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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (May 1, 2022)
Applegater Spring 2022 Meet the Applegate Store and Café’s new owner BY MICHAEL SCHNEIDER One of the landmark businesses in the Applegate Valley has changed ownership and is gearing up for even more changes throughout 2022. The Applegate Store and Café, which has been called a “diamond in the rough in an idyllic valley,” by the Jacksonville Review, now has a new owner-manager. Stacey Corelis is a charming, energetic, and friendly woman who is looking to combine her love for the traditions of the area with more current food servings in the café and a wider selection of products in the store. Stacey says she bought the store and café (effective July 1, 2021) from Neal and Maryanna Reynolds because “I love the people in this area and being part of this wonderful community, and I wanted to make sure the traditions and heart and soul are kept in place. I want to carry on the marvelous legacy the Reynolds created during their ownership.” Stacey worked at the store, beginning September 2019, and learned the “ins and outs” from the Reynolds, who owned it for 20 years after buying it from a family member. Several years before that, the store was owned and run by the family ■ BAKED GOODS Continued from page 1 and meaning a pastry shop) bakes gluten- free, vegan, and Keto options. Owner and baker Eden Paulazzo, who learned baking from her grandmother, started experimenting with gluten-free baked goods so her young son, who had psoriasis, could have gluten- and sugar-free treats. “At the root, it’s also the way I eat,” Eden says, adding that she feels best when she avoids gluten, dairy, and cane sugar. Eden’s oldest children both help in the kitchen. “My amazingly artistic daughter is often the creative mastermind behind our most beautifully extravagant custom cakes,” Eden says, “and you will often find my charming teenage son running the market booth” at the Applegate Evening Market and other markets in the valley. of Ty Burrell, the actor from ABC’s Modern Family. The Burrell family owned the store from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s, so Ty was frolicking in the store and nearby areas as he was growing up. Legend has it that the original owner was Earle Settle, who built the store some 80 years ago down the street on North Applegate Road near where the current library is located. Later it was moved to its current location on Highway 238, literally steps from the point where the Applegate River flows under the green steel Pioneer Bridge. The café was added later, as was the gas station, which still provides the only place that drivers can fuel up between Jacksonville and Murphy. Stacey has plentiful and wide- ranging plans. She wants to keep the cafe open longer throughout the day, especially in the summer months. She is also planning to add more food dishes in keeping with today’s appetites, such as vegetarian and vegan offerings. Moreover, she plans to redesign the product layouts in the store (a project she has already begun), upgrade 11 the beer cooler to include a walk-in area for easy choices among beverages, refresh the inside look with new painting, and, down the road, put in new flooring—all while keeping the same professional, friendly look that her predecessors, the Reynolds, created. She is also going to add new features to highlight New owner Stacey Corelis in front of the “wonderful people and Applegate Store and Café. Photo: Michael Schneider. wineries in the area and show them off with pride” she said. In addition, she would very much like to host a variety of events, such as music and art festivals and even car shows, since classic cars are of great interest to her. Throughout the years the store and particularly the café have earned a well-deserved reputation as a meeting place for local residents and visitors alike to enjoy coffee, a meal, An early photo of the Applegater Store hangs and interesting chats. Under in the current store. Photo: Michael Schneider. Stacey’s stewardship, that reputation seems certain to com and its Facebook page at business. remain firmly in place. facebook.com/ApplegateStoreAndCafe. For more information, visit the store Michael Schneider and café’s website at applegatestoreandcafe. mschneider@masassociatesinc.com cranberry-walnut oatmeal cookie, say (which I found delicious) or—the most popular item—store owner Angela Hewitt’s famous carrot cake. Or maybe you’re like Belinda from Herb Pharm in Williams, who says, “I love coming by for their pizza panini!” Sweets and treats lift our A vegan, gluten-free An assortment of Curly spirits, but it’s bread that is the hazelnut cake from Top cookies at Grants staff of life, and for that you Paulazzo Pasticceria. Pass Farmers Market. couldn’t do better than Rise Whether you had Curly Top shortbread Up! Artisan Breads, for nutrition, taste, or a vegan cupcake for dessert at lunch, and aroma. Their mouthwatering lineup now, on your way back to the Applegate includes ciabattas, rustic sourdoughs (they from your afternoon shopping, you can’t call their Applegate sourdough their best help yourself: you stop at the Provolt sandwich bread!), focaccias, sprouted Store again for an afternoon treat—a giant multigrain bread, and rosemary rolls. They also make a 99.9 percent gluten- free bread using teff, which they describe as “an ancient Ethiopian grain with a strong earthy flavor.” Their Rogue Valley sourdough bread is baked with 50 percent whole wheat grown and milled at Dunbar Farms, in the Rogue Valley. Rise Up!’s unique bread-baking philosophy comes from a cross of Zen values and a strong commitment to building a better community through slow-food, local-food, and sustainability movements. Maybe what you really want to do is go home with a loaf of Rise Up! bread and spread it with some butter and Pennington Farms tayberry jam and just call it dinner. Diana Coogle • 541-846-7447 diana@applegater.org See page 24 for location details.