{"id":57,"date":"2015-06-24T19:37:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-24T19:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/?page_id=57"},"modified":"2016-06-24T17:47:13","modified_gmt":"2016-06-24T17:47:13","slug":"ronj-coffeehouse-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/ronj-coffeehouse-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronj Coffeehouse History"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Ronj Coffeehouse, located\u00a0at 30 Frye Street, was opened in 1997.\u00a0 Ross House in which the Ronj stands was originally built around 1871 by Bates Professor of Chemistry and Geology Richard C. Stanley.\u00a0\u00a0Ross House was soon occupied by\u00a0Bates\u2019 second President George Colby Chase along with his wife soon following his arrival at Bates to teach Rhetoric and English Literature.\u00a0 In 1939, the College purchased the house from Professor Stanley\u2019s grandsons for use as faculty housing.\u00a0 Norman Ross, class of 1922 and long-time College Treasurer, soon moved in along with his wife where they resided for 72 years.\u00a0 Rightly named after her longest occupant, the house was left open as Ross and his wife moved to Russell Park Rehabilitation and Living Center in 1997.<\/p>\n

In keeping with the Rosses\u2019 manner of opening\u00a0their home to visitors and students, the house was overtaken up by a group of students looking to provide additional social options to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and guests in a non-alcoholic way.\u00a0\u00a0The outdoor barn which had become the Ross House garage was connected on both sides to the house to become the Thunderdome Performance Room on the first floor, and the Pool Room on the second floor.\u00a0 The Red Room on the first floor, and Thesis Room on the second floor were treated with ventilation systems to become functioning smoke rooms (now disconnected).\u00a0 The Rosses\u2019 beloved kitchen became behind-the-counter space, and the living room an area for socializing and playing games.\u00a0 The attic, closed off due to fire-hazard regulations, remains with original wall paper and decorations, though only the ghosts of Ross House\u00a0now hang out there.<\/p>\n

With its consummation, and christening \u201cthe Ronj\u201d for its orange interior, the coffeehouse was received with excitement all around the college.\u00a0 Keri Anne Fox, class of 1998 and author of the first ever Bates Student article to feature The Ronj\u00a0Drifting on a coffee buzz; The Ronj, Bates\u2019 new coffeehouse, opens with much fanfare said, “Just in case you haven\u2019t seen the multitude of posters or followed your nose as it trails the pervasive aroma of Lavazza espresso, the first ever student-run coffeehouse at Bates College opened on Wednesday.\u201d (The Bates Student, September 19, 1997. \u00a0p. 7)<\/p>\n

An article from the Bates Alumnus Magazine\u00a0Bates on the Bean said, \u201cIf heaven is where you want to be, head for 32 Frye Street where a stately College-owned Victorian home has been transformed into a campus coffeehouse.\u201d The article continues, \u201cJumping java.\u00a0 Open since September and managed and staffed exclusively by Bates students, the Ronj \u2013 named for the two-story house\u2019s luscious orange walls \u2013 glows from within like a nocturnal pumpkin.\u201d (Bates Alumnus Magazine, Winter 1998.\u00a0 p.8 )<\/p>\n

The Ronj in its original form served specialty coffees, teas, hot chocolate, and the wildly popular Fresh Samanthas: freshly squeezed \u201cno-preservatives-shake-it-up-baby\u201d juice concoctions.\u00a0 There was an assortment of biscotti, muffins, cookies, and fresh bread with peanut butter in the company of delectable jellies.\u00a0 The Ronj included a psychedelic Bean Bag Room where Indian prints hung from the ceiling above soft pear-shaped recliners, in addition to a cream-colored anteroom with bumper stickers advocating a variety of causes. Thanks to the the Ronj, \u201c\u2019The coffee house culture has finally caught on among students,\u2019 capturing an audience of regulars,\u201d said one of the Ronj\u2019s four original student managers, Rachel Simon \u201998.\u00a0 Since that day, many students have vowed by the Ronj, saying, \u201cI need this jolt of caffeine to get me through the night.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ronj Coffeehouse, located\u00a0at 30 Frye Street, was opened in 1997.\u00a0 Ross…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":[],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_dimp_site_id":"","_dimp_override_contact":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"class_list":["post-57","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/57\/revisions\/115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/ronj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}