NDN-MAG Jasper County Living

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Fall 2020

A look inside the renovation of a historic Newton home.

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Jasper County Living

5 --- Stronger Together County rallies together for quarantine, derecho storm

11 --- Newton StoryWalk New story get families active and reading

12 --- Renovating the August Bergman House Couillezes love charm, character in historic residence

17 --- A Desire to Help First to test positive for COVID-19 in county wants to give back

19 --- Cream of the Shop Esther & Co. adopts old school method to deliver goods during pandemic designed by Jamee A. Pierson Official product of the Newton Daily News. For questions about advertising or to advertise please contact us at 641-792-3121 ext 6540 Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

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Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

Stronger Together Jasper County comes together in midst of pandemic and derecho storm challenges

By Jamee A. Pierson While COVID-19 has brought its challenges to every community in Jasper County, it has also given the opportunity to see citizens shine as they help out their neighbor during the difficult time. From the beginning days of quarantine to surviving the derecho storm, stories from every corner of the county show just how much good there really is.

When students, teachers and staff first learned school would not be resuming in the spring, many questions arose. How will the kids be educated? Will meals be provided for those in need? Can students and teachers ever see each other again?

Many schools went into action planning staff parades

which saw faculty members drive around their towns waving to students as they went by. What might seem like a brief interaction meant the world to both the children and the teachers they were missing so much.

“The parade provided an opportunity to connect with students and families as well as other teachers, even if it was from a distance. Teaching isn’t just about academic learning. The heart of teaching is relationships and connections,” Monroe Elementary Kindergarten Teacher Heather Fenton said. “During morning announcements principal Jayme Braida always says, ‘Make someone smile today.’ The parade made so many people smile through happy tears. I hope it assured students and parents teachers are still thinking of them and here to support them.”

Cont. Page 6

Jamee A. Pierson Teachers have a little fun during the caravan parade in Baxter. Staff from the Baxter Community School District drove around town waving to families and communities members during the parade April 2.

Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

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A group that felt the biggest impact of the school year coming to an abrupt halt was the senior class of 2020. Spring sports, prom, the last day of school and graduation were among the traditional milestones they wouldn’t get to experience, at least not in a normal fashion.

To help ease the pain, Adopt-A-Senior campaigns popped up across the county via social media giving community members the opportunity to “adopt” a graduating senior and shower them with gifts and notes during the difficult time.

“I was pleasantly surprised by it. I had already accepted that my graduation and senior stuff had gone up in smoke because of COVID-19,” Newton High senior Devonn Hansen said. “This Adopt-A-Senior campaign is something we really appreciate as seniors acknowledging our time in school.”

A variety of other activities took place to keep people socially distanced while still working to bring the community together.

Stuffed teddy bears sat in windows giving kids, and adults, the chance to go on a “bear hunt” to find as many bears as they could throughout town. Colorful hearts also started to pop up in homes and businesses reminding everyone they are not alone.

Those in senior housing facilities have also felt the pain of quarantine, often having to be isolated from friends and family even within the building. To help keep people active and engaged, Park Centre’s Wellness Director Alyssa McCarl and Wellness Coordinator Brittany Hopwood had to think outside the box.

The wellness duo decided to take advantage of a couple of nice weather days and created balcony fitness.

“It was really nice to see everyone all at once,” McCarl said. “It was nice to socialize.

We even played a game charades afterward.

We were able to reach people who don’t normally take part in the group exercise classes.”

As the summer months went by, some restrictions were eased and a “new normal” set in, allowing people to feel a little closer to everyday life. Just as schools were preparing to go back in session and businesses were really in the swing of things, the derecho storm hit northern Jasper County with “land hurricane” force, leaving a path of destruction along the way.

Cont. Page 7

Top: Baxter seniors take part in a graduation parade.

Center: Parker and Lucy DeHaai pose with their window art during the Monroe Elementary Community Art Show in April.

Bottom: Kids wave to their teachers during a parade not long after classes were called off for the year.

6

Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

Not ones to sit and wallow, community members immediately started to help their neighbors whether it be cleaning up tree branches, offering power for those without or fixing a warm, home cooked meal.

