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M a r c h 2 3 , 2 0 1 1 • Vo l . 4 • N o . 1 2 • w w w.T h e W e e k l y S u n . c o m
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s t a n l e y • F a i r f i e l d • S h o sh o n e • P i c a b o
Bellevue Elementary students celebrate College Aspirations Project
Ski Hall of Fame honors Muffy Davis Page 3
Kane reviews Weir’s latest, The Way Back Page 10
Mountain Masters wrap another season read about it on PaGe 4
Page 14
Gold Mine’s Jan Mason spins a few
memorable stories Story and Photos By KAREN BOSSICK
J
also found plenty of cash in the pockets of clothing Sun Valley’s residents have donated. Some of it wasn’t petty cash, either. “Eighteen hundred dollars, eleven hundred dollars… often the people would tell us, ‘I didn’t miss it,’ ” Mason said. “Fortunately, I have a very honest staff—we pride ourselves on reconnecting lost things with their owners.” The Gold Mine is arguably the biggest tourist attraction in Sun Valley after Bald Mountain and Sun Valley Lodge. Visitors come from all over the United States looking for bargain fur coats and never-worn Bogner ski outfits after reading of the shop in “USA Today,” “The New York Times,” “Vanity Fair,” and other publications. Mason found The Gold Mine a godsend when she and her husband Kirk moved to Sun Valley from Maui. “When we lived in Alaska,
we bought all our clothes out of catalogs. And Hawaii was so easy to dress because you didn’t need much,” said Mason, a New York native who majored in English literature at Florida State University. “When I came here, I needed to spring for an entire new wardrobe and I fell for the handmade Norwegian sweaters. I bought too many and ended up re-donating many of them.” Over the years, The Gold Mine has expanded from a corner in a miner’s cabin to its current location. That building has expanded over what once was a driveway. And Gold Mine employees now spend much of their time working underground in a 3,400-squarefoot basement beneath Tully’s Coffee. That basement currently houses springwear awaiting The Gold Mine’s Spring Sale on April 6. Patio furniture, golf clubs and bicycles sit in the basement of The Community Library waiting to emerge from hibernation. “If you don’t see what you want, just ask. We’ve probably got it stored away,” said Mason. The Gold Mine just started to post some of its items on eBay, said Mason. And, guess what? “We also get calls from people out of state who think this is an actual working gold mine,” Mason said. “They want to give us e Gold Mine their Th t ge to e ob ardr much of her w resumé.” ly contributed
an Mason was used to taking in donations of Giorgio Armani sweaters for The Gold Mine. But a Bedouin tent? The Ketchum thrift store found itself the beneficiary of a favor a donor did for a Saudi Arabian prince. “The shipping alone cost $700,” recalled Mason. “We set it up on the front lawn and we sold it right away.” Presumably, The Gold Mine will keep on getting such unusual donations as it heads into year 57. But Mason won’t have to worry about what to do with them. She’s retiring from her managerial post this week after nearly 23 years with the store. The Community Library, which receives nearly a third of its budget from The Gold Mine, is holding a low-key, no-speech farewell party for Mason at 6 p.m. Friday at the library. Friends are encouraged to wear their favorite Gold Mine outfit to the party. Mason says she never had a dull day working at the store. Once, someone donated a vintage jeep, which a Texan promptly snapped up and had hauled away to his Texas ranch. The store has received a dress Audrey Hepburn was purported to have worn and a rare signed Hunter Thompson book worth $350. One snowy day workers even discovered a rabbit in a cage outside the store as they were closing. It took one minute to find an owner, Mason said. Mason’s eight fullShearer not on time and three partere, as well. Ac tress Norma she shopped th g, in time employees have up and runn
DID YOU KNOW?
Mike Murphy to hang it up
nexStage Theatre
tws
Jan Mason will retire on Friday, following in the footsteps of her husband Kirk who retired as head of Ketchum’s Parks Department a few months ago. “The best part is I’m not leaving town so I’ll still get to go to The Gold Mine,” she said.
“We also get calls from people out of state, who think this is an actual working gold mine. They want to give us their resumé.” –Jan Mason 23-year Manager of the Gold Mine Thrift Shop in Ketchum
presents
By KAREN BOSSICK
S
un Valley’s Funny Guy Mike Murphy will wrap up 34 years of laughs with three special shows Marcy 29 and 30 and April 1 in Sun Valley’s Boiler Room. And it is already a howlin’ success, in more ways than one. Sun Valley sold out all the $10 tickets an hour after they went on sale.
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April 1 - 10 nexStage Theatre $20 Adults/$10 Students 208-726-4TKS