Around the Town: Finding out about Toad Hoppers

By Loretta Humble/Around the Town

Several new shops have opened in downtown Malakoff lately, which I find pretty exciting. I’m thinking one day soon every available building will have something interesting happening in it.

I thought it would be fun to go visit our newer shops and introduce you to the owners, letting you know a little about them and what their stores are like.

So today I just marched right into Toad Hopper’s, and announced to Mike and Karen Courson that I was there to interview them. They were gracious enough to let me stay and quiz them.

They came here from DeSoto, where Mike ran an electrical contracting company for many years. (Now here is a big coincidence for you: Mike and Kristi over a Rusty Circus went to school together in DeSoto. I asked him if Kristi had lured them here, and he said no, that Malakoff already had him and Karen hooked before he even knew he and Kristi would be neighbors again.) After he retired, they started looking for the right little town to start a little mom and pop business. They looked at a lot of places, they said, from Cooper to Palestine, but they chose Malakoff. They fell in love with the town’s potential and ended up buying the old Flagg building on South Terry Street right next door to Rusty Circus. They were looking for a place with excellent schools for their 8-year-old son Michael, and they found exactly what they were looking for in our Malakoff schools. Michael’s nickname is Toad Hopper, given to him when he was a baby by Mike’s uncle, so now we know where the shop got its name. Then they did something different than most of our local shop owners. They bought a house right here in Malakoff.

Mike and Karen are really nice people, and Mike has lots of stories to tell. One tiny example: His father was a policeman in Dallas when Kennedy was shot. He was called to duty, and crossed paths with Oswald that day. I’m going to let him tell you the story, because when I started to write it here, I got it all mixed up. He had an uncle that was one of the motorcycle policemen in the motorcade that day, too. So go in and get Mike to tell you these and many more stories, like maybe the one about discovering a brother he didn’t know he had.

Right now they have filled the store with things they have been collecting for years, a little bit of everything. For one example, I saw some beautiful quilts I wouldn’t mind having. But they are just getting started.

They have a lot of other things they will be doing. Mike makes metal art and lighting out of re-purposed things, as well as silver jewelry. He told me he makes rings out of coins, by making a small hole in the middle of the coin and somehow folding the silver out from there so that when the ring is finished you can still read all the design that was on the coin. I want to see that. Karen makes high-quality eco-friendly soaps and candles. They expect to sell these items over the internet as well in the store. Mike knows how to really cook barbecue, and some people have suggested he do some of that, but he is not too sure how that would fit in. I am always advocating for more food places, because I think that helps a little town become a destination. Mike told me he talked to a lady who was shopping around downtown for a place to set up a diner. I hope she was serious.

I hope you’ll drop by and make these guys welcome, if you haven’t already done so. And ask Mike to hurry up and start making those coin rings. I want to see that.