience of driving up to any Dutch Stand at any hour and being greeted with a positive friendly engagement. When you mix this with good coffee, and prompt service It sends you away with a smile.
In an effort to spread the Dutch Love and build the brand identity the company has made stickers, launched it’s own clothing line and teamed up to support all sorts of community events and fundraisers.
Not to mention starting the Dutch Mafia?
You might have you noticed a white van with black tinted windows driving around labeled Dutch Mafia?
Don’t be alarmed, this is just the Dutch Bros delivery van and it’s all a joke!
Think about it, they could have just had a boring white van, but instead, they did something interesting and it has attracted some major attention!
Dutch Bros is growing fast! Currently, with 97 locations, a new location is opening every week. Dutch Bros is not just another company making money though. It’s a launching pad for opportunity and change.
Employees have an opportunity to move up the ranks with the possibility of becoming a franchisee, and get to meet and connect with positive people on a daily basis.
Employees are jazzed and the Dutch Love is spreading.
Take for example Mikey (The Dutch Maintenance Man) he claims to have beaten his alarm clock for the past ten years because he is so excited to go to work.
John Jewell ( A Barista in Central Point) drew a picture as a joke to prove to another employee that he could actually draw, and now it’s in corporate headquarters getting made into a t-shirt.
Even the Sticker Guy in Medford has been helping spread the Dutch Love by making the companies 500,000 or so stickers a year.
This is not about luck. It’s a story about a group of hard-working people who have committed to each other and promised to have fun, provide friendly customer service with a good product.
It’s also about the Southern Oregon community who has financially supported this business to grow and creatively express itself.
So why does Dutch Bros have a limo?
Here’s the answer:
Ty said this three times so I want to make sure to quote him correctly.
“Our employees work their tails off, and we wanted to get something for them as a benefit. We wanted something that nobody had. We bounced some ideas around, and then Mikey recommended that we get a Limo. Two weeks later I called him up and we got a limousine in Portland.
“We then offer this to the employees as a fringe benefit that they can use for birthdays, weddings, special events, prom, etc.”
Now this is Cool, and a reminder that it’s the people that count and you need to take care of them!
So, I ad this as an aside to everyone in Southern Oregon:
Dutch Bros is setting a great model for how business can create positive engagement and do something interesting. This company deserves a big round of applause (and some big tips for all the Baristas).
Remember, it’s your money which has helped spread the Dutch Love and in my opinion this is a good thing. Wouldn’t you like to see a few more Dutch Mobiles cruising around?
You just have to notice!
                 Dutch Creed To be so strong that nothing can
disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.
To think only the best, to work only for the
best, and expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success
of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press
on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of
yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger,
too strong for fear and too happy to
permit the presence of trouble.
As a photojournalist for the Daily Mirror of London for 22 years, the Scottish-born Maitland captured the images of European history in the making. Some snapshots:
+ Maitland covered the Queen¹s cousin, Princess Alexandria, during her trip to the Far East in the early l960s. It was the first time a member of the Royal family had been there since the l890s.
+ In Belgium, he covered the trial of a distraught family accused of murdering their deformed child, a Thalidomide baby. Maitland snapped a photo of the accused covering their eyes in the courtroom, as a Swiss doctor showed pictures of young Thalidomide victims on a large screen. Maitland's shot was picked up by the French newspapers.That was a very emotional trial, Maitland said, and created controversy world-wide. Many in the world said that the mother had had every right to kill her monster child.
+ Maitland was assigned to former Prime Minister Winston Chuchill's funeral. Perched on a window ledge in the famous Lyons Coffee House overlooking the Strand, he waited for the procession to make its way from Trafalgar Square. Accross the street, a large photo of Chuchill's head hung in a store window just above the packed curbside-crowd. He took his shot as the casket passed in front of Churchill¹s picture. You could just see his head peering over the crowd, said Maitland, and it was just as if he was watching his own funeral.
+ Maitland toured the set during the filming of the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night. His relationship with Beatles publicist eventually turned into a friendship with fallen Beatle John Lennon. Maitland retained the rights to two of his pictures of Lennon. In one black and white photo from l974, a barefoot Lennon lounges yoga-like an his L.A. sofa. It was a month after Yoko Ono had thrown Lennon out, and a day after he made world headlines by being drunk and making a scene in a Hollywood club. He was ejected on to the sidewalk and the paparazzi sent his picture world - wide.
