Home Care In Marengo, IA

MARENGO — When Tracy Andes found herself losing salon space in Amana, she captured an unexpected treasure in her own backyard.

“I had my salon spot in Amana,” said the owner of Renew Salon and Spa. “I was there for 15 years.”

Andes had a suite in a bed-and-breakfast, and when the owner put the building up for sale, Andes, a Marengo resident, looked closer to home.

Andes asked the city if she could build an addition to her home and run a business out of it. The city suggested Andes talk to Corienne Dally at Marengo Community Development.

Her job, said Dally, is to connect owners of empty buildings with people who need space. One of the spaces she showed Andes was at 1061 Court Ave., where Renew Salon opened Oct. 2.

Andes had looked at a couple of other places, but this one was the right fit. “It had so much space I could add more services,” Andes said. She has room to add staff as well.

Renew Salon offers hair styling, manicures, pedicures, eyelashes, waxing and massages. Andes has been a massage therapist for 23 years, receiving her training at Carlson College in Stone City.

Andes was studying nursing when a class in massage made her realize that massage was a better fit for her. She’d always been into alternative medicine and treatments such as aroma therapy, she said.

“I’ve got clients already here,” said Andes before a ribbon-cutting and open house last month. Clients from Williamsburg and clients who used her services in Amana drive to Marengo to see her. “It’s a nice central location,” Andes said.

“I’ve got clients from Cedar Rapids,” said Andes’ daughter and business partner, Zoe Andes.

Zoe has watched her mother style hair her entire life, she said. She was in eighth grade when she decided she wanted to be a cosmetologist like her mom. She attended Capri College in Cedar Rapids and still has friends and family — and clients — there.

“It’s always been my dream to work with my mom,” said Zoe. “She’s my best friend.’

Zoe recently moved to South Amana and was driving to Palo to work. She wasn’t seeing much of her mother.

Now the women work out of the same building. “It’s nice. We see each other a lot more,” said Zoe. And Marengo is a much shorter drive.

Having previously housed a doctor’s office, Iowa County Public Health and an attorney, the Court Avenue building sat empty for a couple of years before Andes bought it, said Dally.

“She saw her vision as soon as she walked in,” said Dally.

“I liked that it was a doctor’s office,” said Andes because it already had plumbing for sinks that she would need for hair styling.

Andes spent three months remodeling the space. She worked at her salon in Amana and spent her nights — sometimes until 2 a.m. — working on the Court Avenue building.

“It’s just nice to have people come and see the potential and give things new life,” said Dally.

Renew Salon is open Monday through Saturday with flexible hours from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

MARENGO — When David and Kim Straka decided to open their own business, a restaurant and coffee shop seemed the right fit. Both have a background in food service.

And they are both from this part of Iowa, David from Blairstown and Kim from Mt. Vernon.

Today the couple lives near Hannen Lake in Benton County. They opened DK’s Eatery at 1185 Court Ave. on the Marengo square in July.

“When I was younger, I worked at the bar in Amana,” said David. He has worked as a cook at Chi-Chi’s and Denny’s in Cedar Rapids, though most recently he worked for PepsiCo.

Kim worked in the cafeteria at Upper Iowa University and at Rockwell Collins through Wellmark for five or six years, she said. She spent a few years as manager of Dollar General in Cedar Rapids.

The couple had talked about opening a restaurant, but it wasn’t until David’s mother passed away and left them some money that they were able to make it happen.

They thought running their own business would be “kind of nice,” said Kim.

“I kind of like being my own boss,” said David.

David had considered constructing a building for his hog business with the money, but the coffee shop-restaurant won out.

“My hog building can wait a little longer,” said David.

The couple bought a vacant building on Court Avenue with two separate spaces, one for the coffee shop and one for the café.

“This used to be Phat Daddy’s,” said David. But no equipment was left from the pizza place when the Straka’s moved in. “It’s been closed five or six years,” said David. “There was nothing here.”

The Strakas had to buy new and used equipment to get the restaurant going.

“We even had to put in a new vent system and fire suppression,” said Kim. That set them back $40,000.

“I really thought the building was neat,” said David. He refinished the wood floors himself. “We wanted to keep the hardwood,” said Kim, but hiring someone to do it was too expensive.

About 90% of the plumbing and half of the electrical system had to be redone. And the toilets had to be replaced to make them ADA compliant, said Kim.

The renovation took three months, said Kim, and a few things still need finishing up, but the coffee shop and restaurant are open.

The couple is surprised they haven’t been busier. They’ve gotten more customers from out-of-town than they’d expected, but locals don’t seem to know they’re open.

“We do have some signs up,” said David. The window of the restaurant clearly displays its name and daily specials.

