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Pride Business Edition

Scottsbluff/Gering, Nebraska

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Runza owners cite dedication to business, community as reasons for success MAUNETTE LOEKS Digital News Editor mloeks@starherald.com

A popular Internet meme touts the virtue of Nebraska, “We’ve got Runzas.

You don’t.”

It’s a humorous meme, but as customers line the store at the Scottsbluff Runza on a recent Tuesday one has to wonder.

Is it that it’s Temperature Tuesday? A day that Runza offers its original Runza at sale price equal to the temperature at 6 a.m. No, says owners Neal and Lora Blomenkamp.

“Every day is like this,” Neal says as multiple Runza employees take and give orders to customers while others are taking orders at the drive-thru window.

“Sometimes, the line is out the door. It’s crazy.”

Customers love their Runzas, Lora Blomenkamp said. She would know, having worked at Runza since 1979. It was her first job in high school and she worked at Runza in college.

She moved to York and managed her first Runza, where she met Neal as he visited the store in a drive-thru. The couple doesn’t share too many details about what Neal said during his frequent visits to Runza that got Lora to go out with him.

“I was a single guy. She was a single girl,” he said, only noting he was a frequent customer before he asked her out.

His order was a cheese Runza, onion rings and a Mountain Dew. They were

MAUNETTE LOEKS/Star-Herald

Runza in Scottsbluff underwent a construction and expansion project in 2015, becoming a showcase location downtown.

in their early 20s and Neal had moved to the community to work for Wheelers.

He had been in the farm supply company’s management program, working

in Lincoln, then York where he met Lora that position before managing his own and moved around serving in temporary management positions. He moved 11 store in Central City, Nebraska. The store RUNZA page 3 times in 1 1/2 years, he said, as part of

Monument Mall gets second wind under new owners MAUNETTE LOEKS Digital News Editor mloeks@starherald.com

Abbie, Sami, Jason and Jhett Webb.

Courtesy photo

Webbs work to make the community better IRENE NORTH Staff Reporter inorth@starherald.com

Jason and Sami Webb’s latest endeavor in helping expand opportunities in Scottsbluff is the Elite Health Center, an idea that began with the need to expand both their practices. Their desire to build their new offices quickly became a project that would include many providers. Their vision is to create a wellness center that would attract medical professionals to the area.

“We needed new space and had other interested parties,” Sami said.

Elite Health Center will house multiple medical specialties, a fitness facility, daycare and a coffee shop with healthy eating options.

Jason and Sami Webb are both natives of South Dakota. Jason grew up in Lead, Sami in Spearfish.

Jason and Sami began dating in high school. Both of their fathers worked in the gold mining business. Sami’s father was a chemist at the mine. Part of his job was keeping cyanide out of the water. When the mine closed, he worked with mines in Montana and Africa teaching

them how to treat the water. But Sami always knew she wanted to do something in the medical field. She likes the freedom she has in her business to make her own decisions and run it how she wants.

“There are limited health care professions where you can run your own business,” Jason said.

“You have the control to have things operate the way you want to.”

Their road to the medical profession had a few interesting turns. They both used to sell leather items in Sturgis at the motorcycle rallies.

“We grew up ten minutes from Sturgis,” Sami said. “You could make good money that week.”

Sami sold knives door-to-door in college for a company out of Wisconsin. She also worked for Jon’s Notes, a company that took notes for classes and sold them to students. They both worked at Pizza Hut. For three summers in high school, Jason worked the mines. He had the chance to work full-time in the mines.

“My dad talked me out of it,” he said. “It was a good choice because the mines closed 10 years later.”

WEBBS page 4

Monument Mall has once again become the place to be on Saturdays.

Over the last year, Monument Mall has seen a lot of new development. Tera Willman, property manager, said.

“The foot traffic on Saturdays has improved so much,” Willman said.

In recent years, the mall had experienced some struggles.

However, as it celebrates its 30th anniversary, new owners focused on redeveloping the mall have brought new life.

Willman oversees local operations of Monument Mall and has seen it in its heyday and beyond. Just a couple months after Willman started as marketing

manager at Monument Mall in August 2002, Walmart left, moving across town to another location. Prior to Walmart’s move, Willman said, the mall was 95 percent occupied.

“I have seen the mall at its peak — with Walmart here — and I’ve seen — at first not so fast — it gradually decline,” Willman said. Some businesses, like Radio Shack, left the mall because their leases included riders that they could be terminated if Walmart left. Other stores left as their leases expired and foot traffic slowed.

“Some of the stores (that left) were dependent on the foot traffic that Walmart brought in,” she said. “With so many stores leaving, people were wanting to come in for next to nothing and you can’t do that.”

In 2002, the mall was owned

Shoppers stop at Subway during a noon lunch hour.

by Rubloff Development Group and a new group, Perkins Properties, purchased the mall in 2006. The company, owned by Michael Perkins, based out of Omaha, bought other properties including some in Rapid City, South Dakota. However, a lack of new tenants at the mall and declining property conditions meant the mall was only a shadow of its former self.

Over the years, the mall has battled a number of different “obstacles” in the retail field, Willman said. Though Scottsbluff is cited as a regional shopping hub, many companies want to know the direct population and customer base of a community and don’t consider Scottsbluff to be of adequate size. The community also is not located along an interstate, though Will-

MALL page 5

MAUNETTE LOEKS/Star-Herald

Pride Page 2

Saturday, March 5, 2016

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Pride Saturday, March 5, 2016

Page 3

Area business leaders recognized by Chamber In January, The Scottsbluff-Gering United Chamber of Commerce honored Neal and Lora Blomenkamp with the Trail Blazer Award, the most prestigious award during its annual ceremonies, because of their contributions through Runza and to the community.

Two other business leaders, Becky Horne and John Selzer, were also lauded.

AARON SEANEY/Star-Herald

Becky Horne thanks the Scottsbluff-Gering United Chamber of Commerce, and the community after receiving the Visionary Super Star award in January.

Becky Horne — Visionary Super Star

A Runza employee takes a customer’s order at Runza during a recent lunch hour.

MAUNETTE LOEKS/Star-Herald

n RUNZA: Continued from page 1

was the number one store in Nebraska, he said, earning him and Lora a trip to Hong Kong. After that trip, he managed the Scottsbluff store before leaving and joining the Runza team.

Lora, who had attended Southeast Community College “because she couldn’t be a burger flipper for the rest of her life,” had been working as an assistant for a local doctor when Runza contacted her and asked if she’d be willing to manage the Scottsbluff store in 1985.

“I love the idea of being in charge of my own destiny, instead of just waiting every six months or a year for a performance appraisal to get a raise,” she said.

Considering a career change three years later, Neal contacted the owner of the Runza and asked if they would be interested in him coming on board.

That’s when the dual team was born. Neal and Lora switched between operating the Scottsbluff store and the former store at Monument Mall as they raised children.

Like Lora, Neal said, “I had an entrepreneurial spirit.”

After 20 years, they opted to close the store at Monument Mall.

In the 1980s, the stores were third from the bottom in sales volume. Today, they are in the top five.

“We don’t rest on our laurels,” Lora said. “We are always striving to do better.

Is that the secret to their success? Neal and Lora say they feel a responsibility to their employees and their customers to create a family atmosphere.

“I guess we are passionate about what we do and we are on the same page in that,” Neal said.

Neal likes to volunteer and be involved in the community. The couple likes to get out there and lead and they say that carries out into their business.

Lora said she personally loves to mentor her employees, helping to teach kids who have their first job.

“They have got to do their part, but I love mentoring them, working through situations with them, training them and teaching them.”

She also admits that she’s a “rules person” which makes her more the human resources manager out of the duo and the overseeing the compliance to rules and regulations.

“We compliment each other,” Lora said. “I love to create and design,” Neal said. “She loves the operational side.”

The love for creating and design prompted Neal to

Becky Horne is the owner of Becky’s Therapeutic Massage.

Horne is one of the founding organizers of the NEXT Young Professionals, a group aimed to bring together young professionals in the community. She was awarded the Young Careerist on the local and state level and competed on a national level in Philadelphia in 2005. She has been a Scottsbluff-Gering Chamber of Commerce board of director and served as board chair in 2012. She helped form the 27th Street Business Association, leading efforts to improve landscaping and signage on the street. She served as a board member for the Team Ashytn Foundation, helping establish the organization that helps children and families in 2010.

In January 2016, Horne and co-chair Brenda Leisy were honored as Star-Herald Citizens of the Year for resurrecting the Old West Balloon Festival. Horne spent over 1,000 hours researching and volunteering for the Old West Balloon Festival ... Resurrected and an estimated 12,000 people are estimated to have come to the event.

