Zonta Ornament this year Features Ashley's restaurant

Maria Sonnenberg

You can buy Christmas ornaments of all shapes and sizes, but it’s tough to find a ornament that is haunted. Okay, the ornament isn’t haunted per se, but the subject matter it depicts is…supposedly.

Zonta Club of Melbourne, which each year showcases a new Brevard landmark in its Historic Brevard Ornament Collection, has chosen Ashley’s restaurant in Rockledge as the 2017 ornament. Picking Ashley’s was a no-brainer.

THe Strawberry Mansion orament displayed in the tree. Meehans in downtown Melbourne is offering  historic Melbourne and Brevard Christmas ornaments offered exclusively by The Zonta Club of Melbourne.

“Many of the ornaments that have been selected over the years reflect historic significance, which is important to preserve, but others just commemorate the kinds of places that people connect with deep and personal memories,” said Zonta Club member Belinda Stewart, owner of several of these ornaments. “Ashley’s has both, with its creation as Jack’s Tavern by the “architect of Brevard” and its famous ghost stories, as well as the untold numbers of special meals and occasions shared at the restaurant.”

The ornament certainly carries an interesting history. Local lore has it the building was once a train depot. Nah. Ashely’s began life as Jack’s Tavern, built in 1933 by Jack Allen, no relation to Ethel Allen, whose ghost nevertheless is said to hang out at the Rockledge restaurant.

The building has an excellent pedigree, given the fact that Richard Rummell, Jr., aka “the architect of Brevard,” designed it.

The 1900 building ornament displayed on the tree. Meehans in downtown Melbourne is offering  historic Melbourne and Brevard Christmas ornaments offered exclusively by The Zonta Club of Melbourne.

“It is one of the few examples of his English/Tudor designs to have survived the test of time,” said Michael Boonstra, genealogy librarian and archivist at the Central Brevard Library and the Brevard County Historical Commission.

Rummell, responsible for Brevard landmarks such as Hacienda del Sol, specialized in Spanish-influenced design, but he was equally adept with other styles.

Ashley’s was also always easy to love.

“The original menu advertised it as “the place to go for ladies and gentlemen,” noted Boonstra.

Steaks went from 75 cents to $1 and patrons never got rowdy, because Allen refused to serve anyone that got too jiggy. Over the years, the tavern had many names, including Cooney’s Tavern, the Mad Duchess, the Loose Caboose and Gentleman Jim’s.

Meehans in downtown Melbourne is offering  historic Melbourne and Brevard Christmas ornaments offered exclusively by The Zonta Club of Melbourne.

Rumor has it that 19-year-old Ethel Allen was murdered at the tavern, but that was not the case, according to newspaper reports of her murder at the time. She did, however, enjoy frequenting the tavern, so her appearances might be a “residual haunting.” Folks say they have seen her floating by and she has made her presence known with her feet sticking out from under the bathroom stall. Other ghosts are also supposed to hang out at Ashley’s, moving the silverware and tables, making weird noises and pushing staff down the stairs.

“As a historian, I think it’s bogus, but, anyway, it makes for good publicity,” Boonstra said.

It also makes for a cool ornament. Every year since 1999, the Zonta Club has added new ornaments to the list, so collectors can decorate their tree with a veritable “what’s what” of Brevard history that reminds them of all the cool places in the county. Ashley’s definitely fits the bill.

“Even though we’re a community with many transplants, some of us relative newcomers have developed strong bonds on the Space Coast,” said Stewart, who moved here 15 years ago.

Previous ornaments, also available for purchase, include Annie the Dragon, Del’s Freez, the Henegar Center, Green Gables, the 1900 Building, the Melbourne Icehouse, Melbourne Beach Pier, Strawberry Mansion(now the Mansion), the Melbourne Beach Chapel, Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse and even Big Orange, the iconic giant citrus on U.S. 1. Each ornament includes a little history of the subject.

The 3 ½’ ornaments retail for $25, or $30 with their own stand, taxes included. Shipping is available for an additional $6. Each ornament is handcrafted and handpainted by artisans at Hestia Creations in Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Heather Broome of Meehans Office & Art Supplies holds the new 2017 ornament -  Ashley’s restaruant in Rockledge.  Meehans in downtown Melbourne is offering  historic Melbourne and Brevard Christmas ornaments offered exclusively by The Zonta Club of Melbourne.

The entire collection is at Meehan’s in downtown Melbourne, as well as online at zontaspacecoast.org/holiday-ornament.

The ornaments serve to raise funds for and awareness of the work of Zonta, both locally and globally. The club provides scholarships for Brevard women and advocates to end human trafficking and to raise the status of women worldwide.