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Displayed on the Bella's walls is the story
| local habit of much of the past 30 years through art
created especially for and about the life and
spirit of the Bella.
THE BELL A
A J
S§
PAULA BANDY EZRA MARCOS
n my view, when people are looking to go out and have fun
they're like 'Hey, we got to go to the Bella,'" says Jerry Hayes,
"Ifounder of Bella Union in Jacksonville. This year celebrates 30
years of people having fun at the Bella, as the bar/restaurant is fondly
known by locals. Christian Hamilton, co-owner, emphasizes, "People
bring their out-of-town guests, we've had multiple people get down
on one knee, and then come back year after year." But it's not just
customers who return. Christian says, "We've employed thousands of
people over the past 30 years and given hundreds of people their first
job. They still come back and thank us and say it was a life changer and
remains their favorite job."
Hamilton and co-owner, Chef Tom Bates, original employees, pur-
chased the Bella from Hayes in 2016. The plan was to keep the Bella
just as it had been for the past 30 years. Hamilton, a Jacksonville native
who lives in his childhood home says, “I can't imagine someone going
in and changing the Bella. That would be heart wrenching." This would
appear to be a good thing, as Bella Union consistently ranks high in
local's favorites, and in January of this year was listed #89 in the 150
Best Bars in America. (www.thedailymeal.com)
If only those walls could talk...well, in a way, they do. Displayed on
the Bella's walls is the story of much of the past 30 years through art
created especially for and about the life and spirit of the Bella. Much of
the fun shows through the art work gracing the walls. Hayes recollects,
"When we opened in 1988 we wanted a little more pop behind the bar,
so we went to Portland and bought neons and filled the bar wall." The
late Leo Meiersdorff, Bella customer, acclaimed jazz musician, painter
known for his jazz-themed art work, and seasoned fan of LaBatt beer,
created a series of watercolors to correspond with the neons. "These
are originals that are in the bar. Leo's caricature art work is based on
each one of them," Hayes says. Meiersdorff also designed the art in the
back room from large pieces of plywood painted to look like plates.
In 1992, then Bella bartender Brian Porter and now owner of Porters
Restaurant in downtown Medford, created a Happy Birthday Bella
painting for Hayes. Porter's whimsy captured watercolor caricatures
of all the Bella employees, "each with a quirky thing about them,"
116 www.southernoregonmagazine.com | summer 2018