Horne married her husband, Tom, in 2013 and she has five children.

AARON SEANEY/Star-Herald

John Selzer thanks the community after receiving the Visionary Rising Star award in January at the Gering Civic Center. Mike Downey, and Kim Ferguson represented the chamber to introduce the speakers of the night.

John Selzer — Visionary Rising Star

MAUNETTE LOEKS/Star-Herald

ABOVE: Lora and Neal Blomenkamp are pictured at the fireplace, one of the improvements made in a reconstruction and remodeling project. The Scottsbluff Runza was the first Runza to have a fireplace and other Runzas are now following.

LEFT: A Runza employee serves a to-go order at Runza during a recent lunch hour.

design the Scottsbluff store, which recently underwent a major reconstruction when he purchased an adjoining building and expanded the restaurant. Neal designed the store on a napkin and worked with Runza National to get the features that he wanted.

The store features a beautiful fireplace that he said is

now being emulated in Runza restaurants throughout the state, a front eating area that doubles as a patio with large windows that open in the summertime, large restrooms and a community room that the couple offer as a space for nonprofits and small groups.

“I wanted to make it a community gathering space,

to come, to fellowship and be in a good environment,” he said, praising Runza National for not requiring a “cookie cutter approach” of some fast food chains.

The Gering Runza, which the couple has owned for 20 years, also underwent a remodel in summer 2015, making it a little more mod-

John Selzer is an attorney at Simmons Olsen Law Firm in Scottsbluff, where he has been practicing since 2009. He specializes in employment law, school law, business transactions, real estate, and estate planning and probate.

Selzer grew up in Scottsbluff and his activities in high school included football, basketball and track.

He was described as a work hose, excelling academically and athletically, and his efforts challenged others to work harder. After high school, he attended Doane College, where he played football, then attended the University of Nebraska Lincoln where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2002. He received his law degree from the University of Nebraska in 2005. He and his wife, Jamie, moved to Scottsbluff in 2009 and the couple have two children, Elliott, 7, and Charlie, 5.

Selzer was recognized for his passion for making his hometown better. He volunteers with the NEXT Young Professionals and has served as president of the organization. He has also served with the YMCA Board and its executive committee, Rotary and is an active member of St. Francis Episcopal Church.

He currently serves as president of the TeamMates Mentoring Program and is vice president of the Scottsbluff School Board. He also coaches basketball.

ern and cozy.

“You can only paint a wall so many times,” Neal said, saying the couple knew the store needed an update.

The couple’s commitment to the community also extends beyond the restaurants.

In recently being recognized by the Scottsbluff-Gering United Chamber of Commerce, the couple were lauded for their many community activities, including forming their own non-profit, Life Change Connection.

The non-profit stemmed from a conversation that Neal said he had with a woman at his drive-thru. Neal, who has struggled with diabetes and serious complications of diabetes since he was a child, said the woman told him that she wished her daughter would have met him. The woman couldn’t handle her own struggles and took her life, he said.

The conversation impact-

ed him and his organization tries to help people and families struggling with diabetes, from giving monetary assistance to help purchase medical supplies to referring them to agencies that can provide them assistance in the longterm.

Neal says the couple have contributed time and money to many, many causes in the community, from church to nonprofit. They put children’s causes first, including youth sports and activities, because they feel it is the answer to changing the world, Neal said. However, as they go through a long list of causes, it’s clear they are generous and willing in being good stewards, as Neal says.

“Looking back, that is what contributes to our success. I have never done it to be successful, but because it was the right thing to do. … We think it’s what works.”

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Saturday, March 5, 2016

Courtesy image

A 3-D rendering of the interior of the Elite Health Center.

n WEBBS: Continued from page 1

Jason said people have several misconceptions about what it’s like underground. There are huge tunnels with trains and large caverns below the surface.

“There aren’t gold nuggets,” he said. “You have to crush seven or eight tons of rock to get an ounce of gold.”

After high school, they both attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

After graduation, Jason attended Indiana University, completing his doctor of optometry degree.

Sami remained in Lincoln to complete her doctor of dental surgery degree at UNMC College of Dentistry.

They both practiced in Lincoln for a year after graduation until Sami was accepted to the Ohio State University post-doctorate orthodontic program. The Webbs moved to Columbus, Ohio.

For the next four years, Jason practiced optometry while Sami completed her residency. In 2004, they realized they wanted to move back to the Midwest.

During the time they were away, Jason’s family moved to North Platte.

Jason and Sami had also spent time in western Nebraska and enjoyed the area.

Sami was offered an opportunity in Scottsbluff to purchase an orthodontic satellite office from Dr. Bradley Hoppens. Scottsbluff was also in close proximity to their families. Jason and Sami moved to Scottsbluff in October 2004.

They moved to their current location after purchasing the building and remodeling it in 2005. Jason opened his practice in 2006.

“We always knew we wanted to live in a small town to raise our kids,” Jason said. “It felt like home.

It seemed like the right decision to be closer to family.”

Since 2006, Sami has expanded her Scottsbluff practice to locations in Alliance, Chadron and Sidney. In 2014, she brought in an associate, Dr. Bron-

Courtesy image

An October 2015 rendering of the east side of the Elite Health Center.

son Schliep. Jason has also expanded his Scottsbluff practice by acquiring practices in Alliance and Bridgeport from retiring optometrist Craig Dietrich. In 2015, Jason also hired Dr. Cady Hubbard as an associate.

“It’s been a great place for us and our family and business opportunity,” Sami said. “It’s worked out for the best.”

Since moving to Scottsbluff in 2004, Sami has worked on one project after another.

“My mind is always going,” she said. “We love what we do and it doesn’t feel like work if you love what you do.”

Jason and Sami feel a responsibility to do their part to make their community better for everyone.

The original design for Elite Health had a medical facility combined with an indoor recreation center, which would become a big health and wellness center that promotes healthy lifestyles.

“The lot was supposed to be this whole big piece,” she said. “We divided the lot into two, so there’s just the health part.”

The Webbs then began thinking about where people could go when it’s cold outside.

“We need a place where kids and seniors can go,” she said. “We wanted to have one thing indoors for the kids to play and some sort of equipment for the kids.”

Elite Health will have an interactive play area.

They would like to see a true indoor facility in the area so sports tournaments, such as wrestling, can be held in town.

“We want the kids to have the facilities they need, that’s our next project,” Sami said.

Sami pointed toward facilities in Bridgeport and Sidney that have community facilities.

“My son is in wrestling,” Jason said. “We don’t have any gym space and practice space.”

She admits she doesn’t do vacations well and is always thinking of what to do next and how to help make Scottsbluff a better community. If she had a year to take off, Sami would concentrate on creating such a facility.

“We have to be one of the last communities that doesn’t have one,” she said.

When they’re not working, Jason and Sami spend most of their free time with their children, who are involved in several activities. Sami enjoys going to tournaments and seeing the children she has helped

in other towns.

“I can go to a tournament and there may be kids from all of those towns,” she said. “I completely love knowing them and enjoying watching them play.”

So far, Elite Health has attracted DaVita Dialysis Center, a pediatric dental group, a physical therapy office, a day care and gym space.

There will be an indoor area that will be more of a community area for people to wait, have coffee and children can play.

The Webbs’ goal is to

make customer service the most important part of Elite Health, which they believe is the key to being successful.

“Most people fail due to a lack of customer service, but if you have a customer/ patient centric approach, you can be successful,” Jason said.

Their careers are more than giving a child a smile or helping them see.

“In health care, you get the reward that you change and influence lives,” Jason said. “Those are the rewarding choices that make it fun to come to work.”

Pride Saturday, March 5, 2016

Page 5

n MALL: MAUNETTE LOEKS/Star-Herald

Continued from page 1

man mentioned that completion of the Heartland Expressway would greatly help the mall.

“It is part of the struggles of finding new tenants,” Willman said, noting that national tenants particularly have specific criteria the companies consider in selecting a location.

Industry trends are also something that the mall continues to have to work around.

“Enclosed malls are, in a lot of ways, becoming a thing of the past,” Willman admits, noting the industry trend to “lifestyle malls” that are open groupings of stores.

Two years ago, RockStep Capital purchased the mall.

RockStep Captial is a real estate investment company based in Houston, Texas, and founded 19 years ago.

President Andy Weiner explains that the company specializes in structuring investments in shopping centers and secondary and tertiary properties.

“We look for strong communities with underdeveloped properties — properties that were undercapitalized or under managed,” Weiner said.

