Usually if someone calls and want’s to bring 25 or 30 teenagers( who are not  going to spend a dime,) to my store, I’d be rather leary. But when Montana’s  Poet  Laureate, Sheryl Noethe, called and wanted to bring  her high school  poetry students to the  store for a reading, it was a no brainer.  Not only do I have a love of poetry, but Ms. Noethe and Circle Square have some history. In 1995, PBS made a film of her poem “Goodwill Thrift Store, Missoula“  with Circle Square sitting in for the, by then ,defunct downtown Goodwill. So it was super cool to have her come back and read the poem “in situ,”  and teach the student’s how any object or happening can be the genesis of a poem.

Gladys hard at work on a reclaimation project, sporting a WW2 submariner leather coat.

Our mystery shopper rocks out in the circle square.  photo by Raven Sankey

Photo by Tony Demin for the New York Times

Got an email from my son Luke to check out this article in the New York Times about politics in Montana. Wait a minute, thats the front window of the store! Sweet. Unfortunately they didn’t give the store a plug but still very cool. I remember the girl and thought the guy taking pictures had an awfully nice camera. The hat is off the rack from circle square and what you can’t see is her teeshirt says VOTE F*#ckers.