Support your downtown

Cheryl Gorsuch chimes in shopping locally

Mar 27, 2008

Pioneer [pahy-uh-neer] — noun
To open or prepare for others to follow: One that originates or helps open up a new line of thought or activity.

We opened our doors in 1985. A few other antiques shops and local businesses were here at that time. Memory Mall, The Time Machine — they have long since retired…

It has been said that you could shoot a cannon down Broadway at that time and no one would notice. (Not that any of us did that at the time, honestly.)

I consider Sanford and Son a "present day" pioneer business.

We have been here for the often-mentioned terms such as: "modification, urbanization, gentrification, revitalization, beautification and the whatyouneedifications."

We have seen shop owners perspire, retire and expire.

Always changing and evolving…..

We helped with the start of the Tacoma Farmers Market when we had it here on Antique Row, by closing our street to car traffic, giving our electricity, water, bathrooms, whatever needed to get the foot traffic here.

The same with First Night Tacoma.

The same with the Urban Arts Festival.

We would do it again for any other burgeoning festival, etc…..

We started the S.O.B. (Save Our Buildings) movement when the City of Tacoma thought the best thing that could happen to Tacoma’s heart was to place a Big Box Multiplex right smack in the middle of it along with the other Big Box names. We fought that and WE WON! On occasion, a small voice CAN be heard, but you CANNOT back down!!

There are still some folks who believe that what we need is a big box "anchor" to bring the hoards down here.  I say NUTS to that!!

Oh yea, make this downtown look just like all of the downtowns in too many cities of America. Homogenization ……mmmm mmmm good.

I pray that we can keep them at bay.

In the not to far away future our children will be bringing their children here to see what a REAL downtown should look like (one with a HEART and a SOUL!). We will be the model for the re-creation of downtowns after they have torn down the catastrophic big box amalgamation.

We here at Sanford and Son are doing our best to go with the flow of change. Hence ,The Middle Floor Merchants, and now NINE new storefronts on the Commerce Level.

It is about keeping the heart pumping in the body of downtown. Small business IS the heart. The infrastructure …the pioneer … the local "Mom and Pop."

I find it interesting, no, curious, listening to folks speak about the empty storefronts in the downtown core. The same folks who may work in an office downtown, the same folks who get in their cars at 5:01 and drive home or head to the mall and do not return until 9:01 the next day.

Yes of course there are a few landlords who don’t give a rat’s ass about their building being empty or not. I would have to say that that is mostly NOT the case.

    View these local masterpieces in our album 'my photos I'

These hand beveled windows were made by the Puget Sound Art Glass Company at the turn of the century for the World's Fair that was held up in Seattle in 1909. (Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition).
 
The bevels on these windows were done by hand by young apprentices.

The building that housed these spectacular local treasures was torn down sometime in the middle of the last century.
One of the 'young apprentices' saved the windows that you see and was able to take them to his barn in Startup, WA.
There they remained out in the elements for several years.
During that time the window with the hand painted cabin and the center window with the floral and fleur-de-lis motif 'melted' into the ground.

Years passed and in 1985 Sanford and Son received a phone call about a 'buried local treasure'….
Sanford and Son purchased the windows from the widow of the 'young apprentice'.  Since the windows had 'melted' into the sod around the barn, they had to be dug out of three feet of sod. It took a glass truck, 6 men and 2 cases of beer to move them.
 The window featuring the Cornucopia was found leaning against the barn inside and has not been refurbished.  The window with the Mile Post 39 Log cabin took one and a half years to restore and the window with the floral and fleur-de-lis motif took two years to restore. 

They are the largest fully beveled windows in the world.
The restoration was completed by Glass Artist Richard Taylor.  A local artist, you may also view some of his work at The Pantages, Rialto, and Blue Mouse Theatres.

Oh my goodness!!! What an incredible time we all had at The Prom!!!

Sanford and Son would like to say a big THANK YOU to the Weekly Volcano for believing in this event from the beginning and being there!     A big fat THANK YOU to our own hometown bands  Girl Trouble and The Fuc*ing Eagles!!!  Man oh man you guys rock.!!!!!  It was so kind of you to come and play and support such a wonderful cause.  I realize it was for the kids, but we were the ones there that enjoyed every second of your performances!!   THANK YOU Tony Rice for coming in and getting us on the dance floor with your funky music!  Tony, you are  such a professional! THANK YOU Stadium Bistro for hosting a well stocked Bar and the superb food!  We are so grateful! THANK YOU   To Chaundra Williams for all of your gracious help with EVERYTHING!  THANK YOU Ryan for  donating  your talent to the fab. poster!! Thank you Dax Williams for your expertise in the lighting and setting that up for us!   THANK  YOU Victor  for  giving it your all in the decorating ! Superb!THANK YOU  Miss Gretchen Baily for all of your help and planning we could not have done it without you my dear!! THANK YOU Mindy Barker  for that beautiful backdrop and all of your talent involved!!   THANK YOU Dave Graham for your help with the sound and set up etc. etc.     THANK YOU  Middle Floor Merchants for co-hosting this event with us and all of you that pitched in with your positive feedback, the set up, the clean up, the door, well........thank you for everything!!!   Thank you Amber for helping with a big smile when we needed it at the end.....THANK YOU PAUL AND DEBORAH for such a professional job well done with the photography and giving us our first "Prom" memories.  Beautiful!!       A big Thank you to all of you on The Prom comittee!!!   JOB WELL DONE!!      We can't wait until next year!!       XXOO