GRAND OPENING OF NEW SGE WORLD HEADQUARTERS!

After weeks of uncertainty, Scotty Gosson Exposed is back in business in a new improved location. Several Craigslist leads guided me to dead ends before connecting with a great rental space in a historic commercial building in downtown Medford, Oregon. At the cost of my beloved Bi Polar Bear ’80 Malibu station wagon, I’m now safely ensconced in brick surroundings that formerly housed a mapping company. My floor of the building (the third, or top level) is in the midst of a remodel, so it isn’t quite luxurious, but will soon be. In the meantime, I’m so grateful for warm and dry shelter that words fail me. I can only say that getting here has been an eye/heart/mind-opening adventure, and so worth the thrill ride.

With over six weeks of writing time lost since drifting into homelessness, I’m now playing catch-up at a frantic pace. I’m not complaining. If anything, my grin is wider than ever.

Home, sweet home. While the ground floor has hosted a grab bag of boutique oriented entrepreneurs in recent years, the top floor housed Allen Cartography for decades. Let’s hope that SGE World Headquarters establishes a spirited top floor presence for a long while. The building has been owned by the same local family for at least four generations.

Only I know which door knob leads to safety and which ones trigger the attack dogs.

My driveway. I’ve heard would-be drift heroes practicing their moves here, late at night. Skateboarders otherwise rule the parking garage. Business hours are devoted to storing commuter vehicles, but on weekend evenings, a festive mix of night clubbers and foodies can be found comparing notes on all three floors.

 Even my rooftop parking space offers a panoramic view.

The upstairs entryway. Inviting, huh?

I’m renting my space from a guy who sells printed material from America’s most beloved wars, with a focus on the Civil, first and second World Wars. Blood money, sure. But it's a living.

The spacious new SGE office, with a dazzling view of another historical brick building across the alley.

Attention Cartech Editor Bob Wilson: I’m back at work, with one eye on the deadline. Don’t worry about a thing, man…

Imagine my surprise when I awoke last Saturday morning to marching bands and thousands of jubilant local citizen revelers, cheering in the streets below. They were celebrating SGE’s triumphant arrival in the newly refurbished downtown area! While touched to the point of tears, I somehow performed my photojournalist duty to document the event from my apartment window.

                                              God bless the SGE fans. They came by car…

                                                                      … by truck…

                                                                      … by bike…

                                                                  …on horseback…

                                        … by any conveyance or contraption imaginable…

                                                 … some out-of-towners even flew in…

                                                     …many arrived on foot…

                                                        … music filled the streets…

                                        … and the people celebrated with dance and song…

 … all were there to take part in greeting SGE like the tightknit community that they comprise. Their outpouring of support has made me feel a member of the downtown family, mere hours after considering myself a social orphan. Incredible. Never give up five minutes before the miracle!

Oddly, my surprise welcoming party took place on the same day usually scheduled for the annual Pear Blossom Festival. Southern Oregon (and the Rogue Valley in particular) has celebrated the agricultural milestone for many years, never missing a single iteration, no matter the weather - until this year! Weird. I hope they get back on schedule next year, as I believe the pear farmers deserve their moment in the sun, too. I know that’s profoundly modest and selfless of me (after just saving downtown from certain bankruptcy), but it just seems like the right thing to say.

Next week: World domination.