NDN-MAG-01-30-2015

1Cover

Get to know

Westwood Pro Brad SponSeller

PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PA I D Permit No. 371 Newton, IA 50208 ****************ECRWSS**** Local Postal Customer

More than breakfast

Bridgehouse Coffee

Home to many species —

Neal smith

National

wildlife Winter | 2015

refuge

2

One of the Midwest’s largest independent clinics ...

because you deserve a choice in health care Paul Ruggle, M.D. family practice

Steve Hill, M.D. family practice with OB

Pat Edwards, M.D. family practice with OB

Orville Bunker, M.D. family practice

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Min Pak, M.D. family practice

Mureema Solberg, M.D. family practice

Leighton Frost, M.D. family practice with OB

Zack Alexander, M.D., CCD family practice

Duane Jolivette, M.D. family practice

Andrew Cope, D.O. family practice with OB

Stephanie Bantell, M.D. family practice with OB

Janice Gates, DPM podiatry

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3

INDEX 5

DINING

7

GIFT

Check out the new lunch menu at Bridgehouse Coffee Co. including soup, salad and sandwiches.

5

Discover the rustic, romantic and rare finding availble at Spring City Vintage in Colfax.

11

HISTORY

12

TREASURE

Explore an early piece of Monroe’s past — Tool’s Chapel — that helped to shape its future.

See the Iowa prairie in its original form at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge.

15

People

19

Issue

15 19

Meet Westwood Golf Course PGA Professional Brad Sponseller and learn about his love for golf.

Read what Jasper County farmers are saying about high grain prices and high yields going into 2015.

Jasper County Living is a Newton Daily News publication.

To contact our sales team, call Jeff Holschuh at 641-792-3121.

January • Living Jasper County Living2015

Jasper 2015 County • Winter

Volume 3 Issue 1

3 3

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Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

soups

sandwiches

salads

Lunch doesn’t change coffee shop’s focus

By Jason W. Brooks As the sun rises on a brisk Midwestern morning, thousands of people head to their local coffee shops for the fresh, hot joe they hope will get them going for the day.

Some coffee shops turn into a slighty different kind of establishment once lunchtime rolls around. Bridgestone Coffee opened its doors along the west side of Newton’s courthouse square in March 2013, and recently made the transition to having a complete lunch menu.

Early this winter, owner Brock Patterson also started to bring in a small dessert selection.

There have been a number of challenges to bringing complete meals to a coffee shop, Patterson said. One of those challenges is maintaining Bridgehouse’s reputation as primarily a place for delicious coffee.

“We’re going to be offering topshelf desserts by the slice, such as cheesecakes, decadent cakes, carrot cakes and specialty items,” Patterson said. “Our focus is on being a cof-

fee shop that features peerless lattes and serves an eclectic and enjoyable lunch.”

Patterson said establishing a unique role in Newton’s food scene requires offering fare customers can’t find without heading to a much larger city.

“We want to offer dishes with ingredients you won’t find on other menus in our community, like hummus, arugula, prosciutto and goat cheese, to name a few,” he said.

The lunch menu has brought in items like a bacon apple cheddar melt and an avacado grilled cheese. There are paninis that include ingredients like pepperjack cheese, prosciutto and peaches.

There’s a soup of the day and some salads. The “Maytag Blue” salad features one of Newton’s signature food products, Maytag Blue Cheese.

There are plenty of adjustments to make on the fly. For example, anyone who regularly prepares desserts must monitor industry cost trends, such as the price of dairy products.

“Dairy prices have marginal fluctu-

ation,” Patterson said in early December. “We’re seeing milk prices around $3.75-$4 a gallon, and are currently going through approximately 300 gallons a month.”

Bridgestone is clearly a faith-based Christian business, but Patterson knows it’s important to be inclusive and market to Jasper County residents of many types.

“We have Christian musicians that perform here,” he said. “Bible studies take place here, and a local church uses our space on Sunday evenings.

Our faith-based nature is not a subtlety of the business, but our doors are open for the entire community.

We’re not quiet about what we stand for, but an ‘in your face approach’ isn’t our style.”

Patterson said another important element to expanding in the foodservice industry is to not over complicate things. The key is to get better at doing a few things very well, he said.

