Book Nook
By Co-Owner: Bonnie Meier

We constantly try to find more space to put things. The only space we had in our retail area that wasn’t being used was a closet in which we used to hang our jackets and keep the vacuum cleaner. We needed more space to hang pictures so I suggested that we clean the closet out and hang pictures in there. My uncle, Jon Boone, was here at the time and he looked at it and said that he thought we could get all our books in there and then we could use the space in the back where the books were for other things. What a good idea. We had a carpenter take off the door and widen the space into the closet and we now call it the Book Nook. We have sold several books since we made the change because people can now see what we have. We have all the books on labeled shelves including a shelf for books about Iowa and Sioux County which includes books by local authors or authors with connections to Sioux County.

Thank you Uncle Jon for the good idea.

New Country Antique Section

By Co-Owner: Bonnie Meier and Good Friend, Doc Neumann

The area of our store that formerly contained the books now contains country antiques. These include tools purchased in the Rapid City and western Nebraska area by Uncle Jon Boone. It also includes some beautiful horse brasses. According to Doctor Neumann, a prominent horse expert, the brasses were used for harness decoration. They were sometimes given as prizes in horse shows. They are made out of solid brass and most generally put on the martingale. They were often put on a 3 to 4 inch strap that hung in front of the front legs. They were used in show harnesses and they were usually found in harness shops.

The drawers that used to contain paperback books now contain Dutch lace, Dutch material, muslin, and felt. The material was just lying out where it could get dusty. This is a much better home for it.

Estate sale September 19-21

By Co-Owner: Bonnie Meier

We will be conducting another estate sale on September 19, 20 and 21 this fall. The last one was very successful and it served several purposes. Number one, we helped two families clean out their parents’ houses. Number two; we helped people find bargains that may be one of a kind type. And number three; we introduced many new people to our store and the regular items that we carry.

At our last estate sale we sold things at regular prices on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday we came down 10% an hour until we reached 50% off. We kept things at 50% off for several weeks, then we came down to 60% off for several days and finally 75% after which we packed the few things left and gave them back to the people whose estates we were representing. I’m not positive we will follow the same format this time, but it worked well last time. However, if you want to be sure that you get something, you may not want to wait until it is on sale. We are trying to price things very reasonably from the beginning. For example, at the last sale we had a metal antique boiler that we posted on Facebook. I think we sold it at 50% off, but we had about three more people ask about it after it sold. So you might not want to wait until the last minute.

During the last estate sale we started off with five tables full of items including several things under the tables. We had approximately 400 items. That is our goal for this next sale as well. As soon as we hit 400 items, we will cut it off and save anything else for the next sale (which may be in January sometime). We can add about 400 items and still get around the store, if they aren’t too big. More than that would probably not be workable in our little store.

Featured Personnel: Nelva Rowenhorst

By Nelva Rownhorst

My name is Nelva Rowenhorst and I am the latest in the line up of employees for Bonnie. I was born and raised in Orange City and lived in town or on a farm north of Orange City all my life. I grew up living just one block south of Bonnie and got to know her, her mother and grandmother through Girl Scouts, which I joined about the age of 9. That same time my father bought a shoe store and I was introduced to the world of customer service. He taught me how to make change, how to treat customers and how to dust shoeboxes. That was the part of the job I didn’t enjoy, they were always dusty.

I married my 1st grade sweetheart, Robert, right out of high school and we lived in town for one year before moving out to the farm 5 miles northwest of Orange City. While on the farm I learned all the things a good farm wife needs to know. We worked side-by-side milking cows, feeding sheep and raising the crops. We had two boys there and they helped on the farm, too. After they were out of high school I got a job in the flower shop in Sioux Center and later in Orange City and worked with flowers for over 24 years. After I retired from the flower business I started working for Bonnie part time. I really enjoy the store and always find something new and interesting there. I also do volunteer work for Bibles for Missions and sew quilts for the church. Through the years I have enjoyed all kinds of crafts and had many hobbies. The one that takes up my time and interest now is quilting. I put the top together and then go visit my sister in Minnesota and she does the quilting for me.

Robert just retired this past May and now we have time to go camping and fishing, something we really enjoy. We have 7 granddaughters, ages 15 – 25, who are scattered, so we don’t get to see them as much as we would like. We will be celebrating our 53rd wedding anniversary in October and hope to continue to enjoy our retirement years together.

Coming up

By Co-Owner Bonnie Meier

Our third birthday party will be coming up the first full week in November, i.e. November 7, 8, and 9. It will similar to our first two celebrations where we had balloons throughout the store, the red ones all containing discounts between 10% and 40%. With each purchase a customer could pop a balloon and receive the discount found within. This it the only time all year that everything in the store is on sale with few, if any, exceptions. It is our time to say "Thanks" to all our customers and to express our gratitude for the opportunity to start a 4th year of business. There will be more details in the next newsletter.