“There are so many people in our community that struggle to buy groceries anyway and then they just lost everything in their refrigerator,” Newton resident Ashley Limbo said. “I thought I’m going to make them a hot meal. It’s one less thing that people have to worry about.”

Being in one of the first areas of the city to have power

restored, she knew she wanted to do something for those going without.

“I have always been a cooker. I’ve always loved to cook. Food makes me happy. To give makes me happy,” Limbo said.

When the ball dropped Jan. 1, nobody could have predicted what 2020 would bring. But along with all of the struggles and pain, goodness, giving and community spirit and pride have shined through showing just how great it really is to live in Jasper County.

Top Left: Newton resident Ashley Limbo and her crew work on putting out a hot meal after the derecho storm hit the community leaving the majority of the town without power.

Top Right: Friends and family wave to the graduates during the Baxter parade for senior 2020.

Right: Dick and Shirley Mielke, Independent Living residents of Park Centre, take part in balcony fitness last week. Group fitness classes were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Wellness Director Alyssa McCarl and Wellness Coordinator Brittany Hopwood created a few workouts outside as residents exercised from their balconies or inside their rooms.

Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

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Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

The Storywalk is finally completed in Agnes Patterson Park in Newton and is ready for eager readers to enjoy a book while also enjoying the outdoors.

StoryWalk gets families active and reading together Project launched this summer at Agnes Patterson Park

By Pam Pratt After a year of collaboration and planning between multiple organizations throughout Newton, the StoryWalk through Agnes Patterson Park has been bringing a story to residents walking in the park since July.

The Newton Public Library worked closely with Kinetic Edge Physical Therapy, the Newton Wellness Coalition and Friends of the Newton Public Library to raise the funds for the project. Additionally, the Jasper County Health Department and Newton Parks Department Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

worked to make the project come to life.

Newton Public Library Youth Services Librarian Phyllis Peter started work about a year ago to try and get a StoryWalk in Newton.

“We knew doing the StoryWalk would be something families would enjoy. I was able to get the idea going about a year ago,” Peter said. “It was great to have community support because we definitely could not have done it on our own.”

Cont. Page 21 11

Love of charm, character found

By Jocelyn Sheets Sharing a love of older homes, Philippe and Megan Couillez set out to find a home they could make their own. The couple settled on the purchase of the August Bergman house in Newton.

“I love older homes and the character of them,” Megan said.

“This house is unique. It would be difficult to duplicate what has been done here. Sure, you could imitate it but there was a certain skill required to do this type of woodwork, the stain glass work and other techniques of building,” Philippe said. “That’s the charm of this house.”

The Couillezes are renovating and restoring the home built in the early 20th Century (1909) for August Bergman, Newton businessman and state senator from Jasper County. The historic house, 629 First Ave. E., has been through several owners and was a bed and breakfast at one time.

“We owned a home in Adel but we wanted a historic house,” Megan said. “We looked at others but those homes had been modernized too much. We saw this one was for sale, came out looked at it and knew it was a house we could fix up and restore.”

The couple pointed out the home will be a private residence for them and their daughter, Alienor, who will be 3 in June.

There will be no plans to return to a bed and breakfast.

Megan, who is from Adel, and Philippe, who is from France, have each renovated older homes. They met in Chicago six

12

years ago and got married. They purchased the Bergman home from Lila Arrowood, who bought the house in June 2015.

Megan said Arrowood began repairing the home including the roof. Philippe said circumstances prevented more renovations and Arrowood put the Bergman home on the market again.

The house was designed by Proudfood & Bird, one of Iowa’s preeminent architectural firms at the turn of the 20th Century.

The firm also designed the Jasper County Courthouse, Beardshear Hall at Iowa State, Hotel Fort Des Moines, the Masonic Temple of Des Moines and the Dallas County Courthouse.

The couple purchased the house in December 2019. Renovations of the interior of the house itself is a four-to-five year project, they said, and with exterior renovations of the property taking a couple more years to complete.

Philippe said they met with their contractor and identified 37 projects to be done. He said they have broken things down in phases to finance and finish then move to the next project.

