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WHO: Sarah Curtis, “39 and holding”
WHAT: owner of Eclectica on Grand
LIVES: Eau Claire’s Historic Randall Park Neighborhood
IN THE CITY FOR: 39 years  

Sarah was born and raised in Eau Claire, cultivating a passion for Chippewa Valley history over the course of her years here. Her shop, Eclectica on Grand, brings pieces of that history to life in a mini-museum of sorts. “I try to pick the best from all different time periods and places all over the world and bring them together, with a shiny emphasis,” she says. With a historian father and English mother, she has a deep appreciation of history and English culture/music. She studied political science, history, and women’s studies during her time as a UW-Eau Claire undergrad. Curtis is passionate about local music, arts, and festivals, hoping to one day help create a river-centric music festival.

What part of Eau Claire’s history are you most interested in? Civil War portion, Old Abe. I was just writing a research paper about it. Why? I don’t know, I’m not in any history classes, you just take these things on. I want to bring the Civil War aspect into things. I also want to bring the river into things. We should emphasize the river instead of turning our backs to it like our predecessors have done.  We’ve stopped using it as a garbage can, so now people actually want to go in there. I want to be a part of that, the change, the transition to a cultural nexus. 

What place in town considers you a regular? The Joynt, Court ‘n House, The Red Room, and The Livery. Every Wednesday our girls group gets together and we go out, find a place downtown to go to, we get appetizers and drinks. It’s fun. 

What frustrates you about the Chippewa Valley? Some less-than forward-thinking people. 

What is one of the best cultural experiences you’ve had in the Chippewa Valley?  I’ve got a theater next door (Grand Theatre) that plays music almost every Friday. Stones Throw was a huge mecca for bands to play at in the days of yore. I’ve seen so many bands play in Eau Claire, the music scene is incredible and it has been for a really long time. 

Do you have a favorite local band? Drunk Drivers

What is your favorite local festival? International Fall Festival. We’re working on the river way plan right now, though, and it’s been suggested that we have a river festival. I would like to fine-tune that into an independent music festival. Call it the Amble Down Festival or something. It’s a no-brainer, isn’t it? 

What is your favorite piece of local trivia? There’s the person that made the Multitone Company. He faked his own death, went up north to pretend to open up the cabin, dug up a body, and burnt it in the cabin so when his family came up there they found a body … but it wasn’t him. The insurance company found him years later living in California with his Norwegian secretary of ill-repute. … That was in the 1930s. … He ran the whole Multitone Company, and when he left, it just sort of crumbled, he was the genius behind it. Eau Claire has got a kind of shady past, too. It used to be called Sin City … in the height of the logging seasons, so 1880, probably. One in four establishments was of ill-repute. 

American Pickers or Antiques Roadshow? Pickers, because you get the feeling that they get when you discover the thing. And then identifying it. … I’ve done the Antiques Roadshow and I kinda walked away thinking ‘I could’ve done that.’ I probably could! Pickers has the discovery and I understand that feeling when you find something that no one’s even looked at in 70 years. How you find things from the past is just amazing.

Who is the greatest Wisconsinite of all time? Fighting Bob LaFollette. He’s the father of the progressive party. He stood up for people’s rights that didn’t have a voice at the time. He spoke for the farmers and the little guy. That’s something that we should all admire. 

If you could magically add one store, restaurant, or shop to the area, what would it be and why? A French restaurant would be great. I would also like to have a microbrewery with a German brew pub. We have so many German people that live here. 

Who would win in a fight, Adin Randall, LE Phillips, or William Carson? Adin Randall, because he’s a burly lumberjack man.

Describe your last encounter with the police department. When I lost my dog. Those poor people. Animal Control, they were so sick of me and my family and my friends. People that we didn’t even know were checking in to see. He was on the bike trail when we lost him, he could have run to Chippewa, it was really scary. Some college students picked him up and brought him home. He was missing for 49 hours.