Rod Rumelhart recalls two favorite stories involving the car.

By Rich Wicks | Guthrie Center Times

Anything in life that takes hard work seems to be appreciated more, and that’s certainly true of an old car that is parked in Rod Rumelhart’s garage. He recently took time to tell the story.

“This was my first car. I worked and saved up for it,” Rumelhart said. “I actually ended up buying it about six months before I turned 16, and that was in the fall of 1980. I paid $1,350, and that was a lot of money to me, because I’d worked a long time for it. My dad owned a construction business, and I worked building houses and remodeling with him.”

Rumelhart said he is the fourth owner of the car, so it needed some work when he got it, but he enjoyed the process of fixing it up.

“I bought it and put it in my grandmother’s garage, and then I was able to work on it, put speakers in it and do things like that. It was a 1965 Pontiac GTO, four speed on the floor, a two-door coupe, hardtop,” Rumelhart said. “Loyal Dorr owned it before me, and he owned the Conoco station down here. I believe he was the third owner.”

The car turned out to be a good investment.

“I had never driven a stick-shift before, so I had to learn with that car, and I drove it through four years of high school and four years of college. The GTO was one of those early muscle cars, and I had it in really nice condition. I even had it in a few parades,” Rumelhart said. “I’ve kept it all these years. I just haven’t been able to let it go, even though I’ve had plenty of people that have wanted to buy it.”

Thinking back to his school years, Rumelhart recalled two favorite stories involving the car.

“There was a classmate of mine who had a really nice car, and he always wanted me to race him. There’s a straightaway on School Street before you turn up to go to the high school, and nobody was on the road early one morning. He pulled up beside me, and we both laid into it. I’m not sure who won,” Rumelhart said. “He made the corner to turn up to the high school, but I had to go on by and turn around in the gravel past the high school. When I tried turning around, I dropped the back wheels off the shoulder and got stuck. I backed it down in, and it was swampy down there — and then I was really stuck.”

Luckily, the young men found a solution to the problem, but Rumelhart paid a price, nonetheless.

“My buddy worked at Conoco and had access to the wrecker, so he went to get that. And by the time he was getting me pulled out, all the school busses were coming, and all the kids could see me in the ditch. They were just having a heyday with that. I got razzed about that for a long time,” Rumelhart said.

The other story was truly a once-in-a-lifetime oddity.

“When I was 16 or 17, I wanted to go turkey hunting, and I got permission from a farmer south of Panora. I was going hunting with my brother and a classmate of mine,” Rumelhart said. “We were driving down there and got to the farmer’s driveway, and we go past to turn around. As I’m pulling into the neighbor’s driveway, I heard something, and then I backed up. I looked, and there sat my gas tank right in the driveway of that house — and there was a big tire mark where I had driven across it.”  

Although this was clearly a big problem, it turned out OK.

“I called my dad, and he came out later. I ended up getting a new gas tank and new tank straps out of that deal,” Rumelhart said.

Today, the car sits in Rumelhart’s garage, but he hopes to someday restore it and drive it again.

“Everything is pretty original on it. It needs some work. There’s some rust, and the interior needs a lot of work,” Rumelhart said. “The car is the same age as me.”

Rumelhart recalled that the car had plenty of zip back in the day. Although he never really tried to see exactly how fast it could go, he said it was plenty fast.

“It would go well up to 110, anyway,” he said.

Jamaica bar offers good food and drinks at a fair price. 

By Rich Wicks | Panora Times

Running a small business in a small town is never easy, but Chad Frantum and Jeni Hollman, owners of Just One More in Jamaica, found a recipe for success by keeping things simple. They run their bar by providing drinks, food and fun that match what their customers want.

“We opened here March 7, 2018. Prior to that, we had been at a smaller bar for two years. Originally it was called the Dew Drop Inn, and then we started calling it Just One More,” Hollman said.

Jamaica is fortunate to have two such businesses, with Tojo’s just a half block away. But each business fills a slightly different role. Frantum pointed out that there is cooperation between the two, and they consider Tommy Jo, owner of Tojo’s, a friend.

“She’s more of a restaurant, and we’re more of a bar. We have a small menu and an outside grill during the weekends,” Frantum said. Hollman agreed.

“She’s very supportive of us. We work very well together. Sometimes, we even order supplies together,” Hollman said.

Another factor in the success of Just One More is cleanliness.

“We get a lot of compliments on having a clean facility, including our bathrooms,” Frantum said. 

The couple recalled struggling to keep their business afloat during the COVID pandemic.

“It was on Saint Patrick’s Day, we had all this corned beef and cabbage, and we got the news that we had to close down because of COVID. I stood outside and bawled, wondering how we were going to pay the bills,” Hollman said. “That hit us pretty hard. But I look at it today, and anybody that could make it through COVID and be closed as long as we were, they have a good business with a strong community backing them.”

A big factor in the bar’s success is the proximity to the Raccoon River Valley Trail, which runs next to the building. Because of this, Just One More sees lots of customers who stop in as they enjoy the trail. During the winter, that means snowmobilers. In warmer months, there are bicyclists, motorcyclists, ATV riders and pedestrians who stop by for food, drink and a break.

Despite the many customers who pop in occasionally, Frantum and Hollman said the local community is really what keeps the business going. Because of that, the bar has a recurring schedule of fun events to draw locals and visitors.

“Mondays is card night. Wednesdays is pool, and this winter we’re going to be starting Puzzle Night. Thursday nights are bingo, during the winter,” Hollman said. “In the summer, they play bags. Friday is usually bring your own meat, and we usually have live music on Saturdays,” Hollman said. Burgers are typically grilled on Sundays. 