“We have some targets we would like to hit — mainly with quality,” he said. “Our lunch menu is simple — but boasts some complex tastes.”

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Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

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Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

VINTAGE | continued from page 7 In August 2014, carefully placed items began popping up in the display windows of 13 N. Walnut St. in Colfax.

One item in particular was a red, circular 7-Up advertisement circa 1960s.

The 3-feet-in-diameter soda sign rested against the wall above other antique tables, chairs and picture frames.

The items were displayed but the storefront was closed.

For 35-year-old Colfax native, Julia Kern, the windows were a teaser of things to come when she would officially open Spring City Vintage.

“That’s kind of where the term ‘vintage’ comes in,” she said. “Antique is 50 years or older. At least that’s the benchmark they use in buildings. Vintage can be something that appears to look old. It’s either primitive, antique or vintage in my

Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

shop.”

Spring City had its soft opening Nov. 8. The open house brought 50 customers to peruse Spring City’s inventory. The store has shelves which climb 12 feet up the showroom walls filled with tea sets, sterling silver trays, paintings and other decor.

Antique, restored tables support place settings and each corner of the store is deliberately designed.

Kern calls her shop a mix of antiques, vintage and “primitive.” She strives to ensure all items are ready to display in any home and on trend in line with certain styles, design blogs or magazines.

“I don’t have collectibles really. It’s the kind of things a woman would want to put in her home,” Kern said. “It’s more of a mature, traditional, vintage look.”

Kern’s rule prior to opening Spring City was every time something is sold in her private collection she bought something new, with the thought of her own vintage store in the front of her mind.

That’s how her inventory grew to its current size. She said she has thousands of dollars invested in merchandise she picked up at estate sales, auctions or through exploring people’s old barns.

She also has a booth at Des Moines-based flea market, Collectamania where she sells items she said don’t quite fit Spring City’s style.

Kern’s interest in antiques began as a child growing up in Colfax. Hunting for treasures was a bit of a pastime she shared with her mother.

They would visit the antique mall, which once stood near their home off Interstate 80.

In college, Kern liked to dress

in vintage clothes for fun.

After she left the director’s position with Colfax Main Street, Kern took her business knowledge and her passion and is now attempting to merge the two.

Kern promotes Spring City Vintage via Facebook, using the social media platform to feature particular items. Presentation is important to the Spring City owner. She wants her customers to experience a particular atmosphere and feel the right product flow when they walk into the large space.

Spring City Vintage is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the second Saturday of every month and by customer appointment. The store will hold special hours during town events such as Country Christmas and Colfax-Mingo School District Alumni Weekend.

9

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Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

For Monroe, Tool’s Chapel a starting point

It has been 20 years since Tool’s Chapel church was standing, but the history behind one of the first churches in Monroe is still rich in the community.

All that is left of the church is the cornerstone with a plaque on the location where it stood, — about 4.5 miles east of Monroe — along the wagon trail that came from the southeastern part of Iowa and led to old Fort Des Moines, where the state capitol is now located.

The church was

founded by Adam Tool, who was one of the first to stake claims in what became Jasper County.

In the spring of 1844, Tool was out to get supplies for his new house when he met a Methodist preacher sent to visit new settlers and look for homes where worship might be conducted. Tool invited him to use his home and services began with the Rev. J. W. Johnson presiding.

Tool, along with his wife, Susan, Washington Fleenor and his wife and David Worth and his wife were the first to at-

tend services.

Out of the early organization of Tool’s Point, which later became Monroe, Tool’s Chapel along with the Monroe Methodist Church grew. James A. Tool, the son of Adam, obtained land in the area on a patent that was signed by President James K. Polk June 1, 1848.

Always very conscientious in his activities, James Tool donated the site and one-third of the cost of building the

CHAPEL page 23

By Jamee A. Pierson

Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

11

Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge

By Jason W. Brooks Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge is a federally managed acreage, preserve, natural habitat and visitors center located southwest of Prairie City.

The refuge, originally established in 1990 as Walnut Creek Wildlife Refuge, was later renamed after former Congressman Neal Edward Smith, who championed its creation during his 1959-1995 tenure that made him the longest-serving Iowan in the United States House of Representatives.

