The ANTecdote
On Vests
Thanks to everyone who has expressed interest in and excitement for the concept of a Red Ants Pants wool vest! I am excited to announce that I just got back from our manufacturing facility and we are, at long last, taking orders! Because this will be a limited edition, we will only be able to offer the vests on a first come, first served basis, which is most easily facilitated through phone orders: 406-547-3781. Sadly, we cannot guarantee that they will reach you by Christmas, but the good news is they will be well worth the wait. Red Ants Pants’ beautifully crafted vests are made with 21 oz. Woolrich Wool (America’s longest continuously run woolen mill). Made in the USA. These vests have flattering side panels with contrasting colors. Fully lined and featuring two inside zip pockets on the ribs, not the chest! Deep Polartec® fleece-lined exterior pockets, fleece-lined neck and chin and a longer sweep in the back will keep you covered and cozy in any working conditions. Questions? Q) When will the vests arrive? A) The vests have arrived in our headquarters in White Sulphur Springs, MT, and we will ship them out to you right away! Q) If I go to the website, it says the my size is out of stock. Should I still call to pre-order? A) Yep, please call the store. More vests will be coming in the New Year! Q) If I call to place an order and no one answers, should I leave a voicemail? A) Yes, please leave a voicemail. We will keep track of the time you called to make sure the pre-order process is fair and orders are received on a first come, first served basis. Please leave your name, phone number and email for us to confirm. Thank you! Q) What if you run out of stock and I don’t get one?! A) We apologize if this happens to you, but the good news is we are doing another production run in early 2017 and will have even more options for you! Sign up for our vest interest list and we’ll email you info as more vests are available. Again, huge thanks for your patience and support. We welcome your feedback on these new vests. Can’t wait to hear how much you love them, and what we can do to improve them! Happy Holidays, Sarah and the Red Ants Pants team
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On Hope
Red Ants Pants presents you with a holiday challenge. Choose someone in your world with whom you have some serious differences. Sit down with them over coffee or bourbon, preferably by a fire. Find something you have in common. Anything. Celebrate that. Tell us your story, in any creative way you choose by emailing: info@redantspants.com. And then you shall receive 25% off your entire holiday order. *There is no small print. Repeat this as often as you possibly can. With love and HOPE, Calhoun and the RAP team
Learn moreOn Courage
On COURAGE Courage/noun/: the ability to do something that frightens one. Here is what I know. The sun will rise tomorrow. And the next day, and the next day, and so on. We all need a lot of courage. It is necessary for starting a business. It is necessary to pull the trigger on a big muley buck. It is necessary to have a kid. It is necessary to go into chemo, or to stop going into chemo. It is necessary to learn how to use a nail gun, or Quickbooks. Here’s to more courage, for all of us. For the things that frighten us. For all these things and more. Courage to trust. Courage to say “no” and to say “YES!” Courage to be risky, and frisky. Courage to love, big sloppy love. Courage to say “I do!” Courage to say a real, honest, and tearful good-bye. Courage to believe and to never, ever, ever lose HOPE. And if today is not the day to be courageous, then stay in bed and watch Gilmore Girls reruns. For the sun will come up tomorrow. I promise. In love and courage, Calhoun
Learn moreTen Year Celebration!
Hello friends! We hope you can join us to rest our calloused hands and toast together to ten years of Red Ants Pants! 2016 FALL FASHION SHOW + LIVE MUSIC! Join us as we unveil the newest Red Ants Pants product line during our 2016 Fall Fashion Show at the historic Strand Theatre next door to our shop on Main Street, White Sulphur Springs. Following the fashion show, we want to thank all of our friends, customers and the community by showering you with an evening of entertainment kicking off with live music with Montana Music Hall of Famer Rob Quist (Mission Mountain Wood Band) & Great Northern featuring Guthrie Quist! More music and details on times/locations to come! BLOCK PARTY! With our brand new Main Street and beautiful carriage lights we thought: how about a BLOCK PARTY??? Stageline Pizza will be selling pizza-by-the-slice throughout the day, enjoy beer specials and additional live music at 2 Basset Brewery and we’ll have complementary refreshments in the store as well as huge discounts on all seconds! Spend a day or two to relax and celebrate with the whole community – take a dip at the rejuvenating Spa Hot Springs and experience some of our world-famous hospitality at local businesses throughout White Sulphur Springs! We are still putting some finishing touches on the celebration, so please check out our Facebook event for updates. More details to come! We are looking forward to sharing stories, belly laughs and likely a few tears as we celebrate this milestone together! Love, Sarah PS: Our first-ever Red Ants Pants catalog is in production! It will include an in-depth look at our newest product line along with personal stories of real-life Red Ants Pants gals. If you’d like to receive one, please sign up HERE. Join us! Red Ants Pants Ten Year Celebration 10am – Red Ants Pants Opens, complimentary hot cider & goodies, in-store sales all day 11am – Stageline Pizza selling slices! 12pm – 2 Bassett Brewery opens! 3pm – Ribbon-cutting at Courthouse to Celebrate Main Street Construction 4pm – Live Music Begins at 2 Basset Brewery featuring Chad Okrusch of Butte 6pm – Doors Open at Strand Theatre 7pm – Live Music with award-winning singer-songwriter Martha Scanlan 8pm – Red Ants Pants Ten Year Celebration featuring 2016 Fall Fashion Show unveiling NEW Red Ants Pants product line 9pm – Live Music with Rob Quist & Great Northern featuring Guthrie Quist
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On Strength
