Dream Weavers
On March 4, a dream came true for four ladies in Garibaldi.
These ladies have at least two things in common: children and
art.
Cassie McDonald was raised in Salem, Oregon. She is a mother
of three who moved to Garibaldi 18 years ago, has been painting
for the last 15 years, and teaching piano part-time for the last
10. She works in oil and watercolor, makes wreaths and is hoping
to do more painting on objects, such as adding a likeness of a
duck to a large dried mushroom from the woods. Cassie's friend,
Margaret Moore is originally from California. She is the mother
of five children and moved to the Garibaldi area six years ago.
Margaret works with pastels and makes quilts and craft items,
tiny houses out of rocks and bird houses, among other skills.
Margaret had two friends, Carolyn Evans and Cindy Grover who also
joined the business.
Carolyn has only lived in the area a little over a year. She
is from California and is a homemaker with five children. She
began her artwork by doing portraits of her children and she works
in watercolors and pastels. In addition she makes christening
dresses and baskets. Projects may include pottery and stained
glass.
Cindy Grover is from Idaho, but moved here from Salt Lake City
in 1991. She is the mother of five children and began making dolls
for them. She now makes themed teddy bears with seasonal outfits.
Combine all of these ladies and a few of their talented relatives
and what do you have? A gallery called Dream Weavers.
The ladies recently renovated approximately 500 square feet in
the corner of what used to be Garibaldi Hardware. They painted
the walls and the floor and the sign out front. They scrubbed
and planted flowers and collected display materials from home,
like a wrought iron plant stand to hold teddy bears or an old
chest of drawers.
They take turns minding the store and each take commissions on
the items of their own artwork that are sold. The gallery portion
of the commission system is pooled to pay the overall store bills.
An upper loft is being prepared for summer tea parties and festive
teapots and cups are being gathered. They are searching for dress-up
clothing and funny hats to add to the atmosphere of fun and dreaming.
Add a food handler's license or two and you may see crumpets at
those tea parties. Already, Herbalife products are available near
the door.
Dream Weavers
Owners: Cassie Mc Donald, Margaret Moore, Carolyn Evans &
Cindy Grover
Address: 301 Garibaldi Avenue
Garibaldi, Oregon 97118
Telephone: 503/322-3809
Hours: 10a - 5p Wed - Sat
Summer Hours expanding to 6 days
Kay's
II Uniform Shop
Kay Ellenson is originally from Minnesota. She came to Longview,
Washington, when her husband transferred for a job with Weyerhaeuser.
She had attended college to study to be a paralegal or corrections
officer, but wound up managing optical company shops in Kelso
and Longview for seven years. In 1992 she began working for a
uniform company in Longview and branched out on her own, opening
Kay's Uniform shop in 1997. She now has three employees there
and opened Kay's II Uniform Shop in Astoria with partner Rose
Marie Curtis.
Rose Marie is from Washington, Kansas, moving to Cathlamet, Washington
when her husband retired from 30 years in the U.S. Navy. She
is the mother of six children and used to stop by Kay's Uniform
Shop to chat. "We talked about the possibility of opening
a shop together and she said she'd like to do that," said
Kay. They opened Kay's II Uniform Shop at 1242 Duane in Astoria
on January 18, 2000. "We had nurses and customers coming
to the Longview shop from this area and asking how soon we might
open here," continued Kay. "Rosie and I came around
looking for empty spaces and ran into Kent Easom." Kent helped
find the tiny space in the back of the Liberty Theater block,
which will soon be expanded into twice its size, opening mid-April.
Kay's carries 19 different clothing lines for medical and dental
offices or restaurants as well as small medical accessories,
Birkenstock and Anywhere shoes and frog-shaped rubber boots for
children and adults. She provides chef's hats for restaurants
and tuxedos/cummerbunds for video rental stores, among other specialties.
The clothes are no-iron, low-care, comfortable designs and while
she does carry the standard nursing "whites," she said
those are generally purchased by newer students. "After a
few months they get their confidence up and start buying the novelty
patterns," said Kay. Novelty pattern clothing comes in a
wide array of pastels as well as prints of frolicking cats, blue
and green aliens, fishes and oriental patterns and more. "The
clothes are so comfortable, "continued Kay, "they come
in an buy some for their spouses, or students buy them, and some
people want things for halloween. I keep a couple of the white
nurse's hats around for that, since nurses generally don't wear
hats to work anymore."
Kay's II Uniform Shop
Owners: Kay Ellenson and
Rose Marie Curtis
Address: 1242 Duane Street
Astoria, Oregon 97103
Telephone: 503/ 338-5758
Fax: 503/338-5759
Website:
uswestdex.com/kaysuniformshop
Hours: 10a - 6p M, T, Thurs, F
11a - 3p Saturday, Closed Sunday
Erickson
Floral Co.
Erickson Floral Co. was first established in 1889. It has had
a few owners since then. Current owners John and Rosemary Samp
purchased the business in 1983.
John is from Michigan and attended Michigan State University
where he studied ornamental horticulture. He came out west on
a internship and met his future wife, Rosemary, whom he calls
"Rosie."
Rosemary hails from Nebraska and North Dakota. She followed her
dad who retired out here after working on large government dam
projects. After she met John Samp, the two, "continued seeing
each other and I never went back home," said John. The couple
now have a five year old son and a new five month old baby girl.
They take turns sharing child rearing and store responsibilities.
" This is not a hobby for us," said John, "and
we put a lot of energy into it. We take pride in it." The
couple immediately began making changes in the store when they
first purchased it and they haven't stopped yet. "When we
first took over the store it was a traditional florist with fresh
flowers and plants. We felt that everything we had we wanted to
offer to the public, so we brought out the ribbons and the baskets
from the back and offered them for sale. We added gift items and
expanded things like greeting cards and dried flowers."
In October, 1999 they expanded all the way through the building
from Commercial Street to Duane and
began offering furniture. Now you will find rooms-full of gifts,
flowers, Beanie Babies , balloons & more! LCB
Erickson Floral Co.
Owners: John & Rosemary Samp
Address: 1295 Commercial Street Astoria, Oregon 97103
Telephone: 503/325-4831
Fax: 503/325-0794
Toll Free: 888/233-0468
Hours: 9a - 5:30p M - F,
9a - 5p Saturday
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