The tallgrass prairie and oak savanna ecosystems found at the wildlife refuge are meant to resemble how most of Iowa looked before

WILDLIFE page 13

12

Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

WILDLIFE | continued from page 12 widespread farming began.

There are herds of approximately 25 elk and 75 buffalo on the land, which covers more than 8,600 acres.

Sometimes, buffalo or elk can be seen along the automobile tour route.

Visitors might also see whitetailed deer, badgers and pheasants and more than 200 types of native prairie flowers and grasses. A 3,600-acre block of land originally was acquired

by Iowa Power and Light Company (now part of MidAmerican Energy) for a nuclear power plant, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was able to acquire that parcel in 1990. The refuge has expanded along the way. A 2008 addition added 196 acres.

Winter hours for the refuge are kept from Nov. 1 to March 1. The Visitor Center, which opened in 1997, includes a bookstore, theater, classrooms and exhibit area. Miles of trails radiate from the center. The public is permitted to drive

through an approximately 700acre enclosure in hopes of seeing bison or elk.

The Prairie Learning Center features exhibits, movies and environmental education programs for school groups and organizations such as scout groups. The Friends of the Prairie Learning Center operates the bookstore and has its own website, www.tallgrass.org.

The acreage has both planting sites, where a great deal of work has taken place in recent years, and remnant sites, where efforts are being made to expand small patches of original prairie ecosystems. Mowing, brush cutting and prescribed burns are some of the methods used to manage both areas.

There are ongoing research efforts as well, and these guide the restoration processes.

Teacher workshops, birding, hiking, biking, mushrooming, hunting and wildlife watching are some of the outdoor activities featured for thousands of visitors to enjoy each year.

Winter hours Visitor Center — Monday to Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Dec. 1 to March 1 Trails and Refuge — Everyday from dawn to dusk Closed Sundays and all federal holidays Address: Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge P.O. Box 114 9981 Pacific Street Prairie City, IA 50228 Phone: 515-994-3400 Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

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Home on the Range

Westwood Golf Course PGA Professional — Brad Sponseller

By Kate Malott Some golf professionals grow up playing golf on the lush green hills of a fancy country club, taking lessons and playing throughout the spring, summer and fall, but not every pro begins their career in that esteem.

Westwood Golf Course PGA Professional Brad Sponseller didn’t start playing golf until after high school, but once he started he was hooked.

Sponseller grew up in Marshalltown, and before he became a golfer, he loved to play baseball and skateboard.

“That was my mode of transportation from the time I was 10 until Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

about 20, was a skateboard,” Sponseller said.

He picked up golf from joining his brother, family or friends at courses in Marshalltown and other nearby towns. It was then that he became interested in the sport.

His job at the time allowed him to have afternoons and weekends off, perfect for a golfer.

“It wasn’t until my late teens, early twenties, that I started practicing, hitting balls, and then played all the time from then on,” he said.

At 23, Sponseller decided he wanted to be a golf pro and went to college at Golf Academy of America in Orlando, Fla. There he worked as a bag boy and assistant at various Disney World resort golf courses like Bonnet Creek

Golf Club and caddied at for the PGA tour tournament as well.

The opportunity introduced him to running large tournaments and events. He also met many great baseball players like Atlanta Braves’ Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Chipper Jones.

“My old boss was great friends with Ken Griffey, Jr. so he was around there a lot. That was one of the guys I got to play with, which was very cool. He was one of my heroes growing up as a baseball fan,” Sponseller said.

After returning home, he went to work at Elmwood Country Club in his hometown.

SPONSELLER page 17

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Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

SPONSELLER | continued from page 15 “Brad learned from the best, Jerry Johnson, the recently retired golf professional at the Elmwood. Jerry taught Brad the ins and outs of the business and molded Brad into the professional he is today — very customer oriented and easy to work with,” said John Schrempf, longtime Marshalltown American Legion Golf Course PGA Professional.

In 2008, after advancing his golf game, he decided to advance his career too, accepting the pro position at Westwood Golf Course, just west of the Newton city limits.

He came in following the retirement of longtime, former Westwood Golf Course PGA Professional Larry Stewart, someone who Sponseller greatly admires, appreciates and looks up to for advice.

