Ashland Daily Tidings :: Online Edition

Ashland Daily Tidings (Ashland, OR — Wayback)

2004-11-20

Document text

 - Subscribe  - Contact Us  - Rate Card  - Place an Ad Valley&State      Backpage      O&E      Sports      Archives      Classifieds      Faith&Beliefs      Obituaries      Revels November 17, 2004 Couple gets a second chance By Chris Honore Tidings Correspondent What once was lost now is found. Peggy and Ron Robertson were married for the second time Sunday by ordained minister Christine Hunter, 45 years to the day after their first wedding. Andrew Mariman | Ashland Daily Tidings Not everyone gets a second chance. In elementary school, when you missed a throw, you could always ask for "do overs." Just one more chance to drop the ball through the hoop or skip nimbly across the squares in hopscotch. Maybe. But generally, when it comes to the really big things in life, "do overs" are rare. But not for Ashland residents Peggy Rose and Ron Robertson. In the summer of 1959 at Lake Tahoe, Ron was a drummer with the Chet McIntyre Trio. As it turned out, the trio needed a singer. "We put the word out," said Ron, "and Peggy showed up. She sang with us and was hired. We became friends in twenty-four hours. It was love at first sight." They worked together at a club on Tahoe's South Shore, playing swing and jazz. A trio is usually made up of a piano, bass and drums. Ron played the drums. Peggy sang. After a brief music engagement in Jackson, Miss., they decided to leave the trio and move to Los Angeles where, on Nov. 14, 1959, they married. Ron worked one year playing the drums and because they were about to start a family looked for day work. Soon they had four children - three girls and a boy - and Peggy stayed home with the family. When the two oldest were four and five, they decided L.A. was not an ideal place to raise kids and moved to Templeton, a small Central California town where, as Ron said, the children could walk down Main Street on the way to school without worries. They lived in Templeton until 1982. And when the last child graduated from high school they concluded, as Ron put it, "that we needed some space from one another so we divorced. "We didn't see each other for close to 15 years. Peggy moved to Tucson, Arizona, and I stayed on in Central California and picked up my music career, playing drums with a group in San Luis Obispo at the Madonna Inn." Ron stayed on in San Luis Obispo through the 80's. Then he moved to Las Vegas in 1991. Two of the three daughters lived in Las Vegas and so it was inevitable that he and Peggy's paths would once again cross. In 1993 they renewed their friendship. Peggy pointed out that they were never enemies, as so often happens. "It made it easy for us to get reacquainted," she said. Shortly thereafter, Peggy left Las Vegas and moved to Salt Lake City. Ron stayed on in Las Vegas for another year. Finally he called her and asked if he could join her in Salt Lake and she said "Why not?" And that was the beginning of Peggy and Ron's "do over." It was at that time that they began to talk music and formed a group called Peggy Rose and the Unlimited Trio. They played and Peggy sang swing, jazz and the old standards. In 1999 they left Salt Lake and went to St. Louis and worked in music. Just over two years later they moved to California, then to Mesa, Ariz., where Peggy said they "lived an ordinary life." When their son decided to move to Ashland, they followed and now reside at the Donald E. Lewis Retirement Center. And every first Tuesday of the month Peggy and Ron join the owner of the Wild Goose Cafe and Bar, Dal Carver, and entertain the cafe's patrons. Peggy sings, Ron is on the drums, and Dal plays the piano. They do swing, jazz and the old standards. On Sunday, Nov. 14, the same day they got married the first time some 45 years ago, Ron and Peggy were remarried in the home of their son Michael Robertson. Carver was present, with his piano, Ron broke out his drums, and after the ceremony they entertained their guests. Certainly it can be said, for Ron and Peggy, what was once lost now is found. They have come full circle. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams