Moose Fest Fans Of ‘Northern Exposure’ Are Having A Festival In Roslyn

Joel Fleischman’s name graces the office window here, but the doctor hasn’t been in for more than five years. Today, Marianne Ojurovich operates Cicely’s Gift Shop under the physician’s shingle.

That doesn’t matter to fans of the defunct television series “Northern Exposure.” They still visit the Cascades foothills set, seeking glimpses of the imaginary Alaska community of Cicely, not medical advice.

They come to the right place.

Not only can they see a few props, but they find another diehard fan in Ojurovich.

“It was a nonviolent program, a cerebral program,” she says. “People liked the peaceful town of Cicely.”

Back in 1995, Ojurovich and other town residents got fans to sign petitions urging TV executives to reinstate the canceled show. That didn’t work. But the fans still come.

Ojurovich has concocted another medicine to cure the “Northern Exposure” bug: a reunion. With the help of Larry Green of Bellingham, another fan and former show-business exec, she’s producing Moose Fest, a “Northern Exposure” fan festival, this weekend.

It will give fans a chance to mingle with a few of the cast members. Barry Corbin, Cynthia Geary, Elaine Miles and Maultrie Patten are scheduled for appearances.

Iris DeMent, who sang the haunting farewell “Our Town” on the final episode, will give a concert.

It will also, says co-producer Green, be a chance for fans to celebrate some good “Northern Exposure” news: “The show has been picked up by A&E for reruns this fall,” he says.

In the two years years since “Northern Exposure” died, the actors have continued their careers. Fans, however, still love-stricken for the series, call the actors by their “Northern Exposure” names.

Miles even wears a jacket that reads, “My name is Elaine, I am not Marilyn,” a futile effort to let people know she has her own life, separate from mythical Cicely, Alaska.

“I just tell people Marilyn has moved away,” says Miles, who played Marilyn Whirlwind for five years. She lives in Seattle with her 3-year-old son.

“Tell people I’m a happy single mother,” she says with a quiet giggle.

Here’s a rundown on some of the other cast members:

Barry Corbin played ex-astronaut Maurice Minnifield on the show.

When “Northern Exposure” was being filmed - first in Bellevue, then in Redmond - Corbin lived in the Seattle area.

Since the show ended, Corbin has moved back to his native Texas and has been making entertainment headlines for his one-act play, “Charlie Goodnight’s Last Night” - which he will perform at Moose Fest - and for his role as C.D. LeBlanc in the New Orleans-based television crime show “The Big Easy.”

Janine Turner was bush pilot Maggie O’Connell. She plays June Cleaver in the upcoming film version of “Leave It to Beaver.” She, too, lives in Texas and is expecting her first child this fall.

“Janine can’t travel right now because of the pregnancy,” says Moose Fest producer Green. “She promised if we do this again next year, she will do her best to come.”

Rob Morrow played Joel Fleischman, the New York doctor working off his medical school debt by caring for the residents of Cicely. These days he is directing and producing.

John Cullum portrayed Holling Vincoeur, the barkeeper who ran The Brick. Cullum has been doing stage productions. One, “Man of La Mancha,” came to Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, where he received acclaim from both reviewers and fans for his Miguel de Cervantes/ Don Quixote. He is now starring in a one-man show in New York.

John Corbett was Chris-in-The-Morning Stevens, the KBHR radio personality who rambled on-air about the meaning of life.

He wore a mustache and had blond hair for last year’s ABC-TV miniseries “Innocent Victims.” Currently he’s in “The Visitor,” a Fox Network show that will debut this fall. The plot sounds as if it were lifted from tabloid newspapers: 50 years ago his character was abducted by aliens, and he has returned to Earth with new powers.

Cynthia Geary was the beautiful but sometimes daffy blonde Shelly Vincoeur. On the show she was Miss Northwest Passage and visited Cicely, where she fell in love with the much older Holling Vincoeur. Geary still lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s been in the CBS-TV movie “The Awakening.”

Peg Phillips played storekeeper Ruth Anne Miller. A longtime Seattle resident, Phillips has a role in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming film, “Dreamworks,” and a guest spot on television’s “Seventh Heaven,” one of several TV appearances she’s made recently.

Phillips was scheduled to be at Moose Fest, but has to be in California this weekend because of a family illness.

Adam Arkin was the wild and neurotic chef who had a breakdown on the show. He plays Dr. Aaron Shutt on television’s “Chicago Hope.”

Darren E. Burrows won many hearts as Ed Chigliak, who combined the Native American past with the modern world. He and his wife live in the Los Angeles area and recently had a baby. He can often be seen on television in small parts.

Sandra Doyle didn’t have a starring role on-camera but was well-known off-camera. She became famous as the show’s resident caterer, and, along with caterer Rob Gray, was seen on television and in feature stories.

Today Doyle runs Lucy’s Taqueria at 5602 First Ave. S. in Seattle.

Morty the Moose ambled through downtown Roslyn during the opening credits and rapidly became the show’s symbol. Morty died at Washington State University in January 1994.