For the week of June 23, 1999  thru June 29, 1999  

Bleating worked


"Bah" turned to "Ye-e-e-es" this week when the Ketchum City Council changed its mind and decided to approve a new version of a landmark downtown sign.

A piece of old Ketchum will return when the "Eat More Lamb" sign returns to the old Lane Mercantile building on the corner of Main Street and Sun Valley Road.

The sign will not be a restoration, but a new sign in the old style. It will be painted on the back of the building, instead of on the side. Nonetheless, the sign will bring back a taste of the turn of the century when sheep was king.

The City Council had rejected the proposed sign because it does not comply with its modern sign restrictions. The rejection upset Blaine County ranchers, residents and Millie Wiggins, a long-time retailer. All bleated in protest. They pointed to the creeping loss of Ketchum’s old character.

The city has few historic buildings left to protect. The Lane Mercantile building is the best of them of all, the soul of downtown. Its historic flavor is central to preserving what’s left of the town’s ranching and mining heritage.

In the first two decades of the century, more sheep were shipped from Ketchum than anywhere in the country. Like silver ore before them and skiers after, sheep became the reason Union Pacific Railroad operated in the Wood River Valley. The railhead was located in what is now the city’s light industrial area.

The sign makes sense for resort marketing as well as for historical preservation. Visitors used to remember the sign. There was nothing like it anywhere. Often as not, the sign elicited a chuckle, but it was never forgotten.

Kudos to the council for recognizing its rejection as a woolly minded moment and changing a baaa-d decision.

 

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