RockStep Capital operates in nine states and has purchased or developed over 6 million square feet of shopping centers, he said.

“Our mission as a company is to make the secondary markets better places and we do that by putting in our expertise and our capital to basically stabilize these properties, bring in new tenants and structure them to be long-lasting for the 21st century,” Weiner said.

Since RockStep Capital purchased the property, the mall has been going through a revitalization. The owners presented a redevelopment plan to the City of Scottsbluff and tax-increment financing and a half-cent enhanced employment occupation tax will help spur development at the property.

When RockStep Capital purchased Monument Mall, Weiner said, it was 60 percent vacant.

National tenants — Hobby Lobby, Dunham Sports, Rue 21, Famous Footwear and Applebee’s — have brought new life to the mall.

They are the lifeblood of the mall, especially as it competes with other locations, in and out of the community.

“Our main draw is the national tenants,” Willman said. “The more national tenants we have, the more people.”

Rue 21 was the first new national tenant in November 2014 and Famous Footwear and Applebee’s joined the mall scene in November 2015. The opening of national tenants “has increased our traffic so much,” she said. “All of the stores are doing fairly well.”

The success of national tenants shows they can be successful in the region, Weiner said. RockStep had targeted adding 10 new national and local tenants over a three-year period and has exceeded its goals.

“We have greatly exceeded our expectations for this property,” he said. “The actual sales for all of these (national tenants) have exceeded projected sales and we are pleased.”

National tenants are critical to stabilizing the property and validating the market for other tenants who may be on the fence about locating in the area, Weiner said.

National tenants invest millions of dollars into their locations. Absent any national decline in the economy, he expects that RockStep will continue to be able to add more major retailers and restaurants to Monument Mall. RockStep also expects to see some outparcels constructed in front of the property within the next 24 months.

“We have reduced the need for shoppers to leave

Shana Schank of Twisted Pretzel grabs a pretzel with a set of tongs as she waits on a customer during lunch hour. Twisted Pretzel opened in April 2015 at Monument Mall.

the region for their shopping needs ... The highlights are that it is a very steady market, it has a good really strong and loyal customer base. It is very difficult time wise and commuting cost wise (for customers) to shop in alternative locations. If they (national tenants) come here and have the right occupancy cost, which we have given them, they can be profitable.”

Mall managers continue to focus on trying to fill three large store sites — the former Sears location, former JCPenney location and 10,000 square feet that remains open on the other side of Hobby Lobby.

In some of its properties, RockStep has been success-

ful in locating office space, community colleges, medical office groups and other non-retail companies.

Multi-use properties work very well for spaces such as Monument Mall, he said.

Willman oversees the recruitment and contracts of local tenants. Some of the tenants are opening up brand new locations, expanding or relocating. Hillman works with those tenants on their contracts and a RockStep Capitol manager works with national tenants. A lot goes on behind the scenes of a store opening at the mall, including working with the stores to offer incentives, making improvements, to bring them to the mall.

Some of the original tenants remain at the mall — Vanity, The Buckle, Herberger’s, to name just three — continue to bring in local food traffic. Thirteen new tenants have come to the mall since November 2014.

From 2006 to 2014, the mall only saw one new tenant. New restaurants have brought some welcome additions to the mall for those wanting to grab a bite to eat. Hillman said she would also love to see some more clothing stores come to the mall, a kids toy store or kids’ clothing store, echoing some of the same desires of shoppers who often comment on the Monument Mall’s Facebook page. Hillman also thinks a

men’s clothing store would do well, filling a gap that she has seen in the community since the closing of Eric Vath Clothing Store and other stores in the community through the years.

“There is still stuff to be done,” Willman said. “It won’t happen all at once. It will be in steps … but a lot of great things have been happening here.”

On Facebook, some have generated interest for an indoor play area at the mall and Weiner said that part of RockStep’s strategy at each of its properties is to provide activities and opportunities for children, especially because the area has inclement weather three to five months of the year.

They are also interested in filling the mall common space with activities and he urged nonprofit organizations to contact Willman, whose professionalism and dedication to the mall and the community he praised.

Weiner praised the City of Scottsbluff and Platte Valley Bank in assisting Monument Mall as it moves forward in its redevelopment. “(Purchasing Monument Mall) has been a wonderful experience for RockStep Capital,” he said. “The community is first class.

It is very welcoming. It is very loyal. ... We would do it (purchase the mall) again in a heartbeat. We have more work to do, but we have had a great start.

308-632-2143 800-446-7147

www.carrtrumbull.com

1310 Circle Drive, Scottsbluff Mon–Fri 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM Sat 8 AM – 2 PM

Pride Page 6

Saturday, March 5, 2016

KOTA celebrates 58 years on the air AARON SEANEY Staff Reporter aseaney@starherald.com

Jerry Dishong gets to the office in the mornings around 9 a.m., he checks in with the receptionist Christine Schell, says hi to the other people he works with, then prepares for the afternoon news. When the news is ready the studio is quiet.

There is no cameraman, no one switching prompts. It’s not like the movies with a producer’s assistant counting down before he goes live, it is just Dishong and one person in the control room ready to put up the slides. Dishong reads the news and effortlessly handles the closed captioning and the teleprompter while letting people know what’s happening in the community, the region, and the state. During commercial breaks he prepares for the next segment while making sure the closed captioning is correct for the commercials. While it might seem like that is a lot for one man to handle, Dishong simply feels he has come full circle in his 50 years with KOTA TV. “When I started out it was just me. I used to pretend on the air that we had a cameraman. I would call him Frank,” laughs Dishong.

“Then people would tour the studio and ask me where Frank was and I’d have to say he was off that day. Then eventually we had three people in the news room as I read headlines. Couple of camera crews and someone running the prompter, now it’s just me again.”

KDUH started on March 5, 1958, and was originally in Hay Springs where Dishong got his start and KOTA was in Rapid City.

Both were owned by Helen S. Duhamel. People were wanting TV along the highway in towns like Chadron and Crawford, so the locals came together and raised money to build a tower in Hemingford to increase their signal.

Eventually KOTA and KDUH consolidated and KDUH was called KOTA starting in 1988. KOTA Territory has been affiliated with three news networks in Dishong’s tenure, but what has changed more than that is the technology.

“Technology today has passed me by. I don’t know what a Snapchat is and really don’t care. I remember our first color program. It was ‘Bonanza.’ Boy was that a big deal,” said Dishong.

“Also our first green screen.

Before the green screen one election night I had to glue the results to the wall, but the lights got so hot it melted the glue and each candidate’s name fell one by one. We were live so I just pretended it wasn’t happening.”

Dishong’s first TV gig was as a sports caster in Hay Springs. He drove an hour each way from his home to report on sports and they paid him $5 a night. Having always been in the area, though, he has enjoyed growing with the community over the years.

“Me and my audience raised our families together, got married together, buried our parents together and now have grown old together,” said Dishong.

“That creates a pretty tight bond.”

Technology changes is also something News Director Scott Miller has learned to deal with even in the last couple of years.

“There is no news cycle any more as the digital platform has become a lot more important,” said Miller. “There is more emphasis on social media, and engaging a younger generation through that platform.

But then balancing that with our older generation who still enjoys the broadcasts.”

KOTA ranks among one

AARON SEANEY/Star-Herald

ABOVE: Jerry Dishong checks his notes as he has done for 50 years and prepares to go live for the afternoon news.

RIGHT: John Clanton reports live from the Broncos training camps. Clanton has been with KOTA territory for 15 years reporting on sports.

BELOW RIGHT: A behind the scenes look at the one stop studio for the KOTA news production.

of the smallest markets for a TV station, making it a hot spot for entry-level positions in broadcasting.

Miller said it creates great opportunities for those starting out, making them much more prepared for larger markets.

“You won’t learn the business better than here.

These larger markets you have great stories handed to you every day,” said Miller. “Here, you learn to dig for them. After a year it’s amazing how far reporters come, then by year two they are a top candidate in bigger markets, and that’s good.”

Miller was a reporter from 2006 to 2008 with KOTA then, after a stint in the private sector of video production, returned as the news director in 2014.

While some employees come to get their start here before moving to larger markets, there are a few others like sportscaster John Clanton who have chosen to stay in the area.

Clanton celebrates 15 years with KOTA this month.

“The love of sports has kept me here. All the communities around here love their sports,” said Clanton.

“I work in a place where people appreciate and love what I do. I wouldn’t get that in a bigger city.”

Clanton grew up watching sports with his grandmother and played football in high school. Then in college he made the decision despite the offer to be

a walk on at a D1 college to leave playing sports behind and move into reporting about it.

