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Theatre honored for preservation efforts in revival Art McKinney stewardship award to be presented for improvements Contributed Report news@mechlocal.com

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SHLAND – The Ashland Museum and the Ashland Main Street Association (AMSA) are proud to announce that the Ashland Theatre will be the third recipient of the Art McKinney Historic Preservation Stewardship Award. The award honors business and property owners who have demonstrated good stewardship of historic struc-

tures by rehabilitating them for continued commercial use. It is named for Art McKinney, who purchased the former D.B. Cox Department Store and restored it to host his engineering firm and the Iron Horse restaurant at 100 S. Railroad Ave. At the 100th anniversary of the D.B. Cox building in 2013, McKinney talked about his efforts to be a “good steward” of historic buildings and his desire to “leave things a little bit better than I found them.” McKinney passed away in 2016.

Then and now . . . The Ashland Theatre is shown on its original opening day on Aug. 10, 1948, in this vintage photo shared courtesy of Jennifer Chambers. The more recent photo, also submitted by Chambers, shows the newly-renovated theatre, which is fast becoming a favorite venue for entertainment.

Jake’s Place and Sweet Frog were previous recipients of the Art McKinney Historic Stewardship Award.

“We wanted to pay tribute to a wonderful business owner who is a great role model for other owners of historic build-

ings,” said Betsy Hodges of the Ashland Museum. “The Ashland Theatre is a worthy recipient of the Art McKinney award because the current owner and operator, the Town of Ashland and the Ashland

Theatre Foundation, have made significant improvements to the historic structure.” The Art McKinney see THEATRE, pg. 17 

Youth Strawberry Pageant still a beloved Ashland tradition By Lorie Foley Special to The Mechanicsville Local ASHLAND – The Ashland Strawberry Faire is celebrating its 38th year this summer. One of the most beloved traditions is the Miss Strawberry and Mister Strawberry Youth Pageant. The Faire will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 15, along the streets of Randolph-Macon College in Ashland. The Strawberry Faire Youth Pageant is a free, non-competitive pageant. Winners are selected as their names are drawn from a strawberry basket. Kids as young as 3 can sign up to participate, and are grouped by age categories. For the third year in a row, the pageant organizers will select one special child as the

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The Mechanicsville Local

Age categories for Miss Strawberry: Little Miss Strawberry -- 3 to 5 Jr. Miss Strawberry -- 6 to 9 Miss Strawberry -- 10 to 16 Age categories for Mr. Strawberry: Little Mister Strawberry -- 3 to 5 Jr. Mister Strawberry -- 6 to 9

“Spirit of the Faire.” The first winner in 2017 was Penelope Rose, and last year’s winner was Matilda Womble. The Pageant takes place on the “Fountain Stage,” which is sponsored this year by the Town Photo submitted by Lorie Foley of Ashland. Shelly Perkins, former radio personality part- “Little Mister Strawberry” Marcos Mowry, left, “Little Miss Strawberry” Kerri Waters, “Junior

May 22, 2019

see PAGEANT, pg. 21 

Mister Strawberry” Trace Henry, “Spirit of the Faire” Matilda Womble, “Miss Strawberry” Maybelli Sumner and “Junior Miss Strawberry” Ellie Wilson take a moment to pose for the camera.