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Lolygaggers: A Store With An Unusual Name And Even More Unusual Merchandise

Tuesday October 2, 2007

By Ed Barna

    Rick Viens has found a way to keep Frog Hollow hopping.

    Lollygaggers, the store he has opened in the lower floor of the Frog Hollow district's Star Mill with help from his wife Heather, his daughter Paige and his son Brett, adds a unique ambience of fun-loving,  lighthearted playfulness to the historic downtown area. It's the kind of place where people go when they have trouble finding something different for gifts (or where they go first to avoid the difficulty), or where they stop in just to see something that lifts their spirits or gives them a good laugh.

    You might call it a medical clinic, if you believe in the old saying that we really need only three physicians: Doctor Diet, Doctor Rest, and Doctor Merryman. But others might prefer to regard it as a stealth school, since Viens keeps an eye out for fun things to do that also build knowledge or keep wits agile.

    But fun is number one. “To have fun” is Viens' definition of “lollygag,” a word that one dictionary said can also mean “to spend time aimlessly,” or to “idle,” or to “dawdle”.

    He's not a lazy man. He knows the high-pressure life-he worked his way up to being an auto sales manager-but in the end, he said no thanks, thanks a car lot. “Let's face it, it's a crazy world, and we should take more time to lollygag,” Viens said when interviewed. “We all work hard and lead busy lives. But just as exercise is important for the mind and body, it is important to lollygag as well.”

    “It was simply time for a change and the idea of a family run business ignited an old flame within me,” he said. Look for that flame in the smile with which he greets customers: there's nothing like doing something you love for a living.

    So, what sorts of things does Lollygaggers carry?

    Back a half century ago (speaking here from personal experience) you could get a book about Zorro that included a swordfight you could watch. Up in one corner of every other page was a cartoon, each cartoon a little different from the ones ahead and behind, so that if you thumbed the pages and let them go one by one, you would see a mini-cartoon of Zorro in action.

    “Flip books,” said Viens. He has modern versions, so a new generation can watch the miracle of a cartoon they made happen themselves, and in the process learn how the movies (sometimes called motion pictures) simulate real life.

    Some of his items are so simple that a lot of stores don't have them-not enough profit margin. Slinkies, for instance, or gyroscopes, which teach principles of conservation of momentum long before kids are of an age to take a physics class or wonder why movement-reduction lenses work.

    There are educational games and just plain board games and games that build hand-eye coordination. Did you ever play the one where you catapult monkeys with magnetic paws and feet into the air and try to create as big a monkey tower as you can? (The record is 14 levels high.)

    Blocks turn into cars, if assembled that way. Mystery books turn into science lessons. Minutes turn into hours.

    The store is for kids of all ages. Wondering what to get Dad for his birthday? Get him a tie-a washboard tie, made of real corrugated metal, complete with a couple of thimbles so it can be played like a washboard in a jug band. Get him a kazoo, too, and he'll be a one-man-band.

    Or if he plays golf, get him (or her, for that matter) the miniature golf game that aims magnetic marbles at black-painted “holes” on a metal course. For those of many ages, there are tee shirts and sweatshirts, some with simple proud-of-your-town or proud-of-your-state words, and some with far more humorous lettering or artwork.
    Chances are there will always be something new to see and try, because one of Viens' forms of fun is going to trade shows where inventive people try to find buyers for original products. Meeting those minds can be fascinating, he said.

    That ad phrase “kid-tested, mother-approved” is literally true for Lollygaggers. As Viens put it, “I have an eight-year-old and an 11-year-old who are in charge of product development.”

    No description of Lollygaggers would be complete without mentioning the fish TV-an aquarium that is framed by a TV console that Viens acquired at the local Treasure Island (transfer station). There's a story behind that TV as well as a school of tropical fish.

    Viens has seen kids who fear stores, from the bad experiences they've had in the past. He said he remembers the words of one nine-year-old, “I don't want to go in there!”-and he wants to replace that with, “Please can we go in and see the fish?”

    Catching kids with fish? If Viens wasn't hooked on fun himself, you might think so.
“Although money is important in this endeavor, it is not the pursuit,” he said. “The pursuit is the quality of work and the quality of life--and hopefully the money will follow.” Didn't the Bible say something about no profit is without honor?

    In any case, the best answer for any questions about Lollygaggers is to lollygag on over to the lower level of the Star Mill and see for yourself. If you still don't know where it is, call 388-1222 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and ask.

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