Clanton has also felt the change of the digital age and has been thankful for the younger reporters who come through.

“These new reporters are so good at what they do, and they are quick with the social media which I am not,” laughs Clanton. “That has helped me adapt more than anything, I think.”

Clanton and Dishong have enjoyed a long friendship working together through KOTA. Clanton has dinner with Dishong and his wife every Wednesday. Dishong tells stories of how he likes to pick on Clanton, but always calls him “one of the good ones.”

“John is so wonderful and such a kind and innocent person,” said Dishong.

“He shows why you should be a nice person. Be good to people. It takes no extra effort to be nice to people and it can literally change someone’s day.”

While KOTA has more changes on the horizon, Dishong says he has no plans of retirement yet, saying Miller and Clanton and the rest of the team is one of the best he has seen in his 50 years, and the whole team is ready for what’s ahead.

“I can’t imagine how much more will change over the next 50 years,” said Miller. “But we will be here to report on it.”

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Pride Saturday, March 5, 2016

Page 7

New look creates new interest in downtown Torrington SANDRA HANSEN Ag Editor ag@starherald.com

TORRINGTON, Wyo. — The former Ben Franklin building on Torrington’s Main Street has gone through several changes since it closed about 20 years ago. The creaky old floor boards have been replaced with modern flooring, and the dark wood counters and shelves have been removed and replaced with modern fixtures a few times.

After a community-owned clothing store closed a few years ago, the Goshen County Economic Development Corporation, owner of the building at 21st Avenue and Main Street, found itself wondering what could be done with it.

Another empty building on Main Street was not an option.

“We had tremendous discussions, and the consensus was that we had to take it up a level or it would all go downhill,” said Wally Wolski, GCEDC chairman.

Consequently, after investigating several possibilities, the group decided to remodel the store, bring in the Goshen County Chamber of Commerce and establish a visitor’s center. A boutique was secured, and an existing business, The Java Jar, moved into updated quarters. The building also contains two meeting rooms and a demonstration kitchen.

Goshen County Chamber of Commerce

Goshen County Chamber of Commerce Director Marsha Middleswarth said the move has been incredibly positive, and the new layout is a big draw for visitors.

“It was nice to move in here and have an actual visitor center,” Middleswarth said. “It is a tremendous benefit to the chamber and local tourism.”

She added that the Main Street location has created an over-whelming amount of foot traffic, and the ability to dispense information is like nothing she’s ever seen.

“It’s a great platform to promote events, organizations and other people,” Middleswarth said. “It’s totally changed what we do, and has increased our opportunity to serve visitors and the community.”

In addition to a part-time secretary/receptionist, an additional part-time position was created to help the chamber serve visitors, Middleswarth said.

Curtis Birkley handles the technical support, and monitors the chamber’s website and Facebook page. He also tracks and responds to inquiries forwarded from the state tourism office.

One of his current projects is contacting bus tour companies to let them know U.S.

SANDRA HANSEN/Star-Herald

California sisters Jan Kylander, left, and Meg Kylander, admire items in Farm Girls Boutique during a weekend vacation in Goshen County. The women were enjoying a shopping spree along Main Street that included lunch at The Bread Doctor’s bake shop, before returning to Los Angeles and Orange County. They have a ranch home north of Fort Laramie.

Highway 85 is operational again following the flood that hit Lusk, Wyoming, last year.

“The opportunity to make a difference is really exciting,” Middleswarth said of the new arrangements.

Farm Girls Boutique

A new retail shop is located in the front of the building on the south side of the main door.

Julie Kilty, owner of the Farm Girls Boutique, is very excited about the opportunity. A rancher and marketing consultant, Kilty said she has always been interested in sales, even as a child selling lemonade to fishermen who came to her family’s ranch pond in Montana, or opening a “store” on the porch of their home. She owned and operated Country at Heart in downtown Torrington several years, and held a few special events, like special Christmas shopping opportunities, in the current building in 201213 before it was brought back to life. She decided to take advantage of this latest opportunity when approached

by Goshen County Economic Development.

“I have a passion for home decoration,” Kilty admitted.

With that interest, she features antique and vintage pieces, and encourages the use of simple things by customers looking to change the look of their room or home.

Her shop offers a wide variety of items, from women’s clothing and infant apparel, to locally and/or hand-

made items, such as a towel hook made of spoons, men’s hand-crafted wooden shaving items, and a wine rack made of horse shoes — all made in the U.S.A. “People like these types of items, especially since they are made in the U.S.A., and are reasonably priced,” Kilty said.

Goshen County Economic Development Corporation

The driving force behind all of the changes at 21st & Main is the Goshen County Economic Development Corporation and its former director Lisa Johnson, who went on to work with the Wyoming Business Council.

When the clothing store closed, GCEDC decided to “shake things up,” according to Wally Wolski, chairman of the organization. “We wanted to add value to our downtown,” he explained.

The effort to revitalize the building and downtown began in 2014. This was done by recruiting an anchor business, the Java Jar, and Farm Girls Boutique and the chamber of commerce took advantage of the opportunity.

“They opened in June and are doing great,” Wolski added.

The public meeting facilities are popular, as well, said Sandy Hoehn, Economic Development project coordinator.

“There is a fee to use the event spaces, including the loft meeting room and

demonstration kitchen,” Hoehn explained, adding that the rooms are available after business hours and on weekends.

“It is the center of Torrington,” Wolski said of the location. “We had to do something.”

Wolski said GCEDC never considered selling the building because they didn’t want to bring in something that would compete with existing Main Street businesses.

He said the first goal was to permanently locate the chamber of commerce there, and establish a visitor center.

This would draw travelers to the downtown business area, as well. Those efforts are paying dividends, according to downtown businesses, which report increased traffic.

Looking to the future, Wolski said GCEDC is in a position to accommodate and customize a space for another tenant.

“We want to inspire more development downtown,”

said Ashley Harpstreith, new GCEDC executive director.

“If we can get more interest in downtown, we’re doing our job.”

Java Jar

Kilty’s neighbor across the main lobby is the Java Jar, a coffee and lunch shop that has been in business 20 years, and in need of more space for most of that time.

Owners Kris Eaton, Patti Harmon and Julie Haught didn’t take long to agree to move one block north to create a larger operation that would double or triple the number of customers they could serve.

During a recent interview in their new location, Eaton and Haught said the larger space was the big draw, and all three owners were on the same page when it came to deciding to move.

“Back in 1995, we wanted to open a coffee house, with a crafting area,” Haught explained. “But we were so

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busy from the start that we never got the crafting off the ground.”

“And we wanted a drive through, but that didn’t happen either, and that’s why we started the delivery service, which we still have,” Eaton added.

The women agreed that they were at a point where they needed to make a change because their equipment was outdated and their location at 1940 Main was too small.

They were really interested in the larger kitchen area, and the improved traffic flow.

“We were lucky that Julie’s husband is in construction,” Eaton said. His company had the contract for the 21st & Main renovation, so it was easier to move through potential problems.

The Java Jar is an open concept with lighting that is “so inviting at night,” Eaton said.

“It has a big city look.”

And their seating capacity has expanded to about 60-65 people. In addition to table seating, a row of chairs face outside at a counter along the front window.

The tables and chairs are secondhand from a bar in Denver. They had planned on new furniture, but when this opportunity came along, they couldn’t resist. The women said it took a lot of elbow grease but they are very satisfied with the results.

“We had support from the whole community,” Haught said of the move and getting back to normal operations.

“We’ve been very well-received,” Eaton said. “And the warm reception has included people in outlying communities, Haught added.

The trio of owners have increased their workforce from three or four to five to seven, and would like to extend hours, but it is hard to find help.

In the meantime, they are very satisfied with their decision to move. Customer parking is not an issue, especially with the new parking lot one-half block east. They also plan to build a web page and offer T-shirts.

21st & Main is bringing a lot of people into Torrington, according to the Java Jar owners, and they are happy to be one of the reasons they come.

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Sunday, March 5, 2016

Pride Saturday, March 5, 2016

Page 9

JEFF SMITH/Star-Herald

The entrance to the Harrison House Hotel which has been at the town for over 120 years. The distinguished hotel is now being sold but has already made a lasting impact on Harrison.

Hotel mixes comfort of home with pace of the west JEFF SMITH Staff Reporter jsmith@starherald.com

HARRISON — Harrison House Hotel on the south side of town stands as a monument to traditions and lifestyles that have lasted throughout the years: Western living and a sense of familiarity.

Through the hospitality in the owners there is comfort and simplicity.

