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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us December 12, 2005 Essentially Ashland Lance Pugh Ashland’s Pioneer glass paved way for locally made pints Standing Stone, like many local businesses, has its foundations in the past Sometime during a summer’s night in 1973, a sidewalk display window at the Lithia Grocery suffered the ultimate insult and fell to the concrete in a thousand pieces. When I arrived at 5 a.m. to begin another endless day, I discovered the sparkling deed and made plans to have things remedied ASAP. A couple hours later I found myself at Pioneer Glass on Oak Street, the current location of Standing Stone Brewing Co., there to meet with Charles and James Delsman about the breakage. Shortly thereafter, I was back on the Plaza with a tape-measuring Delsman by my side. In short order he reappeared and in a few minutes all things vitreous were made whole again. The Standing Stone location was built in 1925 to be a garage, as the wonderment of the auto had captivated the attention of the buggy-whippers, whose membership was in a Titantic-like dive towards the nadir of negation: The nation bought the notion of internal combustion, but the rural folks kept flogging a dead horse. Sim Morris and Sons rented the space for the next 20 years. Morris’ Oak Street Garage gradually turned to the manufacturing of steel tanks, these used not to invade countries, rather for the storage of liquids, petrochemicals included with a loud applause. The Morrises relocated to the corner of Oak and A Street to become Oak Tank and Steel, there banging and welding tanks until being bought out and converted to retail a few years ago. An advertisement for Oak Street Tank & Steel harks back to an earlier era. Submitted photo Floyd Whittle took the plunge and built the garage to accommodate the steel buggies, this until in 1953 a fire, torching from nearby for reasons as yet unexplained, damaged the property. Whittle hired E.H. Nicholson and Charles Delsman to rebuild the windows and interior damage. They had the goods, as they had a glass and cabinet shop on Pioneer Street, a simple block away. That’s why Pioneer Glass got an inside track on the building when it came up for rent, moving their business to Oak Street. I suspect that most of you already knew this and never have blinked that Pioneer Glass and Cabinet seemed to have been located on the wrong street. James Delsman soon joined his brother Charles in the venture and until 1996 were the “go-to” boys for cabinets and emergency glass repair. Electric saws and sanders whirred and hummed away as customers sought out their help for any number of projects, having to hike through the din and a sea of sawdust to gain an audience. In March of 1996, the brothers Amarotico, Emile, Alex and Mark, acquired the property and began the complex process of remodeling the building to house a brewery and restaurant, soon known as Standing Stone (Pilot Rock) Brewing Co. The Whittle Garage Building was brought up to modern ADA and seismic codes, while a deck was rebuilt off the rear for outdoor dining and suds consumption. The Delsman brothers stand outside their Pioneer Glass & Cabinet Shop. Emile Amarotico was a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, later working as a CPA for several years, this to allow him hands-on knowledge of both the books, brewing and fast-paced ways of a modern kitchen with a wood-fired oven. Alex gives focus to the brewery, ensuring a continuous pour of hand-crafted ales, stouts and porters, all of which seem to go extremely well with their wood-fired oven pizzas. Alex also oversees a highly efficient Energy Management System that has reduced their electrical consumption by 15 percent, leading the way for other restaurants to follow. Fresh-baked bread is served with every meal, this accompanied by portions of garlic-herb butter and a tomato spread. In addition to a choice of a dozen different wood-fired pizzas they offer a wide array of salads, sandwiches and burgers. Dinners range from fish and chips, braised lamb shank, pasta, free-range barbecued chicken to wood-fired calzone and wild coho salmon filet. Lots of choices to tickle the palate. One recent day, after finish a fine lunch at the Standing Stone, I sat back in my chair and recalled my first meeting with the Delsmans. Broken glass prompted my visit then, just as a full pint glass calls me back again and again. Future columns will focus on various businesses as well as key individuals and events that will lead the charge from times past to lend perspective to the revival of Ashland. 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