Community Builders toured Clarkson on Thursday, March 27. Community Builders is a group that supports local communities and businesses by sharing ideas and resources. Partners are Central Community College, Cornhusker Public Power District, and Loup Power District. All tours are open to the public.
MAYOR’S WELCOME
The tour started at K&L’s Brass Rail with lunch and a welcome by Clarkson Mayor Jenae Jindra.
She talked about the efforts to repave Pine Street that started last summer and is ongoing. The project includes new sidewalks, curbs, water lines, wastewater and storm sewers, and underground power lines.
“When I became mayor, that was my main goal,” she said.
Following lunch, tour participants gave reports about events and projects in their communities including Humphrey, Newman Grove, Schuyler, Columbus, and Albion.
CLARKSON BAKERY
When Clarkson native Kim Scott moved back home in 2010, she needed a job.
The obvious answer was to work for her aunt and uncle at Clarkson Bakery. A year later, she was the new owner.
Today, she has 17 employees and the business delivers to about 20 area stores.
Employees begin the day around 4 a.m. to ensure that the baked goods are cooled and the frosting is set before being packaged for local customers and deliveries. They bake on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The business is also open on Saturdays.
Scott said it takes about 15 minutes to make a 60-pound batch of kolach dough. That batch makes 52 dozen kolaches.
Clarkson bakery also makes doughnuts, horn rolls, rye bread, fritters, and sweet rolls.
The horn rolls are especially popular for family gatherings. At Easter, Scott said she makes up to 1,200 dozen horn rolls for customers.
Scott said she is glad she made the decision to move back to Clarkson and take over the family bakery.
“Everybody walks through the door with a smile on their face,” she said.
JLS FITNESS & BEYOND/FIT FUEL CAFÉ/JLT GYMNASTICS
Jessica French started taking gymnastics in fourth grade.
By the time she was a senior in high school, she had parents asking if she would give private lessons.
She continued to teach gymnastics classes while attending college in Chadron and held some adult fitness boot camps. In the summers, she came back to Clarkson where her classes continued to grow.
French moved to Florida for a year and eventually settled back in Clarkson where she worked at a bank and as a paraeducator at a school.
But she had other aspirations — opening her own business. When a grocery store closed in 2019 she bought the building and began making her dream a reality.
Today, she gets up most days at 4:15 to be ready for morning adult fitness classes that start at 5 a.m.
Then, she goes home and gets her two young sons who spend the morning with her. They go home for lunch (and naps!) and she’s back by 3:45 p.m. to prepare for classes that start at 4 p.m. and go until about 8:30.
The weekends are often full with private lessons and competitions.
She has students from 12 communities.
About four months ago, she added the Fit Fuel Café in an unused corner of the building. She sells protein coffees, veggie crust breakfast pizza, breakfast sandwiches, and salads.
French said she is grateful for the support of her parents, her hometown, and the neighboring communities.
“I always said I wanted to move somewhere bigger with more opportunity and the opportunity was right here,” she said.
THE BARN
Kathy Doerneman said her husband, Jarett, always wanted an old barn to fix up.
He got his wish in 2013 when he purchased a barn near Leigh. It took four hours to move from Leigh to the north side of Clarkson.
Jarett told Kathy it was going to be a storage shed.
It soon became evident that it was going to be more than that. Jarett spent 900 hours building a fireplace with granite from South Dakota. Then he put in some restrooms.
The renovation was complete in 2015 just in time for their son’s wedding reception.
Today, the venue hosts weddings, graduations, baby showers and anniversary parties. It holds about 225 people and features a dance floor, bar area, and loft with seating.
TAKE ROOT NURSERY/LITTLE BLUE BARN COFFEE TRUCK
Kyle Sayers has always had an interest in gardening and plants.
After high school, he studied horticulture at UNL. Then he moved back home and had an idea — he wanted to grow vegetables for grocery stores.
He rented a greenhouse from Bluebird Nursery and figured he would grow some plants, too, since he had the space.
“And now it’s just plants and no vegetables,” he said.
But that’s okay by Sayers, who is now in his third year of offering plants to area communities. His mother, Jayne, is his only helper.
He will be open mid-April through June.
Sayers has worked a few different jobs in the off seasons. In January, he opened a coffee truck to supplement his nursery business.
Customers can purchase coffee and smoothies while the nursery is open. He will also take the truck to county fairs, farmers’ markets, and other local events.