“I would think there’d be more people coming in,” said David.

“We put an ad in the paper twice. We’re on Facebook,” said Kim. Daily specials are posted there as well as on the window.

They may have opened during the wrong time of year, said David. During the summer, people are busy, and they grill out, he said.

In the three months they’ve been open, the Strakas have noted what sells and what doesn’t, and they’re revamping their menu.

“We sell a lot of tenderloins,” said David. Burgers and onion rings are popular with customers. “And then, we make a lot of omelets,” David said.

Besides the Strakas, the restaurant employs two waitresses and a backup cook.

“We have parties in here, too,” David said. They’ll rent the coffee shop space for parties, but they don’t rent out the restaurant side anymore. “This side is pretty busy,” said Kim.

The restaurant serves breakfast all day and has expanded its hours at the request of customers. “We were only open until 2 when we first opened,” said Kim.

Now they’re open until 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

“That’s a 15-hour day for us,” said Kim.

Friday and Saturday, DK’s is open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday it’s open for buffet only, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The couple offers carryout if customers call ahead to 319-741-5005.

(This article has been edited to correct the spelling of Phat Daddy’s.)

MARENGO — Hours before the Marengo Fall Festival opened its vendor booths and started children’s activities and entertainment on the square, a crowd gathered on the south side of town to board five Pullman cars bound for Victor.

People from all over the state arrived in Marengo Saturday morning to ride Iowa Interstate Railroad’s Pullman cars, dating from 1928.

Colbee Altenhofen and her children, Bexlee, Keera and Jorei, were part of a party of eight catching the first ride of the morning.

“I grew up in Deep River and Millersburg,” said Altenhofen. When she and her family heard that Marengo was offering train rides, they grabbed some tickets. “We thought we’d bring the kids up for some fun.”

The children aren’t strangers to trains, said Altenhofen. They’ve ridden the Polar Express in Mt. Pleasant.

Saturday’s ride was much warmer, with sunny skies and mild autumn temperatures.

The event was more than a pleasure trip, however. It was a fundraiser for the Marengo Fire Department and Marengo Community Development.

In 1984, Heartland Rail Corporation, owned at the time by Maytag, Pioneer Seed, CRANDIC, Pella Rolscreen and other businesses, selected Iowa Interstate to operate its railroad.

Heartland purchased track rights and reestablished rail service from Council Bluffs and Chicago in 1985 which had ceased following the liquidation of Rock Island Railroad in 1980.

In 2004, Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corporation purchased the company, becoming its sole owner.

Following an Iowa Interstate derailment several years ago in Illinois, to which firefighters responded, the company began giving train rides to raise funds for fire departments, according to Volunteer Conductor Ron Rahn.

Iowa Interstate contacted the Marengo Fire Department about conducting a fundraiser after an explosion and fire at the C6-Zero plant in Marengo in December 2022, said Marengo Community Development Director Corienne Dally.

About 15 fire departments, two hazmat teams and multiple other agencies fought the fire at the C6 plant, which recycled asphalt roofing shingles for use in alternative fuels, according to news reports.

Doug Spence, who has been with the Marengo Fire Department since 1989, said chemical got into the bunker gear and gloves, and they had to be replaced. The fire department asked Marengo Community Development to organize the event, offering to share the proceeds.

Decked out in a blue uniform with gold buttons and a conductor’s hat with gold braid trim, Volunteer Conductor Bill Nelson, of Rock Island, directed passengers to the train cars.

Other volunteer conductors greeted passengers and answered questions as they boarded the train cars and during the trip.

The volunteer conductors don’t have to have railroad experience, said Conductor Ken Roehrs. They are people who like railroads, he said.

Roehrs has collected N-gauge model trains for years, and he belongs to Railroading Heritage of Midwest America in Silvas, Illinois, an organization collecting train engines and cars in preparation for building a railroad museum.

Rahn is also a member of Railroading Heritage. His grandchildren know him as Papa Choo-Choo.

Rahn sat in one of the last three cars as the train traveled to Victor Saturday. He’s been volunteering on the trains for 18 years, he said. In addition to Iowa Interstate rides in Oxford and Brooklyn, Rahn has been a conductor for Polar Express holiday train rides in Minnesota and for cross-country excursions to the west coast.

Saturday was the first time Iowa Interstate took its passenger cars to Marengo.

“It’s a lot of fun,” said Rahn. “You meet a lot of people. We’d like to see a lot more younger people get into this.”

The five Pullman cars can carry up to 36 passengers each, and Iowa Interstate made the round trip to Victor three times Saturday.

Tickets sold out in 10 days after the event was announced, Dally said. She estimated that the fire department and community development would each see about $4,500.