“The live music is popular; we usually stay pretty busy,” Frantum said.

Frantum and Hollman work long hours but say they are blessed to have good help, too. 

“There’s nine, and they’re all part-time,” Hollman said. She added that regular customers often will have a favorite employee and try to come in when that person is working.

“We’ve got good help. Sometimes one of us will take a little mini-vacation, and the other will stay back. And we do get away, both of us, sometimes,” Frantum said.

Hollman added that the bingo on Thursdays is more than just fun; it also raises money to help the community.

“Bingo is a dollar a card, and a max of four cards, and then all of the proceeds go down to the food bank at the school in Panora,” Hollman said. “I think we’re on our seventh time, and we’ve raised just over $900. It goes over very well. It’s 6-8 p.m. on Thursdays.”

Frantum said Just One More strives to offer good food and drinks at a fair price. He’s often witnessed groups that will come in from Des Moines or other urban areas, and when they get the bill, they’ll ask, “Is that all?” 

Frantum and Hollman said they have no plans for significant changes in their business.

“It works the way it is, so why change something that works?” Hollman said. n

Special to the Times Vedette

 The Panorama High School dance team performed in the annual Show of Shows featuring their state routines, state solos and more. 

 The dance team also performed at halftime during the Jan. 10 home basketball games. 

Dr. Daniel Nelson says small-town life is in his blood.

By Rich Wicks | Guthrie Center Times

As you walk into Springbrook Family Dentistry at 214 State St. in Guthrie Center, don’t be surprised if you get very little conversation from the first staff member to greet you. That’s because Ollie, the office dog, likes to greet everyone who comes in, but he’s not much of a talker.

Luckily, Dr. Daniel Nelson, who owns and operates Springbrook Family Dentistry, was willing to talk about the business.

“I graduated dental school in 2018 and worked at a few offices at the same time that I opened this office up in August of 2018,” Nelson said. “I was able to buy this building and do a full remodel with all new equipment, and we started from scratch. It was a lot of time, money and effort, but I think it’s been worth it.”

Nelson explained that small-town life is in his blood.

“I graduated from Panorama High School, and I always wanted to come back to a small town. I like the community, the atmosphere and the type of people who are here,” Nelson said. “I definitely like the peace and quiet.”

Currently, the office is open Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. But despite not being fulltime, Nelson aims for complete patient service.

“One of the things I pride myself on here is that I do almost everything in-house. Implants, dentures, partial dentures, orthodontics, braces. I do root canals and some pediatric dentistry,” Nelson said. “Of course, if a case is too difficult, I have to refer it out.”

Nelson believes in staying up to date with technology in dental care.

“I also have a 3-D printer here, so I’m able to print certain appliances for patients such as dentures, surgical guides and things like that,” Nelson said. “I scan almost everything, which means no goopy molds. It’s just a wand that basically takes a video, and then I use that to 3-D print things.”

The business has a small but dedicated team.

“I have four employees — plus Ollie,” Nelson said. “There’s Anna, who mainly works up front, scheduling and checking insurances. And I have two assistants right now. Daffnie is from Panora originally, and my other assistant, Kylee, is also from the area. She’s actually going to dental hygiene school this fall to become a dental hygienist. And the hygienist that I have now is Nam. It’s like a family.”

Nelson mentioned two factors that make his practice special.

“One is our comfort dog, Ollie. He’s a Golden Doodle, so he’s hypoallergenic, and he’s a big lover. He doesn’t really bark, and just wants to be pet. He’s a huge hit and helps people who have anxiety. We’ve had him here since 2020,” Nelson said. “The other thing is keeping things in-house as much as possible so that people don’t have to make trips to Des Moines or Omaha.”

Asked about a favorite success story, Nelson quickly recalled a patient who needed relief from a very distressing situation.

“One of my favorites would be a patient that needed some pretty extensive work. I took out some bad teeth that were causing her pain,” he said. “I was able to implant dentures, and when we were done, she was crying because she was so happy. She gave us all hugs.”

In the foreseeable future, Nelson has no plans make big changes to his business. Instead, he intends to keep doing what has worked so far.

“I definitely plan to stay up to date, not only with the technology stuff, but with the routine stuff, too. To renew my license, they require 30 hours of continuing education every two years,” Nelson said. “I usually do 80 to 100 so we can keep providing the best care possible.”

By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

At the joint meetings of the Adair-Casey and Guthrie Center school boards on Jan. 15, one of the main discussion topics was how to merge the two boards into one, if/when consolidation of the two districts occurs. Currently, each board has five members. Superintendent Josh Rasmussen suggested the new board could be either five or seven members.

After discussion, the consensus was that the potential new board would include two members from each current district and one at-large member.

The next steps regarding possible consolidation include petitions from each district and a ballot measure for voters to determine if consolidation will happen. Adair-Casey board member Randy Carney pointed out that since many in the community believe the districts are already consolidated, it may be a challenge to have a strong voter turnout percentage.

Adair-Casey PreK-eighth grade Principal Ed Den Beste shared information about new drinking fountains that were installed over the holiday break, and he updated the board on other happenings and upcoming events.

Guthrie Center PreK-sixth grade Principal Tandem Eischeid summarized happenings in his area, including an addition to make recess more fun.

“We got some sleds for our recess. No injuries so far… We laid out the rules, and that’s going pretty well,” Eischeid said.

High School Principal Brian Sauser reported on positive grade trends.

“We ended up not having any failing grades in the entire high school, which is amazing for our students and staff,” Sauser said. “On the flipside of that, we had almost 500 A grades.”

Rasmussen said the districts are continuing work toward filling open bus driver positions.

The next regular meeting of the boards will be Monday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at Adair-Casey Junior High. The public is welcome.