Smalltown pride surrounding a high school sports mascot is a common occurrence. In the Pacific Northwest, a handful of nicknames stand out above the rest, such as the Tillamook Cheesemakers, the Camas Papermakers and, of course, the Ridgefield mighty potatoes — or, actually, the Spudders.
A bold letter “R” and some orange and blue along with the little angry potato dude now have a permanent store location inside Ridgefield Floral and Gifts at the corner of Pioneer and Main in downtown.
Rebecca Rorabaugh first grabbed the reins of Ridgefield High School merchandise sales a little over four years ago and has been slinging totes from her car to tables at school events ever since. The retirement of Ridgefield Hardware and Gift in September opened up a staple of a space in downtown Ridgefield. When Ridgefield Floral and Gifts owner Kerry Rylander provided an opportunity for a corner space to be taken over in orange and blue, Spudder Spirit and Co. was born.
“She contacted me and said, because she was seeing my stuff all over town, and she contacted me and said, ‘Hey, we would love to have you guys in here,’” Rorabaugh said. “It just so happened that we had a monthly meeting like two days later, and I’m pretty sure I might have said ‘yes’ to Kerry before I even got approval, because I was so excited, but I went to the meeting, and before I could even finish my spiel, it was a unanimous ‘yes’ because they knew how well our merch does and how it was getting too much to kind of fit the demand.”
Rorabaugh designs the looks of the swag and the logos. She kicked off the Future Spud clothing campaign two and half years ago, and also created the different “Rs.”
“When I first took it over four years ago, I just wanted something simple,” she recalled. “I wanted to kind of have just a bold statement, so I started with the ‘R’ and I basically did like 36 reorders of that, and it was a huge seller. We’re now dabbling into way more youth clothing because we’ve got a huge demand for that.”
That’s a little bit of what shoppers can expect to see on water bottles, hats, shirts, sweaters and more. But the iconic mascot, an angry potato, looks great on clothing, and as a straw-topper, too.
Rorabaugh added that the mascot is one huge reason so many people get so excited because, “This is Spudderville.”
Buying an item from Spudder Spirit and Co. not only shows school and town pride, but also fully supports the schools.
“We’re completely nonprofit,” Rorabaugh said. “We have the three A’s, which are academics, activities and athletics. Every grant that comes through we pretty much pay for. A couple of months ago, the high school was out of seating for the students and they needed all new cafeteria tables, so we bought the whole cafeteria all new tables. Every dime that comes in, our goal is to get it out.”
The best part about being in a corner of Ridgefield Floral and Gifts? All the sales are done at the floral business’s counter, which helps with the hours the merchandise is able to be sold, Rorabaugh said.
Rorabaugh added that the merchandise store will have an official grand opening at the end of January, but in the meantime, the soft launch has been a huge hit around the holidays.
Spudder Spirit and Co. is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturdays 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is closed on Sundays. The shop is located inside Ridgefield Floral and Gifts at 104 North Main Ave. Spudder merchandise can also be bought online at ridgefield-boosters.square.site.