The first phase began in December with the wooden floors being refinished.

“We didn’t move in until January because we needed livable space finished,” Megan said.

The couple did research about August Bergman and found the original house plans. Philippe said Bergman appeared to be a very classic man but also was investing in emerging technology.

Cont. Page 13

Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

in August Bergman house “Looking at the chandelier here above the dining room table is a replication of one of the industrial-age style, which I think if it had been available at the time it would be something he’d be interested in having,” Philippe said. “We’re staying with the spirit of the house and bringing in some touches of what he seemed to be open to according to my research.”

Phase one including the bedrooms upstairs, two other bedrooms, the hallway, library and entry hall. Those rooms were completed from December to January. Phase two had the playroom, living room, dining room and atrium.

“The plaster walls had to be patched because there were cracks. The walls had fabric wall paper and we’ve replaced that,” Megan said.

In revocation projects, there are problems to solve and surprises. They found an original bathroom sink to put back into the house. They discovered some brick walls they weren’t expecting and a piece of “artwork” — a drawing of a dinosaur by a young man named Joel — while removing an entertainment center in a room.

Electrical and plumbing was a mess, according to the couple, and all has to be replaced and brought up to code. Heating in the house is by a boiler system which works but there is no working air conditioning system.

“There are four air conditioning units outside but it doesn’t work and it is all disconnected. The cost of replacing it is prohibitive at this point and also we looked at the cost of what it took to keep guests comfortable during the bed and breakfast days,” Megan said. “We’re just going to do without and if we Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

need it, we’ll have a window unit in the part of the house we need it in.”

Megan said the couple had most of the furniture for the house purchased before moving in. She said they found several places to purchase the period-specific furniture in Iowa. They are staying in the style of the years of 1750-1925.

“With the few modern updates you have to have in a some of the rooms,” she added.

Philippe said their general contractor they have has found the sub-contractors who specialize such as flooring, painting and other jobs for the renovation. The August Bergman house is on the National Register of Historic Places and the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the National Park Service have formally recognized the Bergman House as a significant example of the work of Proudfoot and Bird.

This is the largest renovation project either Megan or Philippe have done. Megan said in 2012, she gutted an older home in Iowa and did it all and Philippe restore a 1929 home in Ohio.

“Being French, this house — by those standards — is not old,” he laughed. “My parents live in a house which is over 200 years old. It is important to us to do things right here with this house because it is a great historic home.”

There will be seven bedrooms and four and half bathrooms in the home when completed. The master bedroom in the basement has a copper ceiling, which has been painted over so they removing the paint to restore the ceiling.

Cont. Page 15 13

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The house has three Van Briggle fireplaces — living room, library and in the walk-in closet, which was a former den.

With warmer weather in April, the couple has moved to Phase 3 which includes fixing the front porch, fixing the pergola, the balcony, the stucco of the house, resealing the outside of the house and painting it. There’s a great deal of work to be done to the front porch area.

They are attempting to salvage as many of the tiles as possible.

Philippe has begun the work on the yard which includes a English inspired garden in the back and a Spanish inspired garden in the front yard. The plan is to

Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

build a a layered 3-4 level retaining well to the top of the hill, putting in a fence on top of the hill, then having little ponds and garden bushes in the front.

The backyard garden is shaping up the past two weeks with with pavers installed, plantings for floors and herbs.

The benches and garden arbor have been placed. The garden will also have a children’s playground.

Philippe and Megan hope to have the exterior work completed by end of August. They said are planning an open house to allow the community to come and see parts of the house.

“Since we started the Facebook page,

we’ve had so much interest in what we’re doing,” Philippe said. “We still have several long-range plans. We plan on renovating the garage and carriage house, and removing the commercial kitchen and doing an expansion to the back of the house.”

“Those are long-range things,” Megan said. “We will remove the paved parking area and plant grass and install a fence to the property.”

The Couillezes have been posting information and photos of the home’s renovation on Facebook. To follow the progress, go to their Facebook page — The August H Bergman House.

15

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While in recovery this past spring, Ludwick researched all she could about the novel coronavirus, which had thrust Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

Iowa, the United States and the rest of the world into a pandemic. That’s when she learned about the demand for convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients.