Marengo Community Development used the event to showcase the town and to give it an economic boost. Dally hoped that people who came from other communities to ride the train would stop in town and spend some money with Marengo businesses.

“C6-Zero gave our town such a negative [reputation],” said Dally. She hoped Saturday’s train ride and fall festival gave people a positive view of the town.

On June 22, 2023 sealed bids for the construction of the new swimming pool were due. Unfortunately only one bid was received and that bid was considerably more than we can afford. Consequently the bid was rejected.

Subsequent to June 22, 2023, the City as well your Pool Committee have been working with our pool engineer to eliminate some features of the new swimming pool and to possibly revise part of the bathhouse.

We do feel that the bid received was very unreasonable and that on rebidding the swimming pool we will be able to receive a bid that we can accept. The City will be publishing notice and mailing notice to contractors Sept. 5 requesting bids to be returned by Oct. 5, with the contract hopefully to be awarded Oct. 25.

The new substantial completion date for the swimming pool is May of 2025. It is our intent to have a soft opening of the swimming pool in May of 2025 and holding a grand opening celebration of the pool in the month of June 2025.

It is certainly a disappointment to have to wait another year to have the swimming pool completed and open for use, but I am sure that when you see and use the new swimming pool that you will feel that the wait was well worth it.

Since the opening of the bid we have continued to raise additional funds for the new swimming pool. In addition thereto, our anonymous donor has committed to donate an additional $300,000 for the construction of the new pool, bringing the total donation that will be received from our anonymous donor of $750,000.

Hopefully with this additional commitment from our anonymous donor and from additional funds that we hopefully can raise between now and Oct. 5 we can receive a bid that we can accept Oct. 5.

Any additional contributions that any individuals or businesses could give at this point in time would certainly be helpful in helping us meet our goal of having a new swimming pool for Marengo and the surrounding communities.

If you would wish to make a new or an additional contribution to the swimming pool fund, please make a check payable to the City of Marengo and mail the same to L. C. McMeen at P.O. Box 267, Marengo, IA 52301.

The help and support that the Pool Committee and the City have received and are continuing to receive for the building of our new swimming pool is certainly greatly appreciated.

MARENGO PROUD!

Lou McMeen,

Pool Committee Member

Water runoff from a Marengo facility that exploded and caught fire this month was contaminated with chemicals associated with petroleum, some of which are used as solvents, according to an Iowa Department of Natural Resources report.

Those who operate the C6-Zero facility on the east side of Marengo in eastern Iowa had — prior to the explosion — repeatedly declined to reveal the chemicals it used to break down old shingles, a recent DNR order said.

The purpose of that emergency order issued last week was to prevent further processing of shingles at the facility and to contain the soil and water contamination that resulted from the explosion, which also injured an unspecified number of employees of the facility and forced the evacuation of nearby houses.

“Inside the building are large quantities of unknown chemicals in buckets, barrels, and gas tanks, along with big piles of loose, crushed shingles, all of which are exposed to wind, rain, and changing temperatures,” the order said.

It also noted that “large run-off pools of contaminated water are flowing into or towards the Iowa River.”

It’s unclear how much of the chemicals might have flowed into the river, which is a source of drinking water downstream in Iowa City.

Water runoff from the C6-Zero site flows into two ditches that connect to a city-managed stormwater drainage basin, which empties into the Iowa River.

Tammie Krausman, a DNR spokesperson, said current runoff is being contained in the basin. But early DNR sampling of the water, including in a stream that flows out of the basin to the river, revealed contaminations of benezene, ethylbenzene, toluene and xylenes, according to a summary obtained by Iowa Capital Dispatch.

It’s unclear if the DNR has identified all of the chemicals that were contained at the facility. Krausman did not immediately respond to a request to comment about it.

The DNR has been attempting for more than a year to gather information about the facility’s processes to determine whether it is subject to the state’s air quality, recycling and solid waste regulations. The company has repeatedly insisted it is not, according to the DNR.

The facility apparently began operating this year, but it’s unclear when. An attorney for C6-Zero said in April there were no stockpiled shingles at the facility, the DNR order said. The attorney said the company planned to eventually process about 800 tons of shingles per day. The company breaks down the shingles into their base components for reuse.

On Dec. 14, six days after the explosion, DNR staff noted multiple pools of unknown liquids or dark, contaminated water and runoff flowing into ditches that connect with the stormwater basin and Iowa River.

Jonathan Durst, the water superintendent for Iowa City, said his testing has not found contamination in the city’s drinking water.

He noted that the high flows of the Iowa River would significantly dilute the Marengo contamination and that the city draws most of its water from shallow wells near the river, not directly from the river.