of Dakota
PHOTO BY LAYN MUDDER
Melissa Ahonen is a one-woman sewing dynamo, filling orders for her Baby Button Tops line.
Taste N.D. with Joey Mote Joey Mote runs a gift shop, with a strong devotion to North Dakota products. Her Memories by Joey in Dickinson welcomes visitors who want to taste, smell, inspect and support the POD brand. “I favor North Dakota products,” Cote says. “I’m proud of our entrepreneurs.” She radiates and stocks POD quality for the benefit of POD entrepreneurs. w w w. n d l i v i n g . c o m
Born and raised in Dickinson, Mote started her business from home after attending a holiday open house in 1980. “My friend said, ‘You can do this, and do it better,’ so I did,” Joey says. “We have been truly blessed!” She opened her storefront in 1989, sharing a building with her father, Joe Vozabal of Joe’s Video and Appliance. The Vozabal family, with
rural roots in the area, have long been associated with Roughrider Electric Cooperative, Dickinson. Mote offers tastings of Pride of Dakota food products at shows and in her store. “People try a sample and say, ‘This reminds me of something Mom made,’ ” she says. One family stops by every July to buy Dakota Seasonings chili. Other popular offerings include Dakota Seasonings German Potato Salad mix; Mikey’s Chocolate Salted Nut Rolls; North Prairie Signature Sweet and Hot Pepper Relish; and Simple Garden Harvest Dirty Martini dip mix. Year-round, Memories By Joey features one of the store’s six rooms, expanding them to other rooms as the holidays approach. She also sells balloon bouquets, baby clothes, permanent flower arrangements and bridal items. “We have some repeat wedding business from generation to generation,” she says. Recently, Mote has been greeting new customers arriving with the oil boom. Joey Mote creates Pride of Dakota gift baskets starting at $15, and she ships. Find Memories by Joey at 646 Second St. W. in Dickinson, at www.memoriesbyjoey. com, or call 701-225-6660. At www.prideofdakota.com, click on “Retailers.”
Ahonen’s Baby Button Tops When Melissa Ahonen gave birth to Easton more than three years ago, he was six weeks premature. Doctors recommended covering Easton’s head as a way to keep continued on page 10
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