The Road to the Stars...

This month, Ad Astra Books & Coffee House celebrates its 10 year anniversary!! What a long, strange trip its been!

From the very moment it was conceived, Ad Astra has been a social experiment of sorts for a place like Salina, Kansas. Started in 2011 as a worker-owned cooperative, we have never been your typical "For Profit" business. Our priority is the cultural vibrancy of Salina, and of Kansas, and our goal has always been to put Ad Astra into the hands of the community, whether it be through an Open Mic on our stage, a meeting place for friends or business associates, or a space for young kids to come and play "screen-free."

But these 10 years have certainly not been easy ones. The state motto we're named for, "Ad Astra Per Aspera," (To the Stars Through Difficulty) has, at times, felt like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Scratching and clawing our way through the first few years in what had, for some time, been a dying downtown, we were thrilled when the Downtown Renovation Project came up. We thought, "We've done it! We've helped bring enough attention to an already bubbling underbelly of cultural interest, and now its really gonna happen!"

Well--those two years of Downtown construction came at a cost. Some local businesses moved away to avoid the hardship of construction, some ended up closing their doors for good. It was tough, super tough. But we held on by a thread, and there was that light at the end of the tunnel to cling to. By the end of 2019, we could almost touch it!

ENTER---COVID

After two years of reduced income due to the reduced traffic of road construction, but two years of UN-reduced rent due to now increasing property values, what we needed was a HUGE "Welcome Back!"

What we got instead was a HUGE "Welcome to Quarantine!" and "the new normal."

As you well know, THAT SUCKED (is still sucking)! But through the dedication of both employees and customers alike, and--let's be honest--some government grant money, AD ASTRA IS STILL HERE!!

We did what we could to get through, same as it ever was. And not ALL of the last 10 years have been difficult! In 2017, we created 'The Cash Hollistah Scholarship' for local graduating seniors who are involved in their communities. Amid the pandemic, when uncertainty abounded, we started 'The Cause Latte,' raising money every month for non-profits and local charities. There have been so many amazing things happen here, and we've been chomping at the bit to get back to our big events, like Open Mic Nights, in-person live music, author readings, poetry nights, and slinging hot cocoa during real-life parades that actually go down Santa Fe.

But, per aspera, my dears...per aspera.

The rumors you've been hearing are true! At least one of them anyway...Ad Astra is moving!

A full decade in this building so many of us at one time or another have called our second home. And now--looking forward into the next decade in a new location.

This is our official announcement---

Ad Astra will be relocating to 135 N. Santa Fe (literally only 3 doors down) in the early part of 2022. There is no offical date yet, but don't worry---we'll be keeping you up-to-date through our social media pages and this new blog.

Today, I am thankful that Ad Astra is now more of a community than ever before. We are Localists, dedicated to this place, and what we've come through together in this past decade has brought us closer in so many ways.

We're thrilled that we'll still be nestled in the heart of our beautiful, "newly" renovated Downtown. And our dedication remains to honoring the past, the present, and the future of these Great Plains.

The fickle Kansas wind may blow and blow and blow, but ten years ago, we planted the seeds, and over a decade we've grown our roots deep, for you, for us, for Downtown, for Salina, for Kansas...for culture and for community.

Stay tuned for more past, present, and future as we celebrate our 10 year anniversary all month long!

Onward To the Stars!

Till soon...Tammy