Harrison House Hotel is one of the places where, “it’s like a home away from home,” said Terresa Romey, one of the owners of the hotel.

Romey said the hotel is a place where anybody would feel welcome.

Harrison House Hotel is a two-story building where guests can stay on the second floor in nine rooms with three shared bathrooms. There is one queen-sized bed and one twin-sized bed and then the rest are full-sized beds.

Most have dressers and a couple rooms connect to other rooms.

The ground floor has a lobby and restaurant.

There have been a few renovations since Romey and her partner owned it.

Two of the bathrooms have been remodeled and others have had smaller changes. There has also been an addition of a handicapped ramp and an entertain-

ment room where people are able to watch movies or just relax.

The town of Harrison was in its prime development stages in the late 1800s and early 1900s when the hotel and other businesses in the town began operation. At one point there was a train depot to the east of hotel where passenger trains and freight trains would run through the town. The highest population the town ever saw was about 500 people after land was being offered through the Kinkaid Land Law, which was passed in 1904. Settlers were offered land for free with a small filing fee.

Today there are no longer trains that run through the town and the population is modest at around 250, but the town still has the same bearing of western living that marks small ranching towns in western Nebraska.

The hotel is still a lively place as people visit daily for coffee, on Sundays for brunch, and various guests on vacation come to see the attractions of western Nebraska.

Romey and her partner have owned the hotel since September 2013.

Romey ended up buying the hotel after stopping at the county courthouse and then visiting the museum,

finding that the business was for sale.

“At that point I was looking for something new to do. So my silent partner and I, we’ve been running it together since,” said Romey.

Romey has always liked the building because it is so old. She’s an antique collector and ever since she came across the hotel, she has loved it. Romey also grew up with a saw mill in South Dakota so anything with woodwork or built with lumber has always interested her.

The hotel was built in 1886 and was the first building that stood in Harrison. It once operated as a brothel.

“All the side streets, east or west, are supposedly named after the women that worked here and the owner,” said Romey.

One of the women, Rose, was also supposedly killed in or near the hotel.

According to Romey, Red Cloud, an important leader of the Oglala Lakota tribe, also ate with forks and knives for the first time with a rancher that owned land near Agate Fossil Beds, James H. Cook.

There’s a certain feel to the hotel that can only be described as rustic and cozy. Romey said that the area around the hotel is JEFF SMITH/Star-Herald

RIGHT: Terresa Romey, one of the owners of the Harrison House Hotel, stands ready for guests to come during mid-morning in January 2016.

BELOW LEFT: The lobby at the Harrison House Hotel in the town of Harrison. A wood fireplace, couches and different decor makes it a cozy atmosphere and feel like home, which owner Terresa Romey said is one of the greatest features of the hotel.

BELOW RIGHT: The lobby at the Harrison House Hotel in the town of Harrison. A wood fireplace, couches and different decor makes it a cozy atmosphere and feel like home, which owner Terresa Romey said is one of the greatest features of the hotel.

different from other areas in Scottsbluff. She invites everyone from the Panhandle to stay at the hotel.

“They need to visit up here, there’s a lot of pretty country up north,” said Romey.

Romey said the peak season for the hotel is summer, but there is also some business in August for fair time, alumni banquets and hunting season.

Last year, she was booked for 5-6 weekends. Five of the nine rooms were also booked regularly during the summer as well as hunting season.

Romey said that there have been several people from different countries come to the hotel.

“They found it online and they’ve been drawn to it just because it is old,” said Romey.

She said they have found it convenient because of the nearness to Agate Fossil Beds, Toadstool Park

and Fort Robinson.

One of the things she has enjoyed is when the guests would come and watch T.V. with her.

She said that every guest is different, however she now considers people in Harrison her family.

“Everybody is close-knit around here,” said Romey.

“They’ve been very welcoming and very friendly.

It’s a great town to live in.”

Local coffee drinkers might visit there starting at 6:30 a.m. every morning. At 7 a.m. breakfast is offered and on Sundays there is a buffet. Harrison House Hotel is the only restaurant in Harrison that is open on Sundays. Romey said that there is usually 55-60 people that come to the brunch on Sundays.

According to the Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies, there could have been up to 100 people dining at the hotel at the time

when business was booming in the town and there were passenger trains.

The business is being sold currently as Romey said she wants to spend more time with her family.

She lost a son and nephew in 2014 and her oldest son now has two babies, which she wants to spend more time with.

“I’ve had a lot of laughs here. It’s amazing when you are here and what you see,” said Romey.

After the business is sold she plans to go back to her home in southern Sioux County and focus on other priorities, such as family.

Romey enjoys taking photos and she is always looking for different scenery. She said there is a great mix of terrain around the hotel, including badlands and different rock formations.

“I haven’t explored everything up here yet,” said Romey.

Pride Page 10

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Pink Palace is a rural Panhandle icon AARON SEANEY Staff Reporter aseaney@starherald.com

In the small town of McGrew where the population sign reads 99 but 75-80 is a more accurate number there is a man named John.

Every day John goes to his favorite place in town, really the only place in town, The Pink Palace. John is there every single day at the same time, sits in the same seat at the end of the bar and has four beers in a special glass that is kept on display for him. When he is finished he turns on their window lights before dark and then heads home, which is right around the corner. He usually walks, but in the winter he can be seen driving his John Deer Gator with a blade on the front to get through the snow.

Jody and Angie Buskirk, who own the Pink Palace, are really his family, as well as his phone service.

John doesn’t have a phone so if his sister worries, or his doctor needs to talk to him, they call the Pink Palace. If he doesn’t show up for a few days, Angie and Jody usually pop by just to make sure he is OK. If he’s not home, Angie knows where to find him when it’s nice — fishing for catfish. If he catches a big one, he makes sure to swing by and show it off. This is just one of the many long-time customers of one of the Panhandle’s longest-running businesses.

The Pink Palace was built in 1911 and served as a motel for the railroad. As the area grew so did the business and by the 1940s The McGrew Lounge as it was called became a barbershop and small bar for locals. In 1970, a simple food menu was added and you could get a burger and fries. Then, in the mid’70s, the then-owners Dora and Duane Paben decided to ditch the brownish-reddish brick color, and paint the building pink after getting a sale on the paint. Thus earning its new name “The Pink Palace.”

“They got a deal on pink paint and just went with it,” said Angie Buskirk.

Duane Paben recently passed away; his wife Dora is still a resident of McGrew.

Jody and wife Angie Buskirk bought the Pink Palace in 1998, and have owned and operated the restaurant ever since. Their first order of business shortly after taking over was expanding the menu, which has now grown to include items such as tacos, chicken sandwiches, Philly steak and cheese, chicken fried steak fingers, enchiladas, and their famous prime rib served on Friday nights.

The restaurant started serving prime rib in 2001 after one of their food dealers convinced the Buskirks to give it a shot. 15 years lat-

AARON SEANEY/Star-Herald

ABOVE: The Pink Palace is the only working business in McGrew Nebraska. It was originally built in 1911 as a hotel for the rail roads.

RIGHT: Locals come in to relax after a long day of work. Jody typically tends the bar side of the Pink Palace at night while Angie works the kitchen.

er Friday night is still one of their most popular nights as families and locals pack the house.

The prime rib was also one of the favorite dishes of Justice Antonin Scalia who would come visit the restaurant anytime he was in the area hunting. The Buskirks always enjoyed his visits, and said he blended in well with the locals.

“You wouldn’t know who he was if you came in here, he was always chatting with people, very friendly and fit right in with us,” said Angie Buskirk.

At first glance the parking lot is full of trucks, golf carts, gators, side by sides, four wheelers and motorcycles. The site of it might make you assume The Pink Palace is a place where the jukebox would screech to a halt if you walk in the first time, with a bunch of locals wondering who you are, but instead you are greeted by a friendly atmosphere set up by the Buskirks as the owners move effortlessly from table to table talking to all their customers like long-time friends, which many of them are. Of course, if they are extra busy you will see Angie behind the bar cooking the food, with almost the entire kitchen visible from

the front door and Jody grabbing drinks. He and Angie know almost everyone’s drink orders as soon as they walk in. The customers and the people are what have kept the Buskirks enjoying their work for the past 18 years.

“We enjoy getting to know all of our long-time customers, and getting to know any new people,” said Jody Buskirk.

Jerry Weeks lives about 2 miles south of McGrew and said it has become one of his favorite places to come over the past 20 years.

“If you want to have a good time, and not be judged by anybody while you have some good old country fun and a good meal while you’re at it, then this is your place,” said Weeks.

