community
Cattails and Herons: Gifts, Dolls and More
block apart on Corey Hill and at-
tended Vernonia High School to-
gether; Keith was a year ahead of
Allyson in school. Both moved
away and married following
graduation. Several years ago,
when both were divorced and
living about two hours apart in
California, they reconnected on-
line. They moved back to Ver-
nonia together and married about
12 years ago.
The business name, Cat-
tails and Herons, is a direct refer-
ence to the Vernonia Mill Pond,
a favorite local spot of Allyson
and Keith.
The doll collection really
is the highlight of the shop. Allyson says
that she sold approximately 200 dolls in
just the few weeks they were open be-
fore Christmas, and has hundreds and
hundreds more that she will bring out
to display as space allows. Right now
the exhibit is mostly made up of Barbie
dolls, all still in the orig-
inal packaging, mostly
because they were the
easiest to price, says
Allyson. “The adults
seem to enjoy them as
much or maybe more
than the children that
come in,” says Allyson.
“They find ones they
owned when they were
young and really enjoy
looking through them.”
The collection does in-
clude many other types
of dolls; a slow perusal
of the collection uncov-
ered unusual figurines
of John Wayne and
Hillary Clinton along
with an assortment of
others.
Allyson says
her mother always
wanted to exhibit the
dolls in a museum type
setting for everyone to
enjoy, and she and Al-
lyson did have a store
front in Vernonia for a
short time several years
ago right across the
street from their current
location. Allyson sold
antiques in one half
of the building while
Kathleen displayed her
dolls in the other half.
2016
9
continued from front page
selected local artists. Another interesting
idea of Allyson’s is to have a year
round holiday tree that will highlight
decorations for each seasonal holiday;
next on the schedule are Valentine’s
decorations.
“People seem to be excited to
have another store in town and I think it
helps everyone and the whole commu-
nity,” says Allyson. “People coming to
visit are a bit surprised to find so many
cute little shops.”
Cattails and Herons is located at 866
Bridge Street. They are open 12-4 Tues-
day thru Friday, 11-5 on Saturdays, and
1-4 on Sundays.
Allyson said shoppers would become
frustrated that they couldn’t purchase
any of the dolls. Now people can enjoy
and appreciate Kathleen’s collection and
purchase the dolls.
Allyson says she will continue
to bring in new items and continue to
carry gift items that sell well. She is also
considering
f e a t u r i n g
work from
Vernonia’s Creekside
Adult Foster Home, LLC
Long Term Residential Care
Medicaid and Private Pay Accepted
Adult Day Care and Respite Care also Available
Call for a visit and walk through.
january7
Vicki Perry
Lonnie Perry
Owners/Providers
Mariolino’s
Pizza & Grill
Open for
breakfast, lunch & dinner
Daily Specials
We have ice cream!
Cones-Shakes-Sundaes
11847 Keasey Rd.
Vernonia, OR 97064
Phone: 503-429-3040
Fax: 503-429-1442
vcp345@frontier.com
Serving Vernonia since 1970
721 Madison Avenue, Vernonia
(503) 429-5018
