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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 28, 2005 Essentially Ashland Ashland’s solemate One can never really have too many pairs of shoes Lance Pugh Around the time that Omer Hill was relocating from Klamath Junction to Ashland in 1947 another group was marching past the Plaza and up Main Street in parade formation. Only the shoes of this intrepid lot could be seen beneath the long flowing white sheets and the trademark hoods as the Northwest Knights of the Ku Klux Klan made a physical statement in Ashland, making sure that bigotry, intimidation and violence were alive and well in Southern Oregon. I remember talking to a sheriff’s deputy in 1972 who informed me of the “Sundown Laws,” by which people of color were expected to be out of Ashland by sunset, or the local yahoos would be looking to open up a branch office. The work boots in Ashland were sold at Perrines on the Plaza. Cork boots (also known as caulk boots): leather boots soled with nail points for maximized traction in the woods were standard equipment for the logger. The wooden floors of Perrines and the Log Cabin attested to the sharpness of the spikes. No one thought to ask the burly loggers to leave their boots at the door. No one was that stupid. The Parkview Department Store on the corner of the Plaza (5 N. Main St.) sold more conventional footwear, as did Fortmiller’s up the street. Jacksons Men’s Store also had a fine selection. By 1973, Lithia Grocery brought Birkenstocks to Ashland, which soon dominated the counter-culture scene. Later on, Lithia Park Shoes filled the need for more selection as the town became more fashion conscious. Relocating the shop a few doors down the street was reason enough for a night of revelry, good cheer and fashion for Village Shoes owner Sigrid Fiske. Submitted photo Late in 2003, Sigrid Fiske purchased Village Shoes from Colleen Oliva, who started the business and ran it for four years at 337 E. Main St. Last week, Sigrid signaled her move a couple doors up the street to 369 E. Main St. by throwing a gala fashion show, to which my wife, Annette and I were in attendance. Basically, we were walk-ons. If you recall Frances McDormand’s portrayal of Marge Gunderson in Fargo, you have a pretty good idea of Sigrid’s mannerisms and speech patterns. Add a gut-busting sense of humor, strawberry blond curls on a pixy-sized body and you can almost believe that you’ve just been blindfolded and dropped off in the middle of winter in an alley in Bismark, N.D., there to scurry about in desperation as you search for a way back home, doncha know? The entertainment, hors d’oeurves and models made the night slip by like an oiled snake. I had things pretty much under control until the final, outrageously beautiful model, Aisha Wand of Danceworks, strode through, turning the room into one glassy-eyed gasp. Fortunately, this could not be seen from the street, or tow trucks as far away as Redding would have been rolling to help unwind the bumpers. As it was, I decorated my sweater with two of Ron Roth’s neighborly gift of baskets of delicious won tons, freshly coated, by my hand, in golden Dijon mustard. Fortunately, I was not near the spread laid out by The Morical House Garden Inn and Inspired Catering or I would might have gotten buried by tables full of goodies while a host of hungry hunted me down. Oh Behave! provided the fashions for the show, including the traffic-stopping gown that Aisha unleashed on the crowd. Owners Spirit Wrezinsky and Sarah Adams made sure the spectators were hypnotized in an exotic blend of clothing and accessories. The new location for Village Shoes (www.village-shoes.com) is approximately three times the size of the old, allowing more than five people to shop at a time, which, I’m told, is better for business. It is spacious, well-displayed and full of merchandise like Fluevog, Bastad, BCBGirls, Kumpfs and Fornarina. Sigrid told me that a “starter set” of shoes was $100 a pair. The glint in her eyes was like a green flash from a major lighthouse, so I’m really not sure if she was kidding. Trouble is, Annette thinks $100 a pair is just a drop in the old shoe bucket. When we got back home I just couldn’t get Fargo out of my mind, so I went to www.themoviefargo.com and read the following: “Here’s where we tell ya about ‘Fargo da movie,’” Brainerd and da funny lookin’ guys. Dem funny lookin’ guys dun musta bin all from outta state der, coz we all real good lookin’ guys up here, doncha know?” Future columns will focus on various businesses as well as key individuals and events that will lead the charge from times past to lend perspective to the revival of Ashland. Send your favorite remembrances to: [email protected]. 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