PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — When Leasha Fitzherbert first stepped inside Norogala Show Ribbons, which shares a building with Northeast Trophy at 79 Fort Road in Presque Isle in 2014, she realized that she had discovered “the best kept secret in Aroostook County.”
Norogala Show Ribbons is a more than 50-year-old business that Roger and Norma Pinkham started in 1965 from their home in Brewer, combining their names and that of their son, Alan, to create the word “norogala.” Through the years, the family expanded into online marketing, which is how current owner David DeMerchant of Presque Isle learned about and came to buy the business from Alan and Candace Pinkham in 2012.
For the past three years, Norogala’s largest client has been the World Equestrian Center, based in Wilmington, Ohio, which keeps the group of around 20 employees especially busy during the fall and winter months.
The Fort Fairfied-based Pine and Spurs Riding Club is one of the many equestrian groups for which Norogala Show Ribbons, based in Presque Isle, creates handmade ribbons for competitions. (Courtesy of Leasha Fitzherbert)
“The WEC has a heated indoor arena and so from October to the end of May we produce an average of 3,000 ribbons per week just for their shows,” said Fitzherbert, who is now manager of Norogala Show Ribbons.
The employees at Norogala also produce hundreds of other handmade ribbons each week for around 300 local and worldwide customers. During the summers they’re most busy with creating prize ribbons for contests held at town festivals and state fairs throughout Maine. Some of the regular sales are for equestrian and dog shows in Australia, Japan and Virginia, and the employees also create ribbons for local and statewide high school track and field competitions.
Fitzherbert, who previously worked as a legal secretary and in the customer service field, said she was surprised to find out that in an era of widespread technology usage, Norogala employees still create ribbons by hand. The process can take around 15 minutes to two hours depending on the size and quantity of the ribbons and involves at least 20 different steps. Norogala employes a variety of folks from high school students to retirees, all of whom have their own niche during the ribbon-making process.
“We train employees in all the steps so that they can find an aspect of the process that they love to do the most but are still able to help out in other areas when needed,” Fitzherbert said. “I first came to help out during a busy season because I had a friend who worked here.”
For Fitzherbert, the most enjoyable part of working for Norogala is working with customers from the initial ideas through the design process to the finished products. Whether someone wants to celebrate the winners of a competition or remember a special moment, she said that making people happy is always her goal.
One of the best parts of her job, she noted, is seeing people’s reactions when they realize that the beautiful ribbons they see at events come from a business they might not have known existed in Aroostook County.
“It’s a rewarding job because you always are able to be creative everyday and no work is ever mundane,” Fitzherbert said. “People have told us that we’re the best kept secret in Aroostook County.”