Weeks is the owner of Platte Valley Livestock, and the Pink Palace hosts his Christmas party every year.

“I dare you to find a place that throws a better party with better service than here,” said Weeks.

Their usual customers come from all areas of the Panhandle and frequencies of visits vary.

One couple from Gering tried it out with some friends, and the

welcoming atmosphere and food have had them coming back every Monday for over 15 years now.

Monday nights the Buskirks open up the pool table for free games, the jukebox is usually cranking country tunes, and most of the regulars catch up with each other while eating and playing pool, feeling almost like a weekly reunion.

Another customer, Jim Cornette from Alliance, visit less frequently, but Cornette says it is a must whenever he has to come southwest. Cornette is 84 and has been stopping by the Pink Palace since before the Buskirks owned it. He enjoys getting his Pepsi and some food, playing a few rounds of keno, and then heads home.

The Pink Palace is currently McGrew’s only business. Jody serves as the head of the city council, and says that the restaurant’s taxes are one of two sources of income for McGrew, the other being utilities.

“It allows us to fix up the roads, and other small projects in town, so it’s a vital part of the community,” said Jody Buskirk.

Jody Buskirk has put more work in to the restaurant with a driving desire to make it the best possible

A local business serving our customers since 1982 Your Computer, Networking, Copier, and Hobby Connection

experience for the customers and his staff. He works for Cashway foods during the day while Angie runs the restaurant but at night he is always looking for projects to make the business better.

Over the last two years that work has included hand-building the wooden bar and tables that furnish the restaurant, remodeling the bathrooms with a classic rustic feel including a “bucket sink,” expanding the dining the room, and creating an outdoor patio with large grills for the steaks, a stage for live music, and one popular sand volleyball court.

Volleyball is now a weekly tradition in the spring and summer, where people gather every Wednesday night for some fun competition and enjoy the beautiful country summer nights. Jody considers starting Wednesday night volleyball one of his greatest successes. He recalls Budweiser donating a keg for the first night, and everyone having a great time despite some people getting a bit competitive.

“A guy missed the ball, got upset and broke his hand on a railroad tie, but other than that it was a great time,” said Buskirk, laughing.

Volleyball has become so popular on Wednesday nights that Jody felt they needed something to do in the fall and winter as well so he introduced a free poker night where customers can come in and earn prizes through the weekly games of Texas Hold ‘Em. Jody Buskirk’s other favorite success out of the restaurant has been the annual Golf Scramble. The 26team event has become so popular it is now invite-only as a way to thank loyal customers. Afterwards the teams always come back for a meal.

The Pink Palace almost changed ownership a few years ago, with Jody and Angie looking to sell the property, but after six short months on the market, and a few offers, they just couldn’t pull the trigger.

“When we got into this the average bar owner usually lasted 4 or 5 years before selling. I told myself I wouldn’t go longer than 15 years,” said Jody Buskirk. “But now we just can’t imagine selling the place. We’d be lost with out it.”

“I cried when they put up the For Sale signs,” said Angie Buskirk.

Angie had worked at the Pink Palace for years before purchasing the businesses, which helped make the transition easier in the earlier years.

While Angie continues to run the place during the day, Jody says he will continue to find projects to streamline Angie’s work, and with no plans to sell, the Pink Palace will continue to be a proud staple in the Panhandle.

308.632.5514 1912 Broadway Scottsbluff

Pride Saturday, March 5, 2016

Page 11

Cupcakes a labor of love for sisters IRENE NORTH Staff Reporter inorth@starherald.com

You’ll never know the secret to what’s in a cupcake at Cloud 9 CaKery, but it doesn’t matter once you bite into one.

Five years ago, Carianne White and her sister Katie Ernst attended a wedding where the cake was actually a cupcake cake. They thought it would be a great idea. After taking a cake decorating class at Western Nebraska Community College, they began making cakes. Their first commissioned cake was a gag gift cake for a friend. It was well-received and they began to seriously think they could make something of it. Even though their cakes were good, they fell in love with making cupcakes. Cupcakes are more popular, more mobile and easier to serve.

“We tried to make cakes and found that we just couldn’t produce that same fun look that we could with the cupcakes,” White said.

They made cupcakes for friends and coworkers, then they heard about the farmers’ market.

“We filled out the application four years ago and started there,” White said. “The very first week we sold out.”

Though they don’t sell out every week, Cloud 9 CaKery’s popularity continues to grow.

The community has supported them since they began and businesses regularly recommend them for events and weddings. Some events are booked a year in advance.

This year is the first time they expanded to an all day event, “Girl’s Day Out.” “We couldn’t be happier to be in the position of our business right now,” White said.

Carianne White, left, and Katie Ernst, right, have fun baking during a photo shoot for Nebraska Life Magazine.

When White and Ernst began, they invented flavors in their head. Then they began reading recipe books and finding new ideas in magazines and the Internet.

“We have quite a library now that includes over 65 flavors,” White said.

At the Winter Farmers’ Market, customers stream through their booth, eager to get a cupcake before the 100 or so cupcakes are all sold out.

White is quiet, sometimes on the shy side. It takes a lot to get to know her and even more for her to talk to other people.

Selling cupcakes and speaking to customers was hard for her during the first year at the farmers’ market. After getting to know customers and other vendors, she found she really liked the marketing of cupcakes and the farmers’ market as a whole. But she’s not just at the farmers’ market to sell you

a product. She’s there to sell small businesses in Scottsbluff and Gering.

“We support small businesses when we can,” White said. “We try to use Great Western Sugar in all of our cupcakes, we really support everything that we can.”

During their five years in business, White and Ernst learned a lot about time management. They were late to the first wedding they were hired as they didn’t calculate the time needed to prepare correctly. They also learned about pricing.

“People don’t realize what it costs to make these beautiful little desserts and how much time it really takes to make them look that way,” White said.

Everything costs something. Electricity, time, decorations, ingredients, labor.

They do everything them-

selves. Bigger cities charge upwards of $5 a cupcake, but Cloud 9 CaKery has managed to keep the price under $2.

Cloud 9 CaKery’s name is a little bit about its owners and a little bit about how you feel when you eat them. White and Ernst want their customers to feel like they are on cloud nine when they taste their velvety smooth cupcakes, followed by an explosion of flavor. The “C” is for Carianne and the “K” is for Katie.

White beams with pride when she mentions the time she and her sister were featured in Nebraska Life Magazine about cupcake places in Nebraska. They were shocked when they got the call.

“We didn’t know what was going on or who even clued them into us,” she said. “They sent us this big list of questions.”

Their photographer friend,

IRENE NORTH/Star-Herald

Vanilla fudge cupcakes for sale by Cloud 9 CaKery at the Winter Farmers’ Market in Scottsbluff.

Jessica Mikolocyk, took photos for the article.

“We were in a magazine,” White said. “A small Nebraska magazine, but hey that’s pretty big time for us.”

One of their biggest successes was a catering job of 1,250 cupcakes, something they didn’t think they would be able to pull off.

“At first we thought we had to be crazy, but we did it,” White said. “We did it and it was awesome.”

Last year, they worked on their biggest event yet, The Cattlemens’ Ball. Cloud 9 CaKery was chosen to cater the dessert for the VIP lunch.

White and Ernst submitted a bid with their business plan and gave test flavors. Ernst created spreadsheets and sat with food companies to order

Courtesy photo

the ingredients for the huge amount of cupcakes needed.

“We baked for what seemed like years,” White said.

Each cupcake had to be individually boxed and labeled and placed on the tables. With sore hands, they decorated each cupcake in a single day.

Katie was nine months pregnant at the time, but the sisters had a lot of fun and have fond memories of preparing for the event.

“That was the last thing we did together before she moved away, and I couldn’t have been more proud of what we accomplished,” White said. “We, as a business, have begun to get our name out there.”

Cloud 9 CaKery now sponsors sporting events and baseball teams. In 2015, they spon-

CAKERY page 12

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Saturday, March 5, 2016

n CAKERY: Continued from page 11

sored a softball/t-ball team.

This year, they sponsored a fighter at the Legion Combat Sports fight night.

“We will sponsor the baseball team again this year and donate when we can to as many benefits as possible,” White said.

One benefit close to the sisters’ heart is epilepsy. Each March, they sell purple cupcakes to raise awareness about epilepsy. They became involved in the effort to raise awareness because their sister, Rebecca, has epilepsy. Money raised is donated to the Anita Kaufman Foundation.

Cloud 9 CaKery has also taken on their first employee, Beverly Strauch, who came to help out and refuses to let White give her cupcakes or pay.

“I won’t take them for free,” Strauch said. “I have to force her to take the money or I put it in myself.”

