No, Betty, it’s not a hoax

If you’re in business in Ely, you never know who might be on the other end of a phone call.Just recently, Jan. 19 to be exact, Betty Erick-son’s phone rang at 8 p.m. while she was sitting in her kitchen, visiting with a friend. “Mostly Moose & More,” Betty answered.“What is Mostly Moose and what is More?,” the caller asked.There was so much noise in the call’s background that Betty wished the lady would turn down her television. Betty explained that Mostly Moose & more carries a variety of items with a northwoods flavor including moose, bears, pine cone curtains and other gifts. “Good grief, is she ever going to turn that TV down. I told her to access the website,” Betty said when the woman asked her if pinecones were really used to make curtains. The woman also wanted to know if the Betty had any live moose available. “That one was really off the wall,” Betty said, wondering if the call was just a hoax although the woman said her name was Ellen Degeneres.“Finally she said, ‘Has it been very cold up there?” Betty replied, “I told her we had 48 below at home.”“How far is that from Embarrass?” Degeneres asked and said she was looking at a map of Minnesota. When told it was about 20 miles north, Degeneres said, “Oh, I’m lost already. Why don’t you came to Los Angeles and visit us . It’s warm out here, about 80 degrees.Betty said, “Nah, too many people, too many cars.” And she still thought it was a hoax although she knew who Degeneres was. She found out from her son Bernie and his wife Sara that Degeneres often does make phone calls to people she doesn’t know.About a half hour later, Degeneres’ manager, called and said, “The audience loved you.” She reiterated the invitation to come to California. She faxed Betty a release so they could use the clip on the show the following day.Betty’s immediate repsonse to the invitation to visit was: “I’m not driving in Los Angeles.” “Oh no, you’ll be our guest. A car will pick you up at the airport!”Betty said, “ I’m still in a state of amazement.”Since the phone interview aired, Betty said, “We’ve gotten emails from all over the country encouraging us to go (to LA). People have been just wonderful.”Betty and her husband Berna will be making the trip for the taping of the Ellen Degeneres Show at the NBC Studios in Burbank on Monday with the program to be presented on Tuesday, Feb. 1. “ We’re flying out of Duluth on Saturday,Betty said. “I’m going to be promoting my store and my website. But I’m a native - born and raised in Ely - and I love it here. I’m taking her some gifts and and a video of Ely.” Degeneres will also become a shareholder in Ely-Bloomenson Community Hospital & Nursing Home as a gift from the hospital. Betty has been a surgery nurse at Ely-Bloomenson for 35 years.