Bear Country artist opens shop in McClusky
By ALLAN TINKER
Carefully hidden in his studio apartment behind the gift shop, Allen (Todd) Hicks has been furnishing and stocking the Bear Country Gifts and Deli. “Everyone calls me Todd,”
he explains. “If my mom called me Allen, I was in trouble.” Plans to open the delicatessen fell victim to the COVID restrictions when the pandemic hit North Dakota in March.
The south portion of the building has a bright future. Former home of offices and temporary usage, the help of building owners Tim and Dee Schindler have given Hicks the quiet
work environment he needs. Stocking gifts from various crafters across North Dakota and the U.S., one can find woven grass creations of immense intricacy, metal carvings
of the daughter and son-in-law Dawn and Dan Johnson (of former McClusky resident Diane Neff), barn quilts, photography, Heart of Dakota offerings of baked and canned items,
and bears, bears, and more bears.
