August 2017
There was a collective sigh of relief when the Ashland community learned during the Fourth of July Parade that the Black Sheep Pub & Restaurant (upstairs on the Plaza at 51 N. Main), a downtown institution and a favorite gathering place since 1993, had new owners and was going to stay right where it belonged.
When owner Susan Chester had announced back in April that she wanted to retire and—unable to find a buyer—was going to shut the restaurant down and sell all the equipment and décor, a lot of people around town were bummed out. The restaurant was modeled after a British Public House, complete with a red telephone booth, and the bar faced out onto a huge dining area with high ceilings and a corner featuring three dart boards.
Sometime in mid-June, we received an email from Jon and Clarinda Merripen, informing us that if everything went according to plan, they hoped to buy the Black Sheep and keep the magic going. Nothing was official, and there were still a lot of details to be worked out, so they really didn’t want to spread the word and get everyone’s hopes up.
“It wasn’t until a few days before the Fourth of July that we learned it was going to happen for sure,” Jon said in a phone interview with the Sneak Preview. “We felt the time was right to make an announcement, and doing it during the parade was perfect timing.”
Jon and Clarinda had been coming up to Ashland for years, and the Black Sheep was one of their favorite places to visit.
“We always stopped here,” said Jon, who worked in the tech start-up industry in the Bay Area for 30 years. “It was a great place to hang out with the locals, and everyone made you feel welcome. When we saw the ‘for sale’ sign and heard from the locals that the Black Sheep was closing, we contacted Susan in May to get the ball rolling. We didn’t want to see it closed.”
Clarinda agreed. “We had been looking for a project to invest in, and we couldn’t think of anything better than to keep this Ashland institution going,” she said. “A lot of people we talked to were disappointed that the Black Sheep was closing, and we didn’t want to see that happen.”
As far as changes go, they will be minimal for the first few months. “There were a few sentimental décor items that Susan wanted to keep, but everything else will remain the same,” Jon said. “All of the staff has stayed with us, and the menu hasn’t changed. Sometime this winter we will do some renovating, but it won’t be anything big.”
Jon and Clarinda plan to be hands-on owners.
“At the end of the day, the Black Sheep is a community gathering place,” Jon said. “It’s almost like an extension of the living room. We want to keep that feeling alive, and we want to make everyone feel welcome. We’ve already contacted the Curtain Climbers who will perform on First Friday Art Walk. The Celtic Players will still perform on Sundays, the darts people will keep the tournaments going on Thursdays, and the Drag Shows will still perform quarterly.”
And, of course, there are great drinks and beers from the bar, plus the Welsh Rarebit, Ploughman’s Lunch, Cornish Pasty, Bangers & Mash, and Fish & Chips that made Black Sheep famous.
For more info, the phone number is 541-482-6414. You can also see them at theblacksheep.com or on Facebook.
