Paul Vonnahme is the February 2013 Volunteer of the Month.

Paul is employed with Principal Financial Group as a java developer and recently took many hours of VTO or vacation time off to help with web site maintenance on the Colfax Main Street web site. Paul and his wife Courtney live north of Colfax on an acreage with their two children Oliver (3) and Evie (1).

Colfax Main Street has many volunteer opportunities. From serving on a committee, taking pictures or possibly documenting historic buildings. The needs are endless. Please contact the Colfax Main Street office and get involved today to help make your community a better place!

Pictured is the Vonnahme family.

Linda Darrock is the January 2013 Colfax Main Street Volunteer of the Month.

Linda recently joined the Colfax Main Street Design Committee and has been running ever since. In January, she went on a visit with other Colfax Main Street volunteers to State Center to view their successful projects, she attended a day long Main Street Iowa Orientation and she also has been working on grant paperwork native Iowa flower gardens. Outside of the Design Committee, she helped set up the new office computer for the Colfax Main Street office. We are so happy to have Linda helping out and wish we had about a dozen more volunteers just like her!

Colfax Main Street has many volunteer opportunities. From serving on a committee, taking pictures or possibly documenting historic buildings. The needs are endless. Please contact the Colfax Main Street office and get involved today to help make your community a better place!

On Monday, March 4 Colfax Main Street representatives attended an Impact luncheon at The Meadows Events and Conference Center to officially accept a $5,000 Prairie Meadows Community Betterment grant for more Downtown Revitalization improvements. This grant will go towards purchasing awnings as part of the larger Colfax Main Street Downtown Revitalization Grant. 272 different grants were awarded at the luncheon with over $5.2 million dispersed to area charities and non profits.

Pictured in the back row from left to right are Bill Eisenlauer and Dr. Andrea McGuire Prairie Meadows Board of Directors and Grant Advisory members. In the front row are Colfax Main Street representatives from left to right are Amy Engle/Design Committee Chair, David Mast/Business Improvement Committee Chair and Julia Kern/Program Director.

Colfax was one of six Main Street Iowa communities selected for the upcoming Market Analysis Technical Assistance. Volunteers will attend a webinar and then work closely with consultants for the next 6-8 months to develop a Marketing Research report. Our first on site meeting will be May 1st in Colfax with about 15 people in attendance.

Committee members are David Mast, Cindy Van Dusseldorp, Linda Darrock, Courtney Vonnahme, Jen Snyder, Brad Magg, Kathryn Gullion, April Keller, Phil Webb, Jim Shugar, Bob Foss, Carrie Conley and Julia Kern.

Partnership brings new products and lower prices to Colfax, Iowa grocery store

Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) announces that Shugars in Colfax, Iowa has joined its retailer-owned cooperative. Beginning on February 11, Shugars will begin adding new products to its shelves – including AWG’s Best Choice and Always Save private label products, which AWG backs with a 100 percent customer satisfaction guarantee.

Shugar's new sign.

“This partnership enables us to offer thousands of new items, and most importantly, lower the price of more than two thousand items thanks to AWG’s collective buying power,” said Jim Shugar, president of Shugars. “We’re excited to carry the Best Choice and Always Save labels, which offers consumers the best price for products that equal to or better than national brand quality.”

Founded in 1924, AWG serves over 1,900 retail member stores with a complete assortment of grocery, fresh meat, fresh produce, bakery, deli, floral, specialty foods, health care, and general merchandise items. Through an extensive distribution network and nine distribution centers, AWG and its subsidiaries deliver to over 2,500 retail outlets in 24 states. AWG provides its retail members, many of them family-owned businesses like Shugars, with assistance in establishing a strategic position in their marketplace that builds upon their unique strengths.

Shugars’ partnership with AWG is not the only change at the store, which is located at 28 E. Howard Street. Over the past 18 months, many upgrades have been made including a rebuilt parking area, new floors and ceilings, and new shelving.

Jim Shugar is the third-generation family member to run the grocery store business, which opened in 1936. The Colfax store opened in 1994 as a SUPERVALU store. The family also owns and operates a Save A Lot Food Store in Des Moines.