We used to laugh saying, “We already have to wear one bra, we don’t need the waistband of our pants for additional support.” That line actually made it into some of our first marketing materials at Red Ants Pants. But maybe we do need some extra support, sometimes anyway. Maybe not for our chests, but perhaps for our pounding hearts. More recently we have been exploring how the theme of strength is woven into both our pants and the lives of the people we serve. As I write this, Tammy Wynette’s album Womanhood is on the record player. My trusty cow dog, Nellie, is at my feet. I’m drinking good, strong coffee from a mug made by a dear friend. Immediately out the window is a small grove of aspens, somehow able to hold root in this dry, rocky bluff overlooking the river. Ox bows, a buffalo jump, the swimming hole, hay fields, and the bull pasture frame my view. There is indeed strength all around us, in us…leading us, inviting us, challenging, and supporting us. I think about the courage to trust our own strength. The strength of womanhood, shared. The strength in gaining wisdom, earning respect, and growing up. And at the same time learning that it is okay to not always feel strong. I think of the strength it takes to accept our curves and even celebrate them. The strength in knowing we can raise a little one, or three little ones. The strength of sharing our stories, and the strength in listening. The strength of our partnerships, our families, our communities. I think of the darkest hour just before dawn when his hand somehow knows how to find yours, even in his sleep. And at that moment, despite our minds avoiding slumber and racing with things that need to get done, we are reminded that we have support. We are not in this alone. Ever. I think about after nine years in business finally writing our mission statement. We provide workwear for women. For the makers and the growers, the builders and the doers. We support them with humor and heart, quality and class, integrity and courage. Always. I think about the support beams of this timber framed home. And of barn raisings. How we need each other. We always have. And although there aren’t enough barn raisings anymore, perhaps we could have more wood cutting parties in the fall so we can have bigger potlucks around the fire when the snow flies. And we could help each other plant our gardens so we can have more harvest dinners and raise our glasses to the grit, the calluses, the courage, and the pride. For there is indeed strength in our togetherness.
Learn moreOn Love
On Love Love of a dog, a secret, a place. Love of a man, a woman, a family. Love of a mountain. Love of a valley and a river, a milk cow and a pet rabbit. Love of an idea, a dream, of a job well done. Love of oneself, of ones potential, of ones qualities Love of a Mom, and of a Dad. Love of an old stick shift pick up truck. Love of a painting, love of a composer. Love of a feeling, an emotion, an experience. Love of a book. Love of a garden. Love of a woodpile, well stacked. Love of a meal, cooked and shared with a whole lot of love. Love of a church. Love of a song, a bird song, a wind song, our song. Love of a future. Here’s to more love.
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To the White House and Back
In May I was honored to be invited to the White House. The Small Business Majority selected 100 small business owners from across the country to participate in a Small Business Leadership Summit. It consisted of 3 days of discussion, panels, break out discussions and lots and lots of Q & A with President Obama’s top advisors. And they were listening, and scribbling notes the entire time. It seems to me this is how democracy should work. Open dialogue between the policy makers and the folks with boots on the ground. When you put 100 leaders in a room to discuss how our government can better support small business in America, there are lots of lots of fiery opinions tossed about. It was neat to see how many commonalities exist between so many of us business owners regardless of what industry we are in and what part of the country we occupy. Workforce training, and simplifying the tax code were issues that rose to the top. The one question I asked in the tax reform panel was how businesses like Red Ants Pants, that choose to pay higher prices for US manufacturing so we can keep jobs here, can be supported through potential tax credits. The whole crowd busted into applause which was encouraging that my question had struck a nerve. No definitive solutions were promised, but I was glad to raise the issue and feel the support from my peers. One statistic I heard in DC blew my mind and just reinforced the fact that small businesses are so darn important: If every small business in America created just one additional job, then our entire nation’s unemployment would be wiped clean. That is pretty impressive. Not only are small businesses driving the economy, but we’re the heart of our communities. We’re the faces behind the hardware stores, markets, bakeries and retails shops. We are the ones supporting our local baseball teams and school groups. We are being held accountable to our customers because we have a name and a face, and a place in our towns. So thanks to all you business owners out there, and thanks to all of you who support small businesses in America. You rock. We love you. Sarah Calhoun
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Small Business Saturday Sale!
Greetings from beautiful White Sulphur Springs, Montana! We hope this finds you well and staying warm with your loved ones this fall. Just a little inspiration from Rosie the Riveter to announce our SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY SALE! Saturday, November 29th, 2014. 10am – 5pm. 10% off all products – In store or phone ONLY! 406.547.3781. As always we appreciate your support for USA Made Workwear. Cheers and don’t eat too much this week…but if you do, you know where to get another pair of pants! Here at Red Ants Pants we are thankful for all the hard work you do. We’re raising our glasses to YOU. With gratitude, Sarah and the Team www.redantspants.wpengine.com
Learn moreAn Old Stick Shift Chevy
And sometimes, when life gets too busy, too complicated… its time to head for the hills. Preferably in an old stick shift Chevy. With a good dog. …and a chainsaw. And then somehow things don’t seem so complicated anymore. Cheers Friends. PS. She’s a Chevy Cheyenne, 1979. It was a good year.
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