Cupcakes are quick to eat, but take a while to make.

Depending on the flavors involved, 75-100 can be made in one night. If they are more complicated, it takes a lot more time to make sure each one is frosted and decorated without falling apart.

Cupcakes come in different flavors. Vanilla fudge. Chocolate cream pie. Orange crush.

There are so many ways to make them and the flavors are limitless. White and Ernst love to experiment and have fun when baking.

“We’ve had orders for cupcakes with bacon on them, orders for sports-themed cupcakes, princess cupcakes, cartoons, you name it,” White said. “Our specialty is flavor.

We have a niche for making flavors that can’t be found at your normal bakery, so we take pride in making specialty cupcakes for our customers.”

Cloud 9 CaKery has made French toast cupcakes topped with bacon, beer cheese and bacon cupcakes for the Super Bowl and a dark chocolate cupcake with caramelized bacon on top.

“You don’t even know what you can do with bacon,” White said.

White’s favorite flavor is strawberry lemon with white frosting that Ernst makes.

“Those are really hard, too,” White said. “You have to fold ingredients by hand.”

The purple velvet cupcakes they make each year in March for epilepsy awareness are the most difficult to make.

“You have to alternate ingredients; buttermilk, dry ingredients, buttermilk,” she said. “They take forever when you’re tinting them the right color purple.”

At the farmers’ market, Cloud 9 CaKery usually sell out by noon. They have their regular customers. There’s one lady who always looks for something chocolate. Others stop by to chat or tell stories.

One man came to each market and purchased six cupcakes. White puts her hands in her pockets and looks to the ground when she talks

IRENE NORTH/Star-Herald

TOP: Carrianne White, right, chats with Linda Bennett, of Scottsbluff, left, a regular customer at Cloud 9 CaKery’s booth at the Winter Farmers’ Market. “It’s my favorite place,” Bennett said. “I’ve got to get those cupcakes.”

RIGHT: Beverly Strauch volunteers her time each week helping out at Cloud 9 CaKery at the Winter Farmers’ Market in Scottsbluff.

about how he doesn’t come anymore. He moved to be closer to his grandchildren.

“Usually when we sell at the farmers’ market we try to make one chocolate, one spice, one vanilla and one fruit,” she said. “If we think we will have some extra time we’ll throw another one in there just for fun or if we want to try a new recipe.”

They’ve also begun selling mini-cupcakes this year and they have been a huge hit. As they experiment with them more, the mini-cupcakes will be on their regular menu by next year.

When Cloud 9 CaKery began, Ernst was in school fulltime and White worked and took care of her family. They almost threw in the towel.

They pulled late nights, had some laughs and tossed away some very bad cupcakes, and realized it was all part of a growing business.

“We didn’t want to give up because we knew that we had customers who counted on us, but we didn’t want to miss out on the time with our families either,” White said. “It was very hard.”

Now, the tables are turned.

White still works a full-time job, takes care of her family and is three months away from graduation.

“I feel the urge to give up on the business every week,” she said. “My customers keep me motivated. I know the disappointment will be there if I am not at that booth.”

Despite the tough times, they refuse to give up.

“We were both taught to work hard by our parents and grandparents and we won’t give up for those that depend on us,” White said.

When she’s not whipping

up another memorable batch of cupcakes, White spends time with her husband of 17 years, Leon, and their children, Lawrence, 12, and Kherington, 5. Lawrence is an avid baseball player, which fits well with a family that watches baseball almost every night during the regular season. White grins from ear to ear when she speaks of Lawrence’s musical accomplishments in band and choir. Miss K, as everyone knows Kherington, is still all about the dolls and princesses. Even though she is in her second year of t-ball, it’s all pink everything — socks, helmet and shirt. If you ask White about her life, she’d rather speak about her family than the fact she’s about to graduate with an associate of Arts in Information Technology.

Ernst, who earned her bachelor’s degree in 2014, has been married for nearly 12 years to James. Their children Alivia, 7, and Isla, 1, are also destined to be baseball fans. Alivia is already good at bowling and played baseball before their recent move to Bismarck, North Dakota.

When White graduates in May, she plans to shift her focus to a summer off and spending time with her children.

“I’m going to see my family and watch some baseball,” she said.

It can be hard to turn down a cupcake, even ones as delicious as a Cloud 9 CaKery cupcake.

“Sometimes though, you just have to eat one,” White said. “I mean, you can’t sell them if they don’t taste good right?”

Pride Saturday, March 5, 2016

Page 13

Youth minister uses film interests to promote Panhandle SANDRA HANSEN Ag Editor ag@starherald.com

What began as a fascination with cameras has grown into a film production business for Joe Patterson, youth minister at Calvary Memorial Evangelical Free Church in Gering. Always interested in cameras and what they can do to enhance his ministry, Patterson turned that inquisitiveness to drones a few years ago, and is very satisfied with the results.

“It’s frustrating at times,” Patterson admitted during a recent outing to demonstrate his Phantom 2 flying machine. “But it’s a great tool to connect you with people.”

Patterson’s first attempts with a drone focused on events that included the youth in his church. He replaced his camera still shots with shots from above ground, that also included action and other features of motion pictures.

The learning curve has been interesting, according to Patterson. There is the drone itself, the control unit, the camera that is attached, and the preparations for each flight. His Phantom 2 unit features rotors that are designed to break, so the drone itself isn’t damaged in tight circumstances. There is a fail-safe battery, which indicates when it is running low on power, giving the pilot time to bring the aircraft down safely.

Patterson said there is a procedure to prep for flights that includes calibrating the gyroscope for up and down, as well as the gimbal to stabilize it.

The camera is fastened in close to the underside of the drone and tilts to maintain the correct orientation with the ground and/or the subject.

Learning to trust the drone is important, too, according to Patterson. “It’s pretty scary learning to do that,” he said. “It can’t always see what I see, and I can’t always see what it does. You just learn by practice. It’s a pretty incredible tool. It will follow me, and I can let go of the stick and it will balance itself.”

Patterson began working with a drone after he moved to Gering in 2011.

Since then he has practiced on vacations or just a day in the Wildcat Hills.

He has also honed his video skills by filming church youth activities, including trips and Christmas programs.

“I use those videos to promote our youth activities,” Patterson explained.

“We did one for Christmas this year, using a picnic shelter here at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center and 300 LED lights.

“The church youth really enjoyed it, and I’m work-

SANDRA HANSEN/Star-Herald

TOP: Joe Patterson inspects his Phantom 2 drone before flight time. The hand-held control unit communicates with the drone, even when it is out of sight.

ABOVE: The Phantom 2 drone features rotors that will break off if it crashes or gets into a tight situation, thus preventing damage to the drone body.

RIGHT: Joe Patterson inspects his Phantom 2 drone before flight time. The hand-held control unit communicates with the drone, even when it is out of sight.

ing on next year’s now,” he said.

Probably his most public/commercial project is the film he did for the Nebraska Dry Bean Commission that was presented during the 2016 Dry Bean Day in January.

According to Patterson, Lynn Reuter, administrative assistant of the organization, had seen the drone video he did of the balloon festival last summer. She contacted him about doing a video for the bean growers.

“I told her I wouldn’t do it if it was a commercial,” Patterson said. “It has to tell a story and be about people, and what a story they had, that had to be told!

“I had lived here four and a half years and had no idea what the local bean industry was like. I knew they grew beans, but didn’t know Nebraska was the number one producer in the nation.”

While preparing to do the video, Patterson attended a meeting in Scottsbluff that involved potential bean buyers from

17 countries. “It was overwhelming, honestly,” he said.

Patterson also met some of the growers, and was amazed at their pride and passion for their industry.

“Their multi-generation heritage, their pride, their skills and dedication, were quite a story. It instantly drew me in, and I wanted to tell it.”

The film was made during bean harvest and features numerous shots from the air, a treat Patterson is proud that he was able to give to the growers.

“Most growers were psyched because they had never seen their operations from the air,” Patterson said. “They’ve always seen them going into the hopper or a truck. This tool was absolutely amazing!”

The video is available at www.nebraskadrybeancommission.org Click on More, then click on Video, then on Harvest YouTube.

And Patterson and his wife, Crystal, continue focusing on his youth ministry.

“I know the word drone has a negative connotation

in some places,” Patterson said, “That’s too bad, because it is a pretty incredible tool.”

The Haxtun, Colorado, native said he looks at drone video shots as pictures from a camera on an invisible crane, and relies on them to add interest to his productions and his ministry.