“We’re excited to welcome Shugars to the AWG family,” said Eric Brewer, sales manager for Associated Wholesale Grocers. “We look forward to helping them serve their customers in their newly upgraded location for years to come.”

On Saturday, April 13 at the Jasper County Fairgrounds there wil be a benefit for Tracey Wilson!!

Dinner is from 4:30 to 6:30 which includes pulled pork sandwiches or a hot dog, salad, chips, baked beans and dessert. Dinner will be a free will donation.

There will be a Auction from 4:30 to 7:30 and a live auction at 7:00 PM.

For a complete list of auction items, please see the Tracey Wilson Benefit on the left hand menu of this website.

To donate or for more information please contact the following:
John McLaughlin: 515.669.6696
Danette Pease: 515.971.1976
Stacey Wilson: 641.521.2360
Mike Talsma: 515.979.6139.

Check out the photos from Wishes Grand Re-Opening!

Wishes was a busy place last Saturday, January 26th for their Grand Re-Opening. The new store owner, Carrie Naisbitt Conley, welcomed many guests for hot cider, wine samples, food samples and of course, shopping! Israel Lopez, Urbandale artist was also present doing on site creations.

Wishes sells retail gifts and handmade crafts. Currently, they have approximately 40 vendors selling a variety of products including Iowa honey, Iowa wine, locally made jellies, refurbished furniture, baby gifts, Iowa Hawkeye and Iowa State crafts, antiques, jewelry, clothing, purses, homemade cards and much, more more! They also floral arrangements (real and silk), and balloons that can be ordered for any occasion.

Wishes hours are 9 am to 6 pm, Tuesday through Friday and 9 am to 1 pm on Saturday's. They are located at 118 North Walnut Street or Highway 117 next to Poppy's. Wishes can be reached at 515.674.3006, email info@wishesgiftsshop.net, or message them on Facebook. Their website is www.wishesgiftshop.net and they can also be found on Pinterest.

Carrie Naisbitt Conley is a 1988 graduate of Colfax-Mingo High School. She has one son, Tyler, is the Colfax-Mingo Lions Club Secretary and enjoys doing photography and crafts in her spare time. She also enjoys helping her family with their horses as well as supporting her niece Kala during show horse season.

On January 16, 24 fellow businessmen and women from the Jasper County area attended the Jasper County Business Lunch Club at Van Wall, the Colfax area John Deere store. Guest speakers were Don Van Houweling, owner of Van Wall, and Jeff Miller, local store manager, and Joel Huntrods, service manager.

Don Van Houweling provided participants with an engaging and in-depth overview of the Van Wall organization and specifically the wind turbine product line. He shared that in 2012 a 50 kilo watt (kw) wind turbine was installed at the Van Wall store in Colfax as part of their service area expansion project. The Colfax wind turbine provides 200,000 kw hours per year of energy to the property and provides the power needs to the expanded area. It is one of twenty wind turbines that Van Wall installed over the last two years and in 2013; they have plans to install 20 more. Further information about the wind turbine product can be found at www. energy.vanwall.com or by calling Jake West at 515.221.0765.

The Jasper County Business Lunch Club takes place monthly in various communities across Jasper County. Meetings are organized by Konek PC in Prairie City and the host community. The February Jasper County Business Lunch Club will take place in Newton with Mingo Products as the guest speaker. Stay tuned for the date of the February meeting.

A photo of the wind turbine that is located at the Colfax Van Wall store.

COLFAX COMEBACK: Setbacks Spur Renewal

Posted on: 7:38 am, January 22, 2013, by Roger Riley, updated on: 08:25am, January 22, 2013

For the town of Colfax, the last few years have brought a plant closing,loss of jobs from nearby Maytag, as well as flooding.

”Colfax has had some setbacks the last ten years,” said Julia Kern, the Colfax Main Street Iowa Director.

Her office along with volunteers raised close to $600,000 in grant money to restore some 14 storefronts in town in 12 buildings. “We realize in order to be competitive with our neighboring communities,and just to keep on growing,we have to do more for our community,” said Kern.

The town will see new awnings, and some restored windows back to the buildings’ original form. Kern said “People judge you on your downtown, you have to have a downtown and a business district where people want to be.”

The bulk of the projects are scheduled for this year. The main street office in Colfax hopes they can keep adding more renovations to its list.