Taste of home
With hundreds of farms, craftspeople and artisans in the Pacific Northwest, even Dorene Kirkingburg – while setting up her locally-made gift store in Olde Towne St. Helens – is learning of new regional products everyday.
Kirkingburg, 50, is what you might call an expert on Northwest wares.
Since 2001, after being laid off from construction work, the Warren resident started up a gift basket website (www.oregonmaidengiftbaskets.com) to supplement her income. It took off quickly, becoming so successful that she began shipping off basket after basket across the country.
Oregon-made products, she learned, are not just popular here. Even those cheeseheads in Wisconsin, for example, have a taste for Tillamook-brand cheese.
Now Kirkingburg is set to open up Oregon Maiden’s first real life store.
The shelves are half full now, but starting Friday they will be bursting with local products: smoked salmon, jam, hazelnuts, cheese, microbrews, chocolates and pieces of art. All the items will be marked with information on who made them and where they are from.
