THROWBACK NEWS
Twenty years ago, Creston Parks and Rec Department planned a grand opening at the McKinley Park pool. To see what else happened 10, 20 and 50 years ago, see THROWBACK THURSDAY, page 2A. >>
ATHLETE OF YEAR
Mount Ayr’s Cal Daughton and Central Decatur’s Raegan Boothe are today’s finalists for the South Central Iowa Athlete of the Year awards. For more on Daughton and Boothe, see SPORTS, page 7A. >>
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THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2017
Lavender business in bloom Collection
‘nuts’ coming to Creston By CARTER ECKL CNA staff reporter ceckl@crestonnews.com
CNA photo by BAILEY POOLMAN
From left, Blake and Kimberly Lauffer smile for a photo with products of their business, Berly and Blake Laventer Company, located in Creston. The Lauffers plant, grow and harvest the lavender by hand before turning the plants into beauty, health and wellness products.
By BAILEY POOLMAN CNA staff reporter bpoolman@crestonnews.com
The light aroma of lavender oil wafts throughout the small laundry room in the basement, bunches of purple flowered stems hanging upside down from the ceiling. The lavender scent continues through the open space into a small work space on the north end of the basement, where a wall of ingredients hides a countertop covered in purple bricks of chamomile soap and black-and-white charcoal face bars. The work spaces belong to Blake and Kimberly Lauffer of Creston, the couple who kickstarted Berly and Blake Lavender Company. “Really, we were just looking for different business ideas,” Kimberly said. “I used a lot of lavender. Lavender is good if you have bronchial infections
CNA photo by BAILEY POOLMAN
Marbled white and purple lavender soap stands on display next to deep purple moisturizing soap bars at the Berly and Blake Lavender Company booth at Creston Farmers’ Market in July in Creston. Kimberly and Blake Lauffer started the business in 2014, after cultivating their first batch of lavender the year before.
if you drink it as a tea.” In 2013, the couple began sourcing products to begin the business. By 2014, they planted the perennial purple flower in a plot of land and grew it themselves.
“My parents farmed. My family has farmed for a number of years. My dad retired from the post office and he is farming now, just very small scale,” Blake said. “I’ve grown up farming. In high school
and college I worked for a farmer. So, there’s background.” Blake, who is from the area, and Kimberly, formerly of Montana, moved LAVENDER | 2A
Mr. Peanut, Planters Peanut and collection enthusiasts alike will have plenty to talk about come Friday. The Peanut Pals Midwest Chapter 30-year anniversary convention and swap meet will be held in Creston Friday and Saturday. The convention will be based at the Supertel Inn and Conference Center located at 800 Laurel St. The gathering is open to the public with close to 50 Peanut Pal guests in attendance from nine different states across the United States. The main attraction will be the swap meet held in the conference center from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning. The swap meet allows the public and vendors to see vast collections of Mr. Peanut and Planters Peanut memorabilia on display. “First of all, they can come see more Mr. Peanut stuff than they have ever seen in their lives,” said Tim Fiala, a Mr. Peanut and Planters Peanut collector from Creston. Visitors have the ability to purchase Mr. Peanut and Planters Peanut items as well as learn all about the products that date back more than 100 years. A version of Mr. Peanut, as seen on TV, and the nut mobile will be at the convention from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. This will be the first time the convention has been in Iowa since the late ‘90s when it was hosted in Ottumwa. “I think southwest Iowa has a lot to offer,” said Fiala. “We went to one in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and I drove in traffic for four hours and didn’t move 2 miles. My joke has always been our traffic jams last five minutes if you catch the wrong light.” After convincing his daughters to help, Fiala decided to pitch the idea of having the convention in Creston. Preparation for the convention boils down to finding a location, picking vendors and sending out all the information. “We tried 30 or 40 different vendors,” said Fiala “We wanted to branch out.” Fiala has attended conventions since 2008 all across the United States from Las Vegas to Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Fiala was drawn into the Peanut Pals by the stories surrounding the collections of other enthusiasts.
“YOU JUST talk about the find. You talk about what you are missing in your collection and what direction you are going to go and it’s a genuine interest.”
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TIM FIALA
Mr. Peanut collector
“You just talk about the find,” said Fiala. “You talk about what you are missing in your collection and what direction you are going to go and it’s a genuine interest.” Friday night will consist PEANUT | 2A
5 years of 7 percent tuition hikes proposed for Iowa State AMES (AP) — The interim president of Iowa State University has proposed increasing resident undergraduate tuition 7 percent every year for the next five years. President Ben Allen told an Iowa Board of Regents task force Wednesday that the university’s enrollment has risen by 37 percent since 2009, but that state appropriations for operations have declined by 30 percent. That means the university received nearly $4,000 less in state support for every resident student than in 2009.
“We have reached a breaking point,” Allen said. Resident undergraduates are scheduled to pay nearly $7,500 in tuition for the upcoming academic year. A 7 percent increase would raise costs by more than $520 for the 2018-19 academic year, and the tuition total would reach nearly $10,500 for the 2022-23 academic year. The proposal asked to increase tuition for nonresident undergraduates by 4 percent every year for the next
CNA photo by CARTER ECKL
Band camp: Members of the Creston Community High School marching band practice formations for the upcoming school
year during band camp Thursday morning at Creston Community High School. The camp, which began Monday, runs through Friday.
ISU | 2A
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