That next day, John was very humble and had given no access to any media except myself. This was his bottom - out and probably his spiritual awakening, relates Maitland. He got sober and not long after reunited with Yoko, back in New York. Yoko liked the picture herself and included it in her movie-bio of John entitled Imagine. Maitland received screen credit at the time. Maitland had an epiphany after a visit with his wife Lucie to his native Scotland. He returned with a desire to paint. He picked up a brush and started painting the highlands of Scotland on the closest thing
he could find to a canvas - 3-by-5-foot chunk of plasterboard. I thought, well, this is insane, this is crazy, painting on drywall said Lucie. Lo and Behold, there was this beautiful painting. The only problem was, we could hardly lift it, let alone hang it!
The couple moved to Ashland, Oregon where every week-end Maitland's art and photography can be seen at the Lithia Artisans Market. 
If you ever go to the Pheonix Shell station make sure you have an opportunity to meet Mr. Spin. After you tank up on $20 or more of gas you get to spin the "Wheel of Fortune". Today we won a free soda. The most favored prize is the $5 free car was coupon. Cool idea!
Urban Legend
a story that appears mysteriously and spreads spontaneously in various forms and is usually false; contains elements of humor or horror and is popularly believed to be true
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn 
Tom informed me that he once started an urban legend when he told a college newspaper reporter that his house had a trap door under the kitchen stove and that someone had been locked down in it and D*I*E*D...
ouch.. the media I tell you...  
After reading Jamie's blog and hearing the name mentioned a few times, I decided to swing by and check things out for myself at Liquid Assets. I'm not familiar with the world of wines but I was willing to explore and take the risk of stepping out of my comfort zone. 
Liquid Assets is on the edge of the plaza right at the turn around when you cross over the bridge next to Pucks Doughnuts.
I visited in the late afternoon with the sun setting over the mountains shining right into the shop, sparkling off of all the bottles and lighting up the nice wood floors. I had an immediate feeling of being in a very nice space, clean, light and airy not to mention well designed.
I wasn't really planning on doing an interview, but you may know how it is when you start talking to someone and a little voice in your head starts saying.. I wish I had a picture of this or I wish someone else was hearing this. That's your Inner Citizen Journalist speaking, so I grabbed a pen and paper started to jot down some notes.
When I got home the notes didn't make sense to me at all... but this is what did.
I really enjoy going out and about and meeting people and listening to their stories.
Who they are and how they came to be. Its especially interesting when they have some
sort of unique passion which they are able to articulate in a way that others can really understand it.
Their ability to capture and express their experience enables me to essentially see "What the Big Deal Is" from their point of view.
And regardless of how articulate a person is or is not, if you pay close enough attention you can probably get some glimpse into their world. If they are masterful in their articulation then you are being given something equivalent to a free ticket to a movie or concert.
Something really cool is going on when this happens because there is an inclusiveness and connection occurring which allows for my point of view to move and experience life from a different angle. An angle which I might not be interested in experiencing myself, but an angle none the less which is of valid and is of course interesting.
Wine is interesting to me for two reasons.
One, I like the lables...Two... simply because I just don't get it.
I have even worked in a vineyard after I dropped out of college and pruned miles and miles of vineyards. All I can remember thinking about was anything but wine. I think they may have gone out of business after they discovered my special slacker pruning technique.. but thats a different story.
On the day I visited Liquid Assets I ended up speaking with Jim who with his wife Denise own Liquid Assets.
I figure you'll never know the answer until you ask (CJ Rule Number 1) and so I figured I had to take step towards overcoming some of my ignorance and phobia about the world of wine.
Jim and I ended up talking for quite some time and what it really boiled down to was that this guy was really interesting and could explain things in a way which engaged me and made sense to me. I even tried to stump him by asking what type of wine he would suggest for one of my favorite dishes. He proceed to explain how and why effortlessly... for about 2 minutes I might add.
Jim was essentially telling me that wine, wine tasting, wine appreciation and the culture of wine is so much more than just what it might appear to be.
By the end of our conversation I was seeing the wine experience more as an unending journey of discovery and appreciation. One in which you you can enter the experience from any direction and become enraptured in the hundreds of details from how its crafted to how it's stored, how its aged, how its served, where its grown so on and so on.
So I had this idea. What if Jim could take 14 people off the street and turn them into a wine lovers. I mean you see this stuff on TV all the time, why not in right here. Put it to the test and give the public at large the opportunity to get involved in learning and celebrating this art. Of course Liquid Assets offer classes and to the public on this already but part of the mission is to get people involved who otherwise would not have been interested.
So here is the deal. We need 14 Volunteers with little to no experience in the world of wine.
All that is required is a willingness to try and open mind that you might end up liking the label more than the wine once its all over.
We are still figuring out how to structure this event, and it will be more defined in the next print issue. So stay tuned. More than likely we are going to have a ton or response to this.. so Lets Just call this a reality test one. 
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