TopCity Rise May 2022

Community Efforts | We Rise | New Business Alerts

May Issue 2022

Featured Story Pg. 15

TopCity Rise

A WORD FROM THE TOPCITY RISE TEAM: It is becoming more and more important to our community to support small locally owned businesses.

If you are a business owner, source as many supplies locally as you can. If you own a restaurant, use our local farmers as often as you can.

If you are a local consumer and you are dining, shopping and spending local…You. Are. Making. A. Difference.

This is how we strengthen and grow. This is how we safeguard the local economy.

Our community is growing and strengthening because of the willingness of people like YOU to link arms and grow.

THANK YOU!!!

1 5 Senses Photography

15 15

55

Pg 5. Mother’s Day Finds Pg 9. Top Tips for Summer Pg 11. We Rise Pg 15. Earth’s Choice 99

20 20

Pg 20. Breadbasket Farmer’s Market Pg 24. New TopCity Eats

11 11

24 24

2

TopCity Rise

TopCity Rise

Mother’s Day Finds Mother’s Day is right around the corner! If you haven’t found that perfect gift yet, we’d love to tell you about some of our favorite spots!

Our community is full of fantastic experiences! From spas like Onyx Salon and Wellness Spa to relaxing floats at Midwest Float. Or maybe crafting is her thing and she’d love to spend some time creating lasting memories with you at Potwin Pottery or Board & Brush.

If she loves to shop and loves art of all styles, don’t forget it’s also First Friday Art Walk in North Topeka Art District this Friday.

We asked around and we’d love to share the top five pics from some of our followers and friends! Here they are in no specific order:

5

TopCity Rise

The Firehouse At The Firehouse, their mission is to provide a space for you to gather, repurpose, and create. One of their core passions is to repurpose old things, that would normally end up forgotten or thrown out, into something new and useful. They embrace the rusty, sometimes dusty, pieces of history and give them new life.

Since 2018, owner, Angel McGhee and her daughter Ashlie, have worked hard to create a relaxing ambiance so when you walk into The Firehouse you have a warm feeling of being with an old friend. Maybe it's the smell of fresh cut wood or seeing a newly painted dining table in the front of the store with live plants and a fun mug...but it just feels like home.

It’s not only a creative studio and boutique with repurposed furniture but they also carry home decor, women's clothing and accessories, and gifts. The studio event space offers a place for friends and family to come together worry-free, staying true to our other two core passions: to gather and create. If your mom loves the comfort of home and creating memories, a gift card to create with you could be the perfect gift for her this Mother’s Day! It is also the perfect space to create and leave the mess for someone else to clean up!

Blooms on Boswell This quaint floral shop has you covered for Mother's Day!! Their shop is full to the brim with some perfect finds for your mother. They have a unique selection of gifts that has been curated just for you by the owner Lori McNorton.

They not only carry fresh cut flowers, plants and gorgeous blooming baskets but they have a fantastic selection of home decor, jewelry, handbags, accessories, win-o-rita mixes and so much more!! And they make shopping for mom fun with their kind and joyful atmosphere.

If you are looking for an experience type gift don’t forget to ask what upcoming classes they have available! Take your mom to make a summer wreath or arrangement.

6

TopCity Rise

Topeka Vendors Market With over 100 small businesses under one roof, you are sure to find a gift for all the amazing women in your life. From “Mama Bear” Tee shirts to bath bombs, they have you covered. You can find the cutest gnomes from Northwood Gnomes, vintage finds throughout both floors, beautiful art pieces from local artists and some beautiful earrings. They even have sweet treats available that you can pick up!

The White Linen Mother’s Day brunch at The White Linen isn’t your ordinary brunch. Chef Adam truly makes this a dining experience.

From the ambiance of the historic building to the quality of food, Chef strategically plans out every detail.

This special Mother’s Day brunch will consist of a three-course meal. Smoked Salmon Salad with avocado dressing and bagel croutons. For the main entrée you’ll have your choice of shrimp filled crepes with lobster cream and baby arugula or smoked chicken street taco with coleslaw, cilantro, queso fresco.

To round off the meal you will enjoy a Lemon & Berry Tart with candied lemons. Spots are limited so please make sure you reserve yours today!

TopCity Rise

Fedeli’s Steak & Pasta This Mother's Day, Fedeli’s Steak & Pasta will be doing a Chef feature of Challah French Toast with berries alongside their regular brunch menu. The Chef’s feature for dinner service, will be a petit filet + lobster tail. Plus 20% off some select wine.