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Cont. Page 23 17

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Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

Esther & Co. adopts old school method to deliver goods during pandemic

By Christopher Braunschweig Opening her downtown Newton shop for in-person visitors during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t an option. Which is why Esther & Co. owner Regina Frahm resorted to an old school service to provide goods to customers: good ol’ fashioned milk delivery.

Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

Of course, Frahm was delivering more than just a gallon of dairy to thirsty, quarantined customers; however, her orders predominantly consisted of milk, meat and eggs. But the business owner was also providing Iowa-roasted coffee, fresh honey and a “little bit of everything” else found in her mercantile store.

Cont. Page 23 19

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Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

Kinetic Edge Clinic Manager Matt Scotton loved the project from the start.

“It fits our mission so well. Walking outside can definitely transform lives and restore health. Our vision is to create communities of healthy, happy, hope-filled people and this project creates another way to do this outside our clinic walls,” he said.

The StoryWalk itself is a little under a mile long and situated along a paved walkway. So those who want to bike the trail or have strollers will also be able to go out and enjoy the new StoryWalk, too.

In the months it has been active, people have responded well to the StoryWalk. Scotton said he had heard from several people regarding the activity.

“We have had several of our clients thank us for sponsoring this project because they have enjoyed reading the story as they’ve walked the trail at Agnes Patterson Park, especially with their kids or grandkids,” Scotton said.

Peter has also received positive feedback since the StoryWalk launched. She has heard from multiple parents and grandparents about enjoying the books with their families.

“One grandmother said her grandson was running ahead to the next storyboard to see what happens next in the story,” Peter said.

The book will be changed approximately every two to four weeks during the warmer seasons and less frequently in the winter months. Book changes will be announced on the library’s Facebook page.

The most recent story featured is “Hello, Little One: A Monarch Butterfly Story” by Zeena M. Pliska, which launched Sept. 15. Jasper County Naturalist Katie Cantu joined Peter at the StoryWalk for a Facebook Live presentation to show how she tags monarchs and how that helps track their migration to Mexico.

The library tries to pick books that have a wide appeal to children of all ages and that are appropriate for the current season.

“Some might be children’s classics and others will be new books. The books do have to be the right size to fit in the Storyboards, but we can accommodate fairly large pictures in the 18 x 24 sign boards, and most picture books are a

Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

standard 32 pages, so with double spreads we can fit a standard picture book into the StoryWalk format,” Peter said.

People are encouraged to get out and enjoy the StoryWalk as a perfect activity for families. It encourages people to get outdoors and promotes something families can do together that also encourages literacy.

“I would encourage families to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and stop by Agnes Patterson Park to see the books,” Peter said.

Scotton echos Peter in getting people outside being active to enjoy time with the family while also getting entertainment with the interesting stories.

“It’s fun to take someone who hasn’t seen this before and see how they react. There are beautiful flowers at the Newton Arboretum and playground equipment in the park to appeal to every person of every age,” Scotton said.

For those wanting to enjoy the StoryWalk, they are encouraged to park in the gravel lot next to the ball fields and near the concession stand. This will put them in the perfect spot to begin the walk. Each story stand is marked and should be easy for all to follow and enjoy.

Reporter Dustin Teays contributed to the story.

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Fall 2020 • Jasper County Living

Cont. Page 17 virus, Science Magazine reported May 27. The introduction of these types of proteins can help fend off common ailments.

Other research, such as the studies published by the JAMA Network, found convalescent plasma therapy did not help a number of seriously ill patients in China recover from the effects COVID-19.

This randomized study, however, was stopped early because of low enrollment, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported June 4. Clearly, there is still much to learn about the virus, even months after Iowa government officials allowed for more testing and services to be re-opened.

Regardless of the perceived effectiveness of plasma therapy, Ludwick — the first person in Jasper County to test positive for COVID-19 — felt compelled to help in some way. Donating her own plasma was one possible way she could do so. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) encourages people to consider donating.

