Action Hair Designs Celebrates 37 Years

It’s been a long and winding road the last 37 years for Linda Whalen, owner of Action Hair Designs at 937-A NE D Street (in back of the Grants Pass Shopping Center). “I first walked through Action Hair Designs as one of its first employees in 1977,” Linda said. “When the original owner moved in 1990, I bought the salon.”
Linda moved to the Rogue Valley in 1960 with her family when her dad retired from the Marine Corps and moved here.
“I was 13 at the time, and as a teen it seems I was ‘in charge’ of my mom’s, sister’s, grandmother’s and any other family member’s hair who came through the kitchen door,” she said. “It only seemed natural that after graduating from Grants Pass High that I would start my training in a new beauty school that had just opened its doors in Grants Pass.”
And the rest is all history, as Action Hair Designs remains a full-service salon serving the entire community. “We do cuts, perms, color, contemporary hair styling, and also classic roller styling or a combination of both,” Linda said. “We have facial waxing services, and we do both manicures and pedicures. We now have a second location at Countryside Village, where part of our staff work. We keep pretty busy.”
Since taking over as owner in 1990, Linda (and the salon) have been involved in many different community events. “We’ve helped with hair for many of the Barnstormers’ and Rogue Music Theatre’s productions,” Linda said. “We’ve worked with cancer patients through the ‘Look Good Feel Better’ program, and we’ve raised funds for the Relay for Life and Cut-a-Thons for both cancer and autism.”
The salon has also adopted families at Christmas through the Salvation Army and has sponsored baseball teams in the past. They have put together many different floats at Boatnik, taking home trophies a few times.
In the end, though, it’s customer service that counts. “Our motto is to give anyone walking
through our doors the service they are looking for and to keep our prices somewhere within the middle road of our local economy,” Linda said. “The Rogue Valley has been a wonderful place to live, raise a family, have a business, and just generally enjoy life.”
For more info or to make an appointment, call 541-479-6113.

Green Valley Wellness: One Stop Shop for OMMP Patients

As long time entrepreneurs and advocates of healthy lifestyle choices, Michael Monarch (CEO) and Peter Gross (COO) partnered together in February, after 18 years of friendship, to form Green Valley Wellness, LLC, with the hopes of setting the bar in the Rogue Valley for creating Southern Oregon’s premier medical cannabis dispensary. Both Peter and Michael have extensive backgrounds in health and wellness—including a combined 25 years as certified massage therapists.
“We saw a distinct need for the patients of the area to have access to safe medical grade cannabis that is of the highest quality, thoroughly laboratory tested and declared safe by the State of Oregon’s new standards according to HB3460,” Michael said. “On a business level, we clearly saw the trend and tidal wave of the ‘Green Rush’ that is currently happening throughout the country.”
On June 27, they opened the doors to Green Valley Wellness located at103 North Pacific Hwy in Talent. “Our clients can look forward to a spa-like, upscale ambiance that offers a comfortable and professional experience. And our knowledgeable staff will cater to all the needs of southern Oregon OMMP patients,” Michael said. They hope to be the one stop shop for all OMMP cardholders who need access to safe, well-tested medicines of all strengths and varieties to meet the varying medical needs of the whole community.
They carry flowers (often referred to as buds), both indoor and outdoor varieties, as well as a large selection of medibles (cannabis infused foods). “We will offer the best vaporizers available in all price points, which are used for ingesting the healthy cannabinoids without combusting the plant matter & thereby smoking any burning carbon,” Michael continued. “We will carry a line of lotions and salves for applying to the skin for direct tissue absorption in that area, without the normal psychoactive effects of ingesting the medicine. These wonderful topicals are showing great effectiveness at reducing inflammation and swelling related to sore muscles or arthritis.”
They will also sell clones (cannabis plants under 12” tall) for OMMP cardholding growers to have access to new strains that may better benefit their patients.
Also available are high CBD (Canabidiol) strains of flowers and extracts. “These have little to no psychoactive effects, but many more of the health and wellness benefits than the THC-heavy strains offer,” Michael explained. “We aim to live up to the wellness portion of our name by providing an outlet where patients in need can find information about a variety of local health and wellness practitioner services that are available. As well, we plan to carry a line of lifestyle clothing and accessories that meet the needs of our diverse customers, and some non-cannabis herbal supplement products that complement the choice for a healthier lifestyle.
“We are extremely excited to serve the community and be upstanding corporate citizens; and hope to support and enliven the local economy by employing people and buying as many local flowers, extracts, lotions, medibles and the xlike from Rogue Valley residents that are creating a thriving cottage industry!”
They offer easy access off of I-5 via exit 21, and are directly across from the RVTD bus stop near Valley View Rd.  Business hours are Tuesday-Sunday, Noon-8pm. Call 541-535-3022 for more information.