Blue, pink, and red neon flickers every night against the Boise skyline on Grove Street—light that once hung over storefronts now illuminating a different kind of memory. For longtime resident Vangie Osborn, the glow marks the culmination of decades spent tracking down, rescuing, and restoring Boise’s vintage signs—work that, over time, required more patience than she first imagined.
The result is the Neon Grove, the city’s first outdoor gallery of historic neon.
The idea traces back to a moment Osborn nearly passed by.
After graduating from Boise State University in 1974, she worked for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. While scouting retail space for a fundraiser, she came across two forgotten signs: the Royal Optical eyeglasses and a coffee cup from the Quickie Café. When she asked about them, she learned they were no longer wanted.
“At the time I passed on accepting the signs,” she said. “But a few years later I had the idea to create an installation in a small pocket park using those signs and maybe two or three others.”
The thought stayed with her. Eventually, she went back for the signs—and began noticing others.
What began as a modest concept gradually took shape as something more ambitious. Osborn founded the nonprofit Signs of Our Times, dedicating years to locating, preserving, and restoring pieces of Boise’s commercial past—often relying on relationships, persistence, and a willingness to keep moving the idea forward even when progress came slowly. Over time, the collection grew to dozens of signs, many of them neon, each tied to a business that once helped define the city’s streets.
“Many of my friends have helped along the way,” she said. “My two partners, Will Spearman and Michael Baltzell, along with Dwaine Carver, have been essential.”
From the beginning, Osborn envisioned the signs as part of the public landscape. Today, the City of Boise owns the Neon Grove, located along Grove Street between 12th and 13th Streets—close to where many of the signs originally hung. Partnerships with local businesses, including Anthony Guho’s Capitol City Downtown Development, and a network of sign specialists helped bring the project into the city’s Arts & History Department.
In early 2026, the broader Rebuild Linen Blocks project, which includes the Neon Grove, received a National Recognition Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies.
For Osborn, the timeline was never exact.
“I’ve had many supporters over the years—although some began to wonder if I’d ever finish the project,” she said with a laugh. “Life gets in the way.”
In October 2025, about 200 people gathered for the ribbon-cutting and first lighting. As the signs flickered on, many in the crowd recognized pieces of their own past—familiar shapes and colors returning to view in a new setting.
“People constantly tell me the signs remind them of businesses and Boise in their youth,” she said. “Even people who didn’t grow up here find them nostalgic.”
Some moments stood out. “The daughter of Chuck Dragoo was there, along with the woman who had owned the Sands,” she said. “Both talked about how seeing the signs again brought back so many memories. It reaffirmed how important it is to honor the past.”
The work, she says, is not finished.
Osborn is preparing to install the Cub Tavern sign—once located where Bar Gernika stands today—on the Smith Building at 1015 Main Street. Plans also include returning the 1950s Idanha neon sign to its building and restoring the “Boise” portion of the Hotel Boise sign.
“My original idea—after the pocket park—was to install a collection of signs in a downtown alley to create an old streetscape,” she said.
She continues to search for others, including the rotating shoe from King’s that once stood at 8th and Idaho. Many of the signs she has collected over the years are still waiting—stored, restored, or in progress—until the right place can be found for them.
“I’d be thrilled to locate any of the many neon signs that once gave Boise its glow.”
Looking back, Osborn says persistence mattered most.
“I hate to quote Nike,” she said. “But the advice is simple: just do it. Don’t let a good idea die.”