Stopping by: Building history
She likes to walk past other homes in the area and nearby neighborhoods, as well, checking out their historic details and styles.
And the former McMinnville Downtown Area manager likes to stroll down Third Street, as well, pointing out buildings with names such as Campbell and Wright, Oddfellows and Masonic, Cozine and Jamison. She keeps track of how they have changed and how they are used today.
Her favorite is the Schilling Building on the south side of the 200 block, which houses La Rambla. "You've seen the arches, haven't you?" she asked. "People take selfies with those 'eyebrows' in the background."
Webb got to know those buildings and others on the National Register of Historic Places when she was MDA manager.
Later, she continued doing history presentations downtown and tours of homes in McMinnville, Dayton and Newberg.And now that she and husband, Hugh, spend winters in Palm Springs, she's involved with historic home tours there — focusing on Mid-Century Modern construction designed by architects such as Richard Neutra, Donald Wexler and Albert Frey.
Back in McMinnville, she was scheduled to lead a pair of history tours downtown. The tours were canceled Friday due to continuing coronavirus concerns.
She was disappointed, she said; she was looking forward to joining local historian Micheal Hafner to tell small groups about the place she loves.
"McMinnville is really dear to my heart," she said.
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Webb was in college when she first came to McMinnville.
After growing up in Corvallis, where her father taught at Oregon State University, Webb started classes at the University of Redlands, an American Baptist institution in Southern California.
About the same time, her dad took a job at Redlands' sister school in McMinnville, Linfield College (now university). When Webb came home to visit her parents in 1958, she stepped into the new family home.
She quickly learned about the history of the house and the area.
"Mom was a history buff, so all of my sisters and I were junior historians," she recalled.
Webb officially lived with her folks for less than a year before moving to Portland.
Like many young people, she said, she figured then that a big city offered more opportunities than a small one. "I thought Portland was so sophisticated," she said. "But I was wrong."
Later, she realized that a few months had been plenty of time to plant the seeds of her deep love of McMinnville.
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In Portland, Webb spent many years working at a book and music store that sold products aimed at helping relieve stress.
As the outreach coordinator, she did presentations in schools, produced concerts and "took the store on the road" to festivals and events.
After the shop closed, she moved home to her parents' house while looking for her next opportunity. That's when she met Malcolm Johnstone, who had become MDA's first director when it was formed in the 1980s.
"Malcolm was my mentor," as well as a friend, she said.
And when the MDA was looking for a promotions coordinator, he encouraged her to apply — it was a job in which she could use her outreach skills and organize music and other events.
Three months later, Johnstone took another position and Webb became MDA manager.
"Thank God for Jeb Bladine, Marilyn Worrix, Kent Taylor and Todd Caster, who believed in the Main Street program," she said, mentioning some of the people who helped and supported her over her 14 1/2 y ears with the MDA.
During her tenure, McMinnville grew and the downtown area flourished.
The Brown Bag Concerts and the Farmers Market started when she was MDA manager, as did the UFO Festival.
The latter began as a ufology conference hosted by McMenamins Hotel Oregon, then was combined with the MDA's "Alien Daze" parade to become the huge draw it is today.
"Now THAT was economic development," Webb said of both the festival and the entire Hotel Oregon project.
Developing economic programs and events was a huge amount of work, she said.
"We were in the trenches, working our butts off and not knowing if it would work," she said. "But now I have a hard time remembering all the work. I just love it."
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Another of her duties with the MDA was working with property owners on the Historic Register, who were required to open their places to the public every year.
Why not do all the open houses at once, and let community members and visitors take a tour? wondered Webb.
After all, she was becoming more and more interested in local history. She enjoyed learning about the historic buildings first-hand herself, as well as reading the writings of Jim Lockhart, former McMinnville school principal and historian.
History fascinated her even more than it had when she was her mother's "junior historian."
So she started an annual historic tour that attracted people from all over the Willamette Valley. "I wanted people downtown, so it was great," she said.
Others saw the success of that tour and asked Webb to organize more history events, first in the older neighborhoods of McMinnville and later in other locales.
One event benefited the Yamhill Enrichment Society, for which she served on the board. The events, held annually for three years, featured volunteers in period costumes talking about the exteriors and homeowners leading interior tours.
Memories of those events remain dear to her heart. She also has great memories of a Women in Business tour that featured downtown properties such as the old Elks hall that Marilyn and the late Matt Worrix converted into their home.
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In addition to her history duties, as MDA manager Webb worked with businesses to make the downtown attractive, bring in customers and bring in businesses.
She and MDA board members talked for years about wanting to attract a grocery store to downtown. They found the right one in Harvest Fresh, which moved from a location on Highway 99 to Third and Cowls in 1999.
Webb helped the owners find the storefront, once a video store and Ben Franklin on the first floor of the Masonic Building, and negotiate a lease with the property owners. "I'm so proud of that," she said.
The store helps make downtown McMinnville "the greatest place," she said.
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After retiring in 2009, Webb began spending winters in Palm Springs.
Of course, she became involved in that community, as well — and, naturally, her volunteerism took her in a similar direction, to that city's historic home tour.
"Modernism Week" includes open houses at Mid-Century Modern and Mission Style structures, many of which were designed by famous architects. Webb volunteers to greet visitors and tell them about the history of the houses and their design elements, such as butterfly roofs or chalet styling.
It was in Palm Springs that she learned to play pickleball, a sport she brought home to McMinnville. There now are several local pickleball courts.
Webb said she has great friends in both Palm Springs and McMinnville. Sometimes they overlap when Oregon friends visit her in California, where she and her husband live in a Mid-Century Modern complex.
"We love Palm Springs," Webb said.
She explained that she and her husband had wanted to find a winter home with interesting history and a "real downtown" — after living in McMinnville, how could they not want that?
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