Be a part of safeguarding our local economy!

YOUR AD HERE

8

TopCity Rise

Top Tips for Summer: From a Home Organizer Written by: Winter Burnett

Can you believe school is almost out? Are you ready?

If not, let me give you a couple ideas to get you more organized, just in time for summer!

First up, snacks; here are a few ideas to make them easier. One place is the pantry. I portion out from bulk packaging into snack baggies for grab-and-go. Place them in labeled containers and then in a labeled basket to keep them all organized. Refrigerated snacks. I try to keep as many healthy options on hand as possible. The middle drawer of my refrigerator is a great place to keep those. Using containers in this drawer is key to keeping everything in order. At a glance, I can see what needs to be refilled.

The next is crafts. Let’s get creative! My girls have personalized totes full of their own crafting supplies.

The totes do a great job of keeping the mess of crafts contained in one place and the girls love that they have their own supplies, just for them.

These totes can be filled with construction paper, glitter markers, glue, coloring books, just about anything you can think of. Don’t forget the paper brads! All of my kids have all loved using those to make paper animals that have moving parts with those!

I hope I’ve given you some ideas to get through the summer unscathed! If you’re looking for more ways to get organized and create beauty and balance in your home and life, please visit me on Facebook and Instagram @dailybalancedliving.

9

TopCity Rise

We

11

TopCity Rise

by lifting others.”

~ Robert Ingersoll

Good News Story Sponsor:

12

13

TopCity Rise

Register Here:

Nonprofit Sponsor:

TopCity Rise

Earth’s Choice There’s a new business in downtown Topeka!

Earth’s Choice just opened about two months ago! Owner Shane Roeder, is originally from Coffeyville, Kansas but his wife, Jessica brought him here to her hometown in 2012.

Since then they have grown into a beautiful family of five, and are now starting their second business!

Earth’s Choice has a wide variety of different products to choose from, including CBD and hemp products. Soaps, lotions, candles, teas, and journals and they continue to add more quality products on a daily basis.

15

TopCity Rise

When the Roeder family decided that they wanted to build this wellness business they knew they wanted to open a storefront and be a part of the revitalization of downtown. It turns out that finding the building was the easiest part of the process. They quickly discovered that there are a significant amount of hurdles to open a retail business that carries CBD products. It took a considerable amount of time to find a bank and a point-of-sale system that was able to assist their business and they are still working to overcome social media restrictions and multiple rejections of posts.

They are very proud of their family business and service they are bringing to our community and are hopeful our community will be receptive to their business. All of their CBD and hemp products are quality lab tested products to ensure your safety and legal compliance.

Shane and Jessica are so excited to pass on the legacy and importance of entrepreneurship to their children so they can also be a part of fueling our local economy. We absolutely love that they feature and support other Kansas small businesses from communities like Lawrence, Berryton, Junction City and look forward to supporting many more in the years to come. Their doors are open, and they are ready to serve our community!

16

TopCity Rise

“We feel like we are on a dual challenge to help de-stigmatize talking about mental health and the use of the cannabis plant. At some point our society decided that these were taboo; drinking a glass of wine or having a cocktail is considered upscale, having a beer to unwind is ok, you can use Icy Hot, and people won't think twice but if you use the cannabis plant then you can't be a ‘productive member of society’. We hope to help people better understand and be more open to talking about both and be able to see that there are successful people all around us that struggle with their mental health but have found that cannabis plant helps them tremendously.”

Their heart is to help individuals in our community, whether they have a mental health need, or have many other pains and ailments that they haven't found relief from with anything else yet. Their doors are open Monday - Thursday 10am to 6pm and Friday and Saturday 10am to 7pm.

Let’s show them some support!

729 S Kansas Ave 66603 www.earthschoiceks.com

17

TopCity Rise

18

TopCity Rise

TopCity Rise

Breadbasket Farmer’s Market Topeka’s Newest Farmer’s Market

There’s a new farmer’s market in town, Breadbasket Farmers Market! Each Saturday now through mid November, just outside of Furniture Mall of Kansas, you will find several farmers, bakers and makers set up and ready to serve you!

They are a local only market….maybe you are wondering what that means.

Everything you see at this Market is locally grown or locally crafted in and around our community which we love because it helps safeguard our local economy!