In his start, Stewart help Sponseller transition onto the course, and there wasn’t a time Stewart wouldn’t be there when he needed him, Sponseller said.

“I don’t know how I could explain how great of a person (Stewart) is and the respect I have for him. I couldn’t say enough good words about him, without a doubt,” Sponseller said.

Living above the course clubhouse, Sponseller enjoys watching the sunrise when he opens the shop and the sunset when he closes. The truth is, he lives at the clubhouse most days a year.

He also enjoys giving golf lessons to anyone interested in trying out a club and hosts youth camps, womens camps and special clinics for veterans or people with disabilities.

“Brad has good people skills and is great with the youth. He is a good tournament organizer, makes people welcome to events and is an asset to Newton’s golf community,” said Stewart.

“I’ve gotten to know a lot of great people here. Some of them are very good friends, like family now, and a lot of them acquittances I still think they’re great.

Sponseller credits working with Nick Cummins, Westwood superintendent, on his drive to follow his lead.

“He does a fantastic job on the course and I just try to mimic that by doing the same things on this side of the shop,” he said. “I really love my job. I love the people that I work with. I love the golf course and the people that come in.”

As Sponseller prepares for this eighth season at Westwood, he looks forward to bringing in new golfers, old golfers, hosting events and simply encouraging people to enjoy the course, the atmosphere and the game.

“Brad has made a wonderful business and many friends in Newton and he brings in customers from other communities because of past relationships. He’s doing a great job,” Schrempf said.

Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

Brad Sponseller PGA Head Professional

About Age: 39 Hometown: Marshalltown Seasons at Westwood: 7; start of 8 Children: Chandler, 16 Favorites Golf brand: Titleist Pro tournament: Masters Spectator tournament: Ryder Cup College sports team: University of Iowa Professional football: Dallas Cowboys Professional baseball: Chicago Cubs Sports movie: Caddyshack Dream course: Augusta Golf Club, Georgia Seminole Country Club, Florida Course played: Wakonda Club, Des Moines Bay Hill Club, Orlando Professional golfer: Zach Johnson and Ben Hogan

17

Look for our next edition of

AG Mag Central Iowa

February 2015

Featuring additional coverage in Jasper, Poweshiek, Marshall, Tama, Benton, Marion, Mahaska, Iowa & Keokuk Counties.

To receive your free copy please email jholschuh@newtondailynews.com

enhall

By Mike Mend

A John Deere combine sat covered in a light dusting of snow near the farm house of Jasper County grain producer Frank Faidley. The row crop farmer’s operation off Highway 117 between Colfax and Prairie City, saw more than 220 bushels of corn produced per acre in 2014. This is in line with the bumper crop seen state and nationwide last year. Faidley farms more than 700 acres with more than 600 acres of the land devoted to corn and soybeans.

But Jasper County farmers like Faidley are not overly enthusiastic about the large yields when they see the price their products are receiving at market. The dramatic drop off in grain prices since late 2012, is leaving farmers uncertain about the future.

“This year wasn’t too bad because we had income from the last few years. Most people had good income and invested it in machinery, so this next year or next two years are going to tell some tales.”

Many U.S. corn growing regions saw record breaking yields in 2014. A USDA report released in December estimates a national corn yield average of 173.4 bushels per acre and 47.5 bushels per acre in soybeans with 22 states setting record corn yields. In Iowa, corn producers saw an average of 183 bushels per acre in 2014 — also setting a record — and 52 bushels per acre of soybeans — just shy of the record.

On the horizon

Bumper crop, low prices put ‘what-ifs’ in farmers’ pocketbooks

CROP

page 21 Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

19

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Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

CROP | continued from page 19 Dustin Vande Hoef is the communications director for the Iowa Department of Agriculture. He said the good year Iowa farmers saw in production was not enough to offset the drop in prices.

“It’s certainly been a more challenging year overall. Prices are down significantly from a year to 1.5 years ago,” he said. “To some degree, farmers saw that and will contract to lock in better prices, but certainly they are down and that’s an issue for agriculture as a whole.”

Corn prices dipped 40 percent in 2013, from a record high set in August 2012, of $8.49 per bushel.

The numbers did rebound slightly by the end of 2014.

