Metal Detecting Astronomy Fishing Mountain Biking Canoeing
Hi. I'm Ed. I'm a casual kind of guy, although you might not think so if you see me at church or at work. Don't let the suit and tie fool you. I may be wearing a suit on the outside, but inside, its sweat pants and a t-shirt all the way!
I grew up in Portland Oregon, the youngest son of Eugene and Gladyce Redfield. My father worked for the railroad for the major part of the years I was growing up. Union Pacific. I wish I still had some of those old Union Pacific calendars he used to bring home every December. I thought about working for the railroad when I grew up, 'cause I thought trains were kind of neat. But dad told me if I ever went to work for the railroad, he would personally string me up. I think he knew something about it, after all he worked for the railroad for 30+ (?) years.
I attended Marshall High School through 1968, and when dad retired, we moved to Sandy, Oregon where I finished high school at Sandy Union High School. It was quite a shock to go from a very large high school to a very small one. The subject matter at Sandy was a snap compared to Marshall, and I just cruised through my senior year.
During that year I spent quite a bit of time with Ted, at the Brightwood country store. He was cool. He had just purchased the store from a previous owner that had let it run down a lot. While business was slow, Ted and I would play catch out front. He put me to work, too. In the back of the store was a mountain of old magazines that the previous owner had never taken to the dump. So Ted put me to work hauling all those old musty, moldy magazines to the dump in his old pickup truck. It was a kick.
When I graduated, I enlisted in the Navy. You see, I may have been 18, but I was still stupid. But you could not have told me that then. No sir. I'm going to skip the years in the Navy, 'cause it was much like a bad dream.
After discharge from the Navy, I went to work for Kinney Shoes in Portland, just prior to which I spent about a year being a bum, playing in a rock band ( Homegrown ) which never went anywhere, and working a short stint in a box mill at Alder Creek, Oregon.
After a Major falling out with the management at Kinney's, I moved to Medford with my brother Mark. Very shortly after the move, he got transferred to Salem, so I found myself on my own once again. By the way, if you live in the Salem Oregon area, and are interested in real estate in any way, Mark is the man. He has more titles after his name than you can shake a stick at, and takes his profession very seriously. He is just real good at what he does. Here is the link if you are interested......
Just a couple of days after I moved in with Mark, I landed a job at Kinney's Shoes here in Medford. Locals will remember it located over on 4th and Riverside. Kinney's is out of business now, so I am glad I quit this job eventually as well. In more ways then one.
About 3 days after I quit Kinney's for the second time, I was hired on by John Norris at Norris Shoes in downtown Medford. The best move of my life. I have worked for John now for over 30 years. You could not ask for a better man to work for.
After working for about 3 years at Norris Shoes, John decided to open a separate Red Wing Shoe Store, and asked me to manage it for him, so in 1978 I started operating the Red Wing Store. During the next 22 years, we maintained the Red Wing Store through 3 different locations. Finally, in May 2000, we moved the store lock, stock, and barrel into the original Norris Shoes location. Back in 1989, John had purchased the remaining half of the Phipps building downtown, and expanded the original Norris Shoe Store to double its previous size. With the additional room, both stores fit nicely into the original building.
To this day, you can visit me at the Norris Shoe Store. You can even purchase a great fitting pair of Red Wing boots, or if you like, a pair of Danner boots, or a pair of top quality White boots, or.......well you get the idea. I guess I am just a salesman at heart!
Check out the links below if you are interested in any of my hobbies.
Metal Detecting Astronomy Fishing Mountain Biking Canoeing