20

Photo Credit: Miranda Hazim

TopCity Rise

We love the family friendly atmosphere and how they often give things away like balloons, bread and other fun things kids and families enjoy. In fact, don’t miss Mother’s Day weekend as they will be giving away free flower plants at the information booth.

Don’t miss the fun events planned each month and keep an eye out for opportunities you will have to give back to those in need. Harvester Food Bank will also be at Breadbasket Farmer’s Market once a month and on those days our community will have the opportunity to purchase 3 veggies and donate one.

Mary Tyler, owner of Kan You Say OH YUM and organizer of BreadBasket Farmer’s Market, has been a vendor for over 9 years and served on a board of directors for a market, a number of years. She has a heart and passion for our community and has enjoyed working alongside other vendors, supporting and encouraging them so they can do what they love.

So when she had the idea to create a local only market, of course she was instantly surrounded by supportive entrepreneurs and our community. “My hope and passion is to be a place where local people can come and sell their goods. Whether it be veggies, plants, crafts, Baked goods, food trucks, face painting and much more.” Mary Tyler It’s no surprise that the vendors feel like family and work hard to support each other.

21

TopCity Rise There are candle makers, farmers with fresh produce, ranchers with meat, delicious baked goods and much more. One of our family favorites is Mad Zeal Farm! Their Corn Cob Jam and Watermelon rind jams take me right back to my grandma's kitchen. Don’t miss out on their Carrot cake jam because it's the best topping for your vanilla bean ice cream!

Also, if you are on the lookout for local honey, Milk & Honey Creamery has you covered. They carry honey, soaps, fresh eggs, poultry and very soon they will have goat cheese and milk available! We can’t wait to pick up some cheese!

If fresh beef or pork is what you’re looking for, Taste of the Land, from Holton has a great selection perfect for your summer grilling and smoking! They are a family farm that focuses on regenerative agriculture practices and also have other products available like eggs, honey and other additions coming soon.

SNAP/Food stamps are accepted here. They have a very generous local businessman who is matching dollar for dollar on their SNAP program. So, they are currently able to double all SNAP dollars at this market in an effort to help feed the hungry. Also, the Senior Nutrition Program will be doubled so make sure you let your friends and family know.

New Business Spotlight Sponsor:

Make sure you visit this local market and let us know what you find!

Saturdays 7:30-1pm | 1901 SW Wanamaker Rd Topeka KS 66614 breadbasketfarmersmarket.com

New Business Story Sponsor: Derrick Hodam, Agent, Farm Bureau Financial Services

22

YOUR5SENSESPHOTOGRAPHY@GMAIL.COM

785.329.4095

TopCity Rise

Buffalo Grille New TopCity Eats!

Roberto Alcantara and his wife originally immigrated from Mexico, 30 years ago in search of the American Dream. They found their way to Topeka after about 5 years of living in Chicago. Since then, they have grown a family and have raised a son who shares their interest in the family business. Just before the new year, Buffalo Grill opened to the public!

Owners Roberto and his son Eric aren’t new to the restaurant business and don’t shy away from hard work! Aside from owning Buffalo Grill their family also owns Mexicali on 21st and California. They have invested a lot of heart, time and finances into their family business and are so proud to serve our community.

“Growing up I saw my Dad and Mom working hard for their kids to have a good future and I knew right there and then that I wanted to do the same thing for my future family. Running businesses has always run in the family and I’m just lucky enough to have the opportunity and support to continue the tradition.” Eric Alcantara 24

TopCity Rise

Roberto has always been in the food industry and has learned a lot through his journey which has helped hone his skills to create unique flavors. Some of Buffalo Grille customers favorites include their variety of burgers, the pulled pork sandwich and their signature dish, baby back ribs! You can also find a large selection of appetizers, pasta dishes, and salads on their menu.

This family is working hard to provide a quality dining experience with unique flavors so families and friends can come in and enjoy a meal with their loved ones. The restaurant has an area perfect for small gatherings like birthdays or graduation celebrations. They often host fundraising dine to donate events to support our local community schools and nonprofits so make sure you book the space for your large groups in advance. They also offer catering services!

This family hopes to leave a legacy of a successful business that started off as a dream and became a reality. “A little reminder to everyone out there that no matter where you come from, as long as you want it and you work for it and you’re good at what you do, you’ll make it!” – Eric Alcantara Monday-Saturday; 11AM-8PM 5900 SW Topeka Blvd, Topeka, KS Follow them on Facebook!