Ballad Town's History Guides Griego's Passion For Preservation

Elle Griego in a long dress, standing in a room with an antique barber's chair. a display with shaving mugs, and a mannequin wearing clothing from the 1890s. — Elle Griego '26 stands in front of a display of memorabilia from Forest Grove's former Gay 90s Festival in Friends of Historic Forest Grove's Old Train Station Museum. Griego conducted hours of research on the festival and the city's All-Northwest Barbershop Contest in addition to her studies at Pacific. Photo by Thomas Lal.

Once upon a time, between the late 1940s and early 1990s, Forest Grove stepped into the Wayback Machine one week each year for a trip to the 1890s.

Business leaders grew beards and handlebar mustaches. Women marched in parades in flowing skirts and large hats, while others danced the can-can in a community-wide revue. Singers dressed as cops directed traffic downtown. Quartets of singers dressed in boater hats, bow ties, and striped vests, including ��Ƶ students and faculty, regaled listeners with tight barbershop harmonies.

While remnants of the city’s heritage as Ballad Town USA remain, the city’s former Gay ’90s Festival and All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest have been relegated to memory. But thanks to recent Pacific alumna Elle Griego ’26, the memories are being preserved for future generations.

“Nostalgia is something that has always been interesting to me as something to study,” said Griego, who graduated in May 2026 with majors in history and French. “And I remember seeing these photographs with these costumes and parades.”

Those photographs were in binders that Griego came across at the , just blocks from Pacific’s Forest Grove Campus, where she was volunteering to catalog the organization’s photos and documents. The more that she looked through the materials, the more interested she became in learning about this moment in the city’s history.

“It was super intriguing,” she said. “I wanted to wrap my hands around why people were so interested in the 1890s. And when I finished the project, I didn’t feel like I was done.”

So alongside her classwork, a study abroad trip to France and two senior capstone projects, Griego has devoted hours to documenting memories of Ballad Town USA for future generations.

The Ballad Town project, and others that she worked on through her student job in the ��Ƶ Archives, added fuel to the history bug that is shaping Griego’s career.

A Lifelong Passion

Hand holding a photo above table full of historic photos. — Professional photos by famed Portland commercial photographer Allan J. de Lay, like these housed in the ��Ƶ Archives, inspired Elle Griego '26 to start her research into the history of the Gay 90s Festival and All-Northwest Barbershop Contest. Photo by Thomas Lal.

Born in England to a military family, Griego spent much of her early life moving all over the U.S., from California to Nebraska to Arizona to Bend, Oregon, before her family moved to Forest Grove just before she enrolled at Pacific. At every stop, the history of whatever community she was in hooked her.

“I feel like ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been interested in the past,” she said.

It started with visits to her grandmother’s home, where she heard stories of the Oregon Trail and her family’s immigrant ancestors from Ireland. She then started reading historical fiction and also developed an interest in World War II history.

As a high school student, Griego worked at a tourist gift shop in downtown Bend, where she took on the role of an unofficial tour guide, telling visitors about the history of the city and sights to see.

When Griego moved to Forest Grove, the history of the community helped shaped the course of her Pacific academic career. Just before her first year, Griego visited the Forest Grove Campus for the , a classic car show hosted each July by the .

On a tour of Old College Hall at Concours, she became acquainted with Pacific staff member David Morelli and his wife, Mary Jo, members of Friends of Historic Forest Grove. It wasn’t long before she was volunteering at the group’s Old Train Station Museum and doing her own research into Forest Grove’s history.

“I think it is really good for us to reflect on this festival, because it was a time when Forest Grove came together, when civic life was strong in our community.”

— Elle Griego '26

On campus, Griego worked in the , where her interest in local history grew. She took on assignments cataloging and digitizing the and collections, making items available worldwide for researchers and fellow history fans.

When Les AuCoin Hall was dedicated in September 2024, university archivist appointed Griego to represent the archives on the planning committee, including assisting with the development of a display on AuCoin’s life installed on the second floor of the building.