In October the cost of a bushel of corn sat at $2.79 but by January it rose to $3.77 per bushel. Faidley said this is still a bit off the pace for farmers to continue profiting.

“It would be a miracle if it gets to five bucks. If it gets to $4 we should be happy because we’ll break even,” Faidley said.

Faidley doesn’t anticipate prices will get much lower than current levels, but the Jasper County farmer said what’s making other local farmers and growers throughout the grain belt nervous is the unpredictability of when prices might rebound.

Faidley said current prices are below the cost of production, forcing many farmers to live off previous earnings gained during the high price points from the first years of the decade.

Faidley farms a 50/50 no-till, continuous rotation and does not intend on changing his strategy, but he speculates some Jasper County farmers might change their patterns for the 2015 season. Soybeans generally Winter 2015 • Jasper County Living

cost less to plant than corn, so farmers looking for less overhead will switch some of their fields — this, experts say, could also control the corn supply and might give them a bump in price.

“Some of the guys who have been planting continuous corn will probably go back to (soy)beans because you’ll get a good yield,” Faidley said. “If you don’t put beans on the ground for a couple of years it makes the soil right for them.”

Another issue plaguing farmers is high input costs.

The current cost of seeds and fertilizer are making it difficult during times of low corn prices to keep profits up.

“It would be a miracle if it gets to five bucks.

If it gets to $4, we should be happy because we’ll break even.”

— Frank Faidley, farmer Vande Hoef echoed what the Jasper County farmer is seeing at the coops. He said input costs will rise with prices, but those planting costs are slower to recede than the actual price of grain.

Fuel is another input cost which not only is an expense for farmers but a

CROP

page 23

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CHAPEL | continued from page 11

CROP | continued from page 21

church along with serving as the minister for 52 years. The chapel was built in 1866, standing 26 by 66 feet at the cost of $1,425 and was named Tool’s Chapel in honor of James Tool.

The chapel had two doors, one on each side of the pulpit. At the time, it was customary for men to enter the west door, while women entered the east door, sitting on their respective sides.

In 1899, the church was remodeled and was seated with curved pews in 1904.

Starting in 1915, a new church was built.

It contained a full basement at the cost of $5,000 and was dedicated on Feb. 6, 1916.

Through the years, the front entrance was changed, replacing wooden stairs with cement and electric lights were installed.

In 1920, a bell was purchased by George Ammer and placed in the church at a cost of $40.

As the years passed, the chapel celebrated many anniversaries, including the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1949.

In 1970, Tool’s Chapel closed its doors after attendance became too low to carry on.

In 1995, the building was torn down with only the plaque now remaining to symbolize what was part Monroe’s beginnings.

source of income. The ethanol market is benefiting from the lower corn prices but there is a caveat with the recent drop in gas prices at the pump, giving the everyday consumer less of an incentive to use the alternative E85 blend.

However Vande Hoef said for much of 2014, the price spread was significant, and the year-end gas drop did not have as large of an affect on Ethanol plants as it could have.

Scott Stabbe is the grain department co-manager and merchandiser for Key Cooperative which has a branch in Newton. He said shipping the crude oil from growing production areas like North Dakota is consuming room on rail transport usually allotted to grain. This increases shipping costs which eventually trickles down to farmers.

One bright spot Faidley sees is the drop in diesel fuel. By Jan. 9, diesel prices were $1.95 per gallon — down from $3.50 just over a year ago. This will help grain shipping costs and farmers who use the fuel to

power combines, trucks and tillage equipment.

Iowa’s agriculture department sees regulatory uncertainties playing a role in the next several years for Iowa’s grain producers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been delaying new rules for the federal renewable fuel standard which requires a specific amount of ethanol to be put into the U.S. fuel supply. The EPA was supposed to announce the RFS changes by the end of 2014, but delayed then into the second quarter of 2015. Vande Hoef said this does not allow Iowa growers the ability to plan for the growing season.

“We’re looking at general issues such as uncertainty around regulation, the RFS and the Waters of the U.S. rules proposed by the EPA. All this creates uncertainty,” Vande Hoef said.

“Well, what’s this going to mean on my farm? Are there going to be additional costs?

Some things feel totally outside their control.”

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