Congratulations to long-time Fish Springs residents Stan and Wendy Kolbus. They've worked hard and long with their S & W Feed and Supply business and now see the rewards of all that hard labor. After working 12 years in smaller facilities they have moved into a 4,899 square-foot building located at 2292 South Carson St., Carson City.
Business is booming for them. They sell all kinds of pet, livestock and farm supplies. Some of the things I saw in the new feed store were the ranch work clothing, horse bridles, bits, hackamores, reins, saddles and saddle blankets. There were bird houses, fancy blue jeans, shirts, buckles and an especially beautiful western coat with a picture of our wild horses woven into the fabric. (I tried it on in case my husband hasn't found a perfect Christmas gift yet for me.)
For domestic animals at home they have a wide selection of premium dog and cat feed, feed bowls, collars, leashes and oh, my goodness, what a selection of doggie treats. This is a good place to fill your cats and dogs Christmas stockings. All sorts of country-style necessary things are there and a whole lot more. Outside in the large parking lot you'll find horse trailers, flat bed trailers, tractors, dump carts for your hay transportation needs and various kinds of ranch equipment for sale.
You can purchase baby chicks, ducklings and turkeys in the spring, hamsters and guinea pigs throughout the year and also lots of breeds of locally raised rabbits. There's a bulletin board where locals can post their free classified ads.
In the middle of the large show room there is a gorgeous Warner stagecoach that is the last replica made for Knott's Berry Farm. Now Stan would like to find some strong draft horses to pull the wonderful stagecoach. Stan and Wendy have been working seven days a week in order to get the new store ready before Christmas. We're really happy to see how great our Fish Springs neighbors are doing. We wish them a wonderful New Year.
Christmas pickle: Our 7-year-old granddaughter loved helping us decorate our Christmas tree last week. We have so many beautiful and special ornaments. You know the kind that brings back memories of years gone by? Well there is one particular Christmas decoration that I hid on the tree where you can hardly see it. It's a green pickle. My grandpa was from Germany and my husband's grandmother was also. There's a legend about the Christmas pickle from Old World Germany that we'd like our grandchildren to experience. It goes like this: The last decoration placed on the Christmas tree was always a pickle that was carefully hidden deep in the boughs. The legend has it that the observant child who found it on Christmas day was blessed with a year of good fortune and a special gift.
I placed the pickle deep in the branches - right at our young granddaughter's eye level. There will be a special gift under the tree for her.
-- Linda Monohan may be reached at 782-5802.