According to the FDA website, the convalescent plasma must only be collected from recovered individuals if they are eligible to donate blood. The diagno-

sis of COVID-19 must be documented by a laboratory test; donors must meet other criteria, too, and a resolution of symptoms for at least 14 days prior to donating.

Knowing all that, Ludwick knew it wasn’t going to be easy to donate. There were a few hoops to jump through first.

For instance, the plasma donation facility needed confirmation of Ludwick’s positive test, which was difficult to acquire. She ended up calling six different locations to get a copy of her positive COVID-19 test.

Eventually, the facility administered a blood test for Ludwick and confirmed the diagnosis. One week later, she got the OK and scheduled her appointment to donate plasma. Oh! But there was another preliminary test Ludwick needed to take before she could donate.

When it finally came time to donate, the facility asked her for a list of countries she had visited in the past three years. For someone like Ludwick who constantly travels, that was an arduous task. It’s not entirely unreasonable to say Ludwick has been all over the world.

“In the past three years I’ve been to 14 different countries,” Ludwick said. “We had to go through my phone and look at all my pictures … It took me almost 40

Cont. Page 19 Since folks were stuck inside their homes for what seemed like forever, Esther & Co. was finding a fair bit of success in pandemic-stricken Jasper County — or as much success a business can have during that particularly difficult time. Frahm said her busiest day garnered 27 deliveries.

“Honestly, it wasn’t the most profitable thing to do, but it kept our name out there and we actually picked up new customers that we didn’t know even existed,” Frahm said. “Because somebody would say, ‘My milk’s getting dropped off ’ and they’re like, ‘Your milk? What do you mean your milk?’”

Esther & Co. went from selling maybe a dozen gallons of milk up to 45 gallons of milk a week. The old school method seemed to work out and has paired well with batches of homebaked cookies, which Frahm said helped to liven the spirits of customers who were “down in the dumps” and “feeling crummy.”

The COVID-19 pandemic certainly had that effect on people, especially local business owners who were forced to close their doors for dine-in or in-person services in mid-March.

Stores and shops adapted to this change through online orders and drop-off deliveries.

On a normal day, Esther & Co. is chock full of knitting supFall 2020 • Jasper County Living

minutes to do that.”

She quickly found out donating convalescent plasma is so much different than donating blood. On the way over, Ludwick thought she needed to stay extra hydrated, so she drank two, 20-ounce bottles of water on the way over. She had also stopped to eat breakfast and nibbled on some graham crackers in the car.

To top it all off, Ludwick’s technicians had trouble finding her vein — of course, right? Then Ludwick felt dizzy and was beginning to feel a little strange. Staff stopped the process by the time the nausea and vomiting kicked in.

Since she got sick, Ludwick’s husband expected she would not return. But even after all that work and all that trouble, she said it was worth it and planned on going back. Ludwick believes she can make a difference. After recovering from the virus herself, all she wants is to help others who have been afflicted.

Even if it means she has to search through her phone’s history, track down her positive diagnosis, spend three hours in the facility to donate her quota of plasma or feel a bit nauseous every now and again.

“If I knew I was saving somebody’s life I’ll throw up every day. What’s the big deal?” Ludwick said with a laugh.

plies; during the pandemic, Frahm recalled delivering needles to a few customers. Even though the business was not earning as much profit compared to its in-person shopping, Frahm said there was still good to come out of it all.

“It felt like I was being productive,” Frahm said, noting she traveled to several areas of Jasper County she had never been to before. “It felt like I was doing something with my business and it wasn’t just stagnating.”

After all, Esther & Co. was barely open for six months when the pandemic prompted the state to close businesses in order to reduce community spread of the novel coronavirus. Frahm, in a way, felt a sense of purpose. There was no way she could fix this problem, but she could still be helpful to her community.

“There were a lot of really frightened people in this process, and I think it was nice knowing that somebody could help them and was willing to help them,” Frahm said. “Everybody was really cheerful. You may not have had any lengthy conversations, but everybody was so excited to see us show up.”

From what Frahm could see, the pandemic might have shown people the importance of supporting local businesses.

Some folks scheduled deliveries because it gave them an opportunity to help someone else, she said.

“Because they were helping us by keeping our doors open. It helped us both.”

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