LIDGERWOOD, N.D. (Valley News Live) – One Lidgerwood couple will be representing North Dakota in an exhibit at the Smithsonian as part of America’s 250th birthday celebration.
For more than 20 years, Rick and Connie Whittier have been making fish decoys. A year and a half ago, they received an email from the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. It would be a while before they heard anything else.
“Seven months without hearing anything. So we eventually looked at each other and said, ‘Are we getting punked?’” said Connie Whittier of Whittier Decoys.
Well, it was no joke. The world-famous museum wanted their decoys for the “State Fairs: Growing American Craft” exhibit. The exhibit features artists from all 50 states.
“Getting in the Smithsonian is one thing. But to get in for this specific purpose, the 250th birthday, it’s just unbelievable,” said Rick.
108 fish decoys were packed up to be apart of the “State Fairs: Growing American Craft” exhibit at the Smithsonian.(Rick Whittier)
Originally, the Smithsonian asked for about 10 decoys, but instead, they asked for 108. A few packers were sent to their house a couple of weeks ago to gather the decoys.
“They wanted three decoys at a time, and it took like nine hours to box them. They wanted the three decoys at a time to be brought out. The Smithsonian sent them labels to put on the box, fish-specific,” said Rick.
Countless hours, they tell Valley News Live, it’s been hard not to share the good news. Now, they can finally share what they say is one of the biggest honors.
“It’s a huge honor. Anybody you tell, I have a really large family. We tell all of them, and everybody’s like ‘Oh!’ their jaw just drops, the Smithsonian?”
After hours of hard work, the Whittiers are getting ready to wind down.
“Rick started calling this our last dance. I mean, this is our big finale,” said Connie.
“We’re representing North Dakota, so we wanted to do it right,” added Rick.
The Whittiers are traveling to D.C. this fall for a meet and greet with other artists. Then, they’ll head back in the spring for a demonstration on how they make their decoys.
The exhibit opens August 22nd, 2025, and runs through September 7th, 2026.
This story is part of Gray Media and Valley News Live’s new, year-long initiative to mark America’s 250th birthday, “We the People: Celebrating 250 years.” Every couple of weeks, we will be airing stories on local and regional history.
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