Alessandro's News

Bridget Tran

Bridget Tran was awarded the 2010 Roger Yost Art Scholarship award May 20 during the 10th annual McKay High School Spring Art Show in the school’s Commons. She will use the $500 prize to continue her art education at Chemeketa Community College in the fall.

The award is funded by Alessandro’s Ristorante & Galleria, one of four Downtown Salem properties owned by Yost.

McKay senior Kiley Smith won the Reed Opera House’s “Best of Show” award.

The $150 cash prize was presented by Reed Art Director Andrea Barrios, who was the recipient of the first Yost Art Scholar award in 2008. Ms. Barrios recently completed her studies at Chemeketa and will be attending Western Oregon University in the fall.

Alessandro's Owner Roger Yost

Alessandro's Ristorante & Galleria owner Roger Yost received one of two Heritage Enterprise Awards presented by the newly merged Mission Mill Museum and Marion County Historical Society April 8 at Mission Mill.

Now known as the Willamette Heritage Center, the neighboring organizations combined their annual awards to honor those leaders and organizations who have significantly contributed to the Salem community’s cultural heritage.

Historian Virginia Green presented Yost with his award, saying “he has been a very active partner in the revitalization of Salem’s Historic Downtown.”

She said: “Roger leads Go Downtown Salem in its efforts to make Salem the cultural heart of the Mid-Willamette Valley . . . and has also been a leader by promoting the arts in Salem through his support of Artists in Action and the Salem Art Association; creating annual art scholarships at Salem high schools; by establishing the largest international art gallery in the Northwest, and hosting CASA of Marion County’s annual Art with a Heart auction.

Carl Crowell and Michelle Ing of Crowell Ing, LLP, received the other Enterprise Award for their support of the Heritage Awards and Teen Interpreter Program and other community enterprises.

Prior Heritage Enterprise award honorees included the Statesman Journal, Pendleton Woolen Mills, Portland General Electric, Pioneer Trust Bank and Salem Electric.