No Fires at Lake Fayette; Spotlight on the Niewalds

Lake Fayette is under an extreme fire ban as of June 17. For the safety of their guests and the parks, no open flames are allowed at this time. This includes BBQ and propane grills and campfires. They apologize for any inconvenience.

The Velvet Hen

The recently opened Velvet Hen in the square offers photographs, a bath and body line, candles, jewelry made from silverware and vintage plates and a lot more. Owner Kristina Niewald and her husband Mike have a Fayetteville address. Their farm is closer to Shelby. “My husband and I have been in the MS150 several times and Fayetteville was our absolute favorite town to ride through. We moved here in 2019 four days after my oldest daughter graduated from high school. We feel that this is our forever home and community.”

Niewald, her mom and her sister had always talked about opening a store. She saw the space and fell in love with it. “My vision for the store is to sell local handmade items. My niece, an absolutely amazing photographer, was my driving force. She needed somewhere to share her beautiful pictures,” stated Niewald. “I want to help locals have a place year-round to sell their things. I don’t want to buy anything wholesale and I’m hoping to continue to grow with locally made goods.”

Her husband is a subsea project manager. As a NICU nurse for 23 years, she loves her job. “I love my babies but sometimes it’s very heavy and this is light and fun. It helps me find balance. And, selfishly, I’m hoping that it will encourage my mom to move to Fayetteville to help me run the store,” explained Niewald.

ARTS Events

ARTS celebrates the world’s beauty through artistic expression found on road trips. Join them at the ARTS Gorman Gallery in Schulenburg to check out the ARTS International Invitational 2022 Road Trips Exhibit. It only runs through June 25. ARTS Gorman Gallery is located at 1201 S. Kessler in Schulenburg.

Four talented 11-year-olds enjoyed ARTS week-long quilting camp taught by Jeanette Brown.

SLM Day Camp

Shared Lutheran Ministry (SLM) is collecting a few items to use in the kitchen during SLM Day Camp in July:

Ellinger - plastic forks, spoons and napkins

Fayetteville - large 10” and 7 ½” paper plates

Rutersville – sandwich, quart and gallon size Ziploc Bags

Warrenton – paper towels, toilet paper and 8 oz. plastic cups

Celebrations

Happy Birthday wishes to:

Earl Schmitt-24

Kate Holloway-27

James Korenek, Roy Kovar and Wayne Fruge-30

Happy Anniversary wishes to:

Pam and Ronnie Polasek-25

Have news?

The deadline for sending news for this weekly column is every Sunday morning. Feel free to share what’s going on or coming up in our small town. Lots of special events, family gatherings and celebrations, home projects, community, school, business and organization activities happen around here. If it’s special to you or someone you know in our community, feel free to text, call (713) 261-0786 or email newsinfayetteville@gmail.com.