Here's a nice shot of the street in front of our building (which is about a half block down on the left side) in the early 1920's I'd guess - based on the cars. Interesting that the iron rail by the stairway on the left is still there. Lamp posts have been replaced with modern ones that look much like these originals. Utilities have been undergrounded so the poles and wires are gone now. The building on the left is still a bank. Note the dresses on display in the window on the right.

As we anticipated - once our weather broke things got much better. Last Sunday broke records for the busiest Sunday ever. Fishing season sort of defines our business season. From the last Saturday in April through November 15 is our busy time. This year - due to all the rain and snow - the river is still running very high and almost unfishable. Fishing gear sales haven't been real hot but we got slammed on gardening things. Thought we were prepared for the first rush but within a couple of days got cleaned out on a lot of items - insect sprays, sprinkler parts and potting soil to name a few. Re-orders are now bringing us back up. Paint sales are taking off - mainly interior products now but exterior paints will take off soon. Our little model railroad section is doing well too. I think our reputation has spread and we're getting a lot of out of town customers who hear about us and drive to see. Not uncommon for customers to buy a half dozen railroad cars at one time. Our tourist business - if gas prices ($3.47 right now) don't totally kill it - will begin to pick up soon and really take off when school is out at the end of the month. I need to beef up our "giftware" section to appeal to those customers. We try to emphasize old-timey collectable house and garden items that people don't see in the cities. Another of those areas where we have worked to get a reputation for having unusual things. It's a nice time of the year and it feels like a nice summer coming.