“Elle has done some exciting work in the archives during her time at Pacific,” said Guggemos. “She worked not only on the AuCoin project, but also processed online oral histories, historic photographs and documents for . Her work has helped make Pacific’s collections freely accessible to researchers around the world.”

Griego’s Pacific experience confirmed a purpose in history. She plans to take a gap year to work and volunteer with history organizations before pursuing a master’s degree in library science.

“I would love to have a future in archives or libraries in some capacity, because I’ve really developed a passion for preservation and helping people access historical resources,” Griego said. “When I came to Pacific, I didn’t necessarily have that in mind. It is from working in the archives and with Friends of Historic Forest Grove that I’ve found this passion.”

Ballad Town USA

Main in a striped coat on stage points his hands past a microphone. — Ralph Shumm, a former ��Ƶ business manager and trustee, is credited with developing the initial concept for the All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest. Photo courtesy of WashingtonCountyHeritage.org.

The binders of photographs that Griego cataloged at the Old Train Station, many by famed Portland-based photographer Allan DeLay, inspired her to learn more about the Gay ’90s Festival.

“I remember seeing the photographs, and there was such an artistic value to them,” said Griego. “They were so well shot, so professionally done. A lot of small towns like Forest Grove have amateur photography of things like this, but these were so well done.”

The All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest began in 1947 when a group of local business leaders, all members of the Forest Grove Gleemen, decided to expand their love for singing into a competition. According to Griego, the group included several Pacific staff members, including trustee Ralph Shumm, professors Charles Trombley and Hap Hingston, and bookstore manager George Horner ’44.

According to an account written by Horner for the contest’s 60th anniversary program, Shumm was inspired to start Forest Grove’s contest by reading an article about a similar contest in the eastern U.S. The Gay ’90s Festival was an outgrowth of the barbershop contest, carrying through the contest’s sense of nostalgia for the turn of the 20th Century.

“I think, as a town, people were looking to have fun,” said Griego, drawing from the that she has collected on the festival’s origins. “This was before TV, and the town was more self-contained. People were more involved in civic life, and this was a way for people to have fun.”

Both the contest and the festival grew. Within 10 years, the Barbershop Ballad Contest was featured nationally on both radio and television. The festival grew into a week full of activities where, seemingly, everyone dressed in period costume. The week culminated with a parade through downtown Forest Grove and, of course, the barbershop contest.

Interest in both the festival and the barbershop contest waned starting in the 1970s. The Gay ’90s Festival lasted until the early 1990s when, according to Griego, the woman organizing the parade moved from Forest Grove, and no one stepped up to take over.

The Forest Grove Gleemen, which changed its name to the Westside Singers in the 1980s, hosted the All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest until 2012. For many of those years, the contest was staged in the Stoller Center gymnasium. The Tualatin Valley Harmony Masters took over until the last contest was staged in 2018.

Barbershop quartet with men in period costume. — The Four Flats, a quartet from Newberg, Oregon, won the first two All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contests. This photo is one of many taken by Allan J. de Lay, whose work inspired the research on the contest and the Gay 90s Festival conducted by Elle Griego '26. Photo courtesy of WashingtonCountyHeritage.org.

Griego believes that the march of time, the shifting priorities of the community, and more options for entertainment caused the demise of the Gay ’90s Festival and other community festivals across the country.

“Civic life declined. People had less time for volunteerism,” she believes. “Less people were interested because they had other stuff to do, like watching TV on the weekend, instead of going and participating in their community.

“There were also a lot more small businesses, so it was easier to take time off and participate in the festivities, or run a committee, or help with the competition,” Griego added. “Now, many people work outside of Forest Grove or work for a bigger corporation, and they don’t give people time off for people to run a festival or parade.”

Griego hopes to continue her work in documenting both the festival and the barbershop contest in order to provide context to future generations of a time when Forest Grove looked to have some fun by taking a step back to the 1890s.

“If we don’t have the context, it’s going to be really confusing for people to look back on,” she said. “I think it is really good for us to reflect on this festival, because it was a time when Forest Grove came together, when civic life was strong in our community.”