“They are kind of revolutionary, and aren’t just for looking at real estate, but among other uses, farmers can check their fields with them,” he said.

In his career, Patterson enjoys creating memorable reminders of educational as well as entertaining events his young charges have experienced, such as retreats and trips. The videos also are useful in pro-

moting future events, and are available on YouTube.

Patterson said the youth have really become interested in drone productions, and one invested the time to learn to photograph himself skiing downhill backwards.

“When I do things like the videos, I’m driven to focus on excellence,” Patterson said, standing in the wind-swept parking lot of the shooting range under construction at the Wildcat Hills Nature Center. “If it’s in my name, it has to be the best, and that comes from my relationship with Christ.

Whatever I do has to be the best, honoring Him.” A graduate of the LaGrange Bible College in LaGrange, Wyoming, Pat-

terson said his community promotions are part of his ministry to the community, in which he can showcase the people and things in the Panhandle.

He believes that the videos can educate more people, including his youthful students, about what the region has to offer.

“They can show the young people that what they have in the Panhandle is very valuable, so they won’t want to go somewhere else.

“When I moved here, I felt it was a special place,” Patterson explained. “I almost feel obligated to use film to show how special what we have here is in the people, geographically, and otherwise.”

Pride Page 14

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Potter banker’s family and volunteers work to keep tiny town in business STEVE FREDERICK Special Projects Editor sfrederick@starherald.com

POTTER — Last summer, Hal Enevoldsen was named president of the Western Nebraska Tourism Coalition. When the coalition announced that he was taking over the leadership, its press release said he is “very involved in the community through Point of Rocks, the Potter State Bank and the Potter Duckpin Bowling Alley.”

That’s an understatement.

Fact is, Enevoldsen’s story is impossible to separate from the Village of Potter, his family history, a community non-profit historical foundation and a network of volunteers who keep the tiny community alive.

Tourism plays a big role in that. A local soda fountain, Potter Sundry, was once a destination on the Nebraska Tourism Commission’s annual Passport program, which encourages travelers to visit attractions around the state and win prizes for stopping at all of them. Next door is “A Collective Gathering,” a sprawling retail operation which offers spaces to about 25 artists, crafters, potters, antique sellers and other vendors.

Built in 1914, the sundry was a pharmacy owned by Dr. James Thayer. His brother, Pinky, who ran the soda fountain, invented an icecream concoction known as the “Tin Roof Sundae” — named for the metal panels that cover the building’s high ceiling — consisting of vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, chocolate ice cream, marshmallow cream and nuts.

In the former hardware building, students painted the history of the town in simple statements on a staircase leading to the “duckpin” bowling alley, which uses smaller pins and balls than a normal alley and is believed to be the only remaining facility of its type west of the Mississippi River.

For a time, the alley had

STEVE FREDERICK/Star-Herald

ABOVE: The oaken counter in the Potter Sundry soda fountain looks the same as it has for decades, retaining an old-fashioned look for the Potter tourism attraction.

BELOW: Hal Enevoldsen, left, and his brother Kirk show the smaller pins used in duckpin bowling. The upstairs alley, a popular gathering place, has been restored through the efforts of the Potter Historical Foundation with support from the family’s Potter State Bank.

been nearly forgotten — a chalk board still listed league standings from the 1950s.

The iconic soda fountain was closed. Collectors were expressing interest in the intricate oak bar that served as the historic backdrop for the soda fountain’s counter.

In 2000, a Potter High School alum, Steve Davis, an optometrist who was concerned about the future of the town, helped to form the Potter Historical Foundation. The Enevoldsen family, longtime owner of Potter State Bank, bought the buildings and, after undertaking some needed repairs, donated them to the foundation, which still raises funds for similar projects to help serve community interests. As a result, downtown buildings, including the original bank

building, remain open for business.

“We didn’t want to become a bedroom community with boarded-up storefronts on Main Street,” Enevoldsen said. “One store getting boarded up starts the momentum.”

The Enevoldsen roots in Potter run deep. Hal’s grandfather, Fred, was the last of 11 children born to a family of Danish immigrants, and the only one born in America.

He came west from Dannebrog, Nebraska, in 1917 and started working at Potter State Bank as a cashier. He served in World War I and then returned to the bank, working there through the Great Depression. He purchased the bank in 1945. His son, Don, followed in Fred’s footsteps.

1036 W 26th St. • Scottsbluff, NE (308) 632-2995 • 800-658-4073

“It’s been in the family ever since, passed down since then,” Enevoldsen said.

Enevoldsen worked as a landscape architect for 30 years. Scottsbluff ’s Centennial Park was one of his projects. He didn’t join the banking business until 2005.

He also owns the Point of Rocks motel and campground, named for a nearby bluff that required railroad builders to bend the track around it in a sharp curve, slowing down early trains traveling through the southern Panhandle and making life a bit simpler for robbers and raiders.

The heyday of the small town, which sits on Highway 30 in Cheyenne Coun-

ty, came in 1942 with the construction of the Sioux Army Depot near Sidney.

It served as a storage facility for military explosives through three wars, until it was decommissioned in 1967. In addition to troops, it employed more than 2,000 civilians. Sidney and nearby communities prospered.

“After the depot closed, that’s when the decline started,” he said.

It didn’t help that Interstate 80, completed in Nebraska in the early 1970s, was built south of the old Lincoln Highway, siphoning travelers from the downtowns of communities along the route.

“The farms got bigger,

and the number of families decreased,” he said. Potter’s population fell from about 500 back then to 337 in the latest census.

The bank serves Potter as well as surrounding farm families for about 20 miles around, and has a branch in Kimball.

“We needed to expand the bank to make room for the next generation,” Enevoldsen said. “The two banks have nine employees, and seven of them are family members.”

Like his father and grandfather, Hal served as Potter’s mayor for a time. His brother, Kirk, who also works in

POTTER page 15

Pride Saturday, March 5, 2016

Page 15

STEVE FREDERICK/Star-Herald

Fern Frei, one of four volunteer clerks at “A Collective Gathering,” shows a visitor some of the wares in the former hardware store, which now serves as a retail showcase for a variety of vendors and artists.

n POTTER: Continued from page 14

the bank, is chairman of the Potter Historical Foundation.

Volunteers play key roles in community vitality. Fern Frei and three other volunteer clerks now greet customers at A Collective Gathering.

“We run the business and the rent goes to the historical foundation. We’ve always been full,” she said. “Three of us are farm wives. There are a lot of people who are enthusiastic and active participants behind the scenes.

Once you get started, you don’t want things to fall apart.”

A monthly newspaper put together by committee, the Coyote Caller, is celebrating its 25th year. It’s distributed free to residents of Potter and Dix. Volunteers also run a seven-hole golf course built on the grassy runway of the former village airport.

“As we started doing this, we had more alumni get involved, and now we have them coming back home to retire. They’ve been volunteers, and those thing help keep everything going,” Hal said.

The duckpin bowling alley, now cleaned up and refurbished, opens for special occasions and can be used for parties. Renovation of former upstairs apartments and other spaces is ongoing.

Although the sundry is presently closed, he said, “We’re in the process of trying to find an owner-operator, somebody who can make the place come alive.”

Enevoldsen brings a similar proactive approach to tourism, which he sees as an important component of the western Nebraska economy.

“Tourism is economic development,” he said. “Potter is a good example of that. We used to have a hardware store that served rural families, but now most of our businesses depend on visitors. Tourism brings in outside money. It’s good for everybody. It’s good for other towns too, because we’re bringing more people into the area.”

STEVE FREDERICK/Star-Herald

Potter Sundry, a historic soda fountain, (left) and a former hardware store that now houses “A Collective Gathering” are two downtown businesses that have been kept open and restored through the efforts of the Potter Historical Foundation.

The coalition meets six times a year, bringing together tourism officials from 20 counties in the western third of the state. It produces a travel magazine, represents the region at events such as the Denver Stock Show and makes the state Legislature aware of regional tourism concerns.

“We collaborate on what’s good and what works to promote western Nebraska,” he said. “We’re in the middle of re-branding western Nebraska for what it really is, to change the perception that Nebraska is all the same and there’s nothing here to see.”

Since joining the coalition seven years ago, he’s traveled to many rural Nebraska communities.

“I thought I knew Nebraska, but you get to learn

so much more about what’s out there. It’s been a real eye-opener. We want people to get off the freeway and drive through these little

towns. The pace is slower, “If you want to raise a family, this is the place to do it.” and there’s plenty to see if That makes saving small you slow down. You can stop towns such as Potter worthalong the road without being while. hit or mugged.

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Pride Page 16

Saturday, March 5, 2016