Chuck Wallerstedt was the lucky one to claim a lutefisk sign for his Chuck’s Heating & Refrigeration truck. He is one of about 70 people around the community who have commissioned E.R. Perry Signs & Engraving to create magnetic car signs with fishy names. Only one fish (or in a few cases, amphibian) of each kind goes out the door.
Have you ever had trouble finding your car, van, or SUV in a parking lot filled with others that look pretty much the same as yours? Have you ever wondered what kind of Christmas or birthday gift to get a loved one who seems to have everything already?
Vilnis Neilands of Grand Marais has an idea for you.
A couple of summers ago, Angry Trout Café owners George Wilkes and Barb LaVigne offered a free dinner for two to anyone who would display a pair of magnetic signs that said “TROUT” on their vehicle for 60 days, as long as it got at least 40 miles a gallon. The Wilkeses buy food for their restaurant locally as much as possible, and with his friend Buck Benson, George started the Cook County Local Energy Project, a nonprofit that advocates for energy efficiency and clean, locally produced renewable energy. George and Barb threw in the fuel-efficient-car criterion as a way to promote sustainability and energy efficiency through their business.
Vilnis, whose wife Betsy Perry owns E.R. Perry Signs & Engraving, felt a little left out. “I was disappointed to find my vehicle did not meet the criteria,” he said in a December 13, 2010 interview. Vilnis drives a 20-year-old Saab. He took his car’s lack of status in stride, however. “If I didn’t fit the trout criteria,” he said, “then I figured I must be a carp.” So this last summer he asked Betsy to make him a sign that said “CARP.”
His idea has tickled a lot of people, and he inadvertently started a trend. Sisters Sarah and Anna Hamilton were the first to show up at Betsy’s shop asking for their own signs. One thing led to another, and “people have been coming in one at a time, two at a time, three at a time” since then, Vilnis said.
People started picking out names that reflect their physical appearance, personalities, interests, and livelihoods, and they have gone from Lake Superior fish to inland fish to amphibians and beyond. Visitors from out of town have started inquiring about them.
“The real nice thing about this is that when people come in to order these,” Vilnis said, “they are laughing, just cracking up. This is a win-win-win. It’s good for George, it’s good for the town, it’s good for the community.”
Over 70 different signs have been created so far. Winter ice can cause the signs to pop off vehicles, so some people ” are storing their signs on their refrigerators until warm weather returns.
Vilnis’s most recent favorite sign is “PIGS FLY.” He eventually relinquished his carp sign to a customer who convinced him she needed it more than he did. He switched to “TOAD,” because Betsy had called his other vehicle, a green Toyota, a toad.
“It certainly isn’t going to hurt George,” Vilnis said, “because the more interest we create in the signs the better it will be for George.”
“We think it’s fabulous that people are displaying these weird fish signs,” Barb said. “It’s such a silly thing to begin with.” At least 20 people have taken advantage of the Angry Trout sign offer. Barb said people have returned the signs after 60 days with interesting stories about the conversations they generated.
Some people might have seen a pickup truck being driven around for awhile with a trout sign on it. It was not a concession. It was a pickup that runs on used restaurant oil.
Barb hopes the non-trout signs will be good for the E.R. Signs & Engravings business. “It’s kind of taken on a life of its own,” LaVigne said. Did she and George think the other signs were making fun of theirs? “What’s to make fun of?” she said. “It’s a silly thing to begin with.”
Thefishsigns are not a moneymaking venture for Betsy’s sign shop, and the signs are not being made to promote her business, most of which comes through the Internet from customers outside Cook County. Betsy and Vilnis, who thinks the interest in fish signs might be related to the area’s commercial fishing heritage, simply want to promote the town of Grand Marais and see this as a fun way to do it.
Fish (or other) car signs are going for $15 for one or $20 for two as long as the number of letters is reasonable. They are made in batches of 15. Once Betsy has enough orders, it takes her only a day or two to create the signs. E.R. Perry Signs & Engraving is located at 109 First Avenue West in Grand Marais. Its phone number is (218)387- 9479, its email address is signs@ erperry.com, and its website is located at www.plastic-tags. com.
Betsy would like to see Grand Marais plastered with car signs by summer, and orders keep coming in. Everywhere they go, Vilnis said, people are telling Betsy they want to order a sign. She takes the order right on the spot—by writing them on the back of her hand.
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