New Gift Basket Service Available at GU's Amish Country Store
Graceland first-lady Bette Sellars has announced a new gift basket service now being offered at GU's Amish Country Store. Parents of Graceland students especially may appreciate the opportunity to surprise their daughter or son with an authentic Amish basket filled with whatever assortment they choose of the wonderful goodies available at the Amish Store and the adjoining Maid-Rite restaurant.
"We can pack up teas, cookies, snacks, jams and jellies, baked goods...just whatever the gift-giver has in mind," says Bette. "We can make suggestions, like a tea mug with the student's initial, and then go from there." You can also include coupons for menu items from Maid-Rite. The gift baskets make perfect birthday presents and "care packages" to let that special student in your life know you are thinking of them.
Alumni and friends of Graceland will want to utilize the new gift idea as well. To order a basket you can call 641.784.5355 and talk with Bette or Teresa Fuller, manager of the Amish Country Store/Maid-Rite complex. It's a fun new way to stay connected with a special person in your life.
Read How Graceland's Amish Country Store/Maid-Rite Complex is Evolving Into a Favorite I-35 Attraction
Graceland University's partnership with Lamoni's Amish community, the iconic, Iowa-born ‘Maid-Rite' Corporation and the State of Iowa has created a unique dining, shopping and tourist-aid destination at the edge of Lamoni that is drawing crowds of local visitors and tourists from I-35.
The Amish Country Store/Maid-Rite/Welcome Center complex has evolved into one of the most unique stops along I-35 between Kansas City and Des Moines. Travelers now visit an unusual Maid-Rite that blends home-made buggy seats and a rustic Amish theme with the familiar ‘50s motif of the classic Maid-Rite restaurant. The 80-strong chain of Maid-Rites began in 1926 in Muscatine, Iowa.
After their meal, visitors now stroll down an inviting hallway and shop at an authentic Amish Country Store for baskets, quilts, hand-crafted furniture, baked goods, jellies and jams, and a wide array of period merchandise that GU First-Lady Bette Sellars spends a significant amount of time acquiring. A number of Amish families are selling their goods at the store with great success and Bette expects growth. An Iowa Welcome Center is handy right there to assist travelers, and the facility has become the Jefferson Lines bus stop.
Beautiful flowers, climbing vines and home-made furniture adorm the long, shaded front porch of the
Country Store. It is a great place to unwind during a break from driving. The entire facility is wireless-friendly so visitors can quickly check their email. Besides the great Amish-made goods available at the Country Store, Bette has been very busy this summer bringing in a wide array of merchandise from around the country and the world. There is a lot for visitors to see and something for everyone to take away from their visit to Lamoni. Guests are greeted by Welcome Center employees and volunteers and informed about the shops and services available around the city.
Bette has been the driving force behind the project. She taught art and her husband John Sellars was VP for Institutional Advancement at Graceland a decade ago. They returned in 2007 when John became the university's seventeenth president. One of the first things Bette noticed when she came back to Lamoni was the sizeable Amish presence that had built up around the community in the last 10 years. There are about 50 Amish families in the area now. A seed was planted in Bette's imagination.
Bette and John had been eyeing the Gateway Welcome Center at Lamoni's east edge and pondering what could be done to revitalize the I-35 and Hwy. 69 entrance to the city, and the university. The seed in Bette's imagination sprouted.
She got inspired right away, talking to people in the community and the university for ideas, working to design the eye-catching, contemporary Amish façade for the facility. When you drive up to the rejuvenated building you quickly note similarities to current Amish home and barn construction in the area. A long, covered ‘front porch' stretches along 
the building, just like local Amish homes. There is Amish-style (buggy) seating in the restaurant. "It has a barn-type theme, a rustic Amish look," said Bette. A seating area with a large, round (tree-cut) table at the back of the restaurant is used as a conference room for area groups.
A totally restored one-room country school house from near Leon was donated by Graceland alumna
and Board of Trustees member Vicki Ross. Alumnus Orman Brooner did the reconstruction of the schoolhouse and moved it to the rear of the Maid-Rite site. It is now an eye-catching fixture of the complex and a popular spot for visitors to stroll around after their meal and shopping. Orman is also a GU Board of Trustees member. Vicki attended the school house as a young girl growing up on a Decatur County farm 15 miles away, near Leon. 
Vicki, who now lives in Pennsylvania, has spent considerable time back in the area in the last few months, acquiring student desks and other period pieces to create a vintage interior for the Pioneer School. Visitors can now ask to go inside and have a look around, or just peek through the windows after their meal for a trip back to the yesteryears of rural Iowa education. This project is a good example of how Graceland alumni get together to get things done. (Orman and Vicki are pictured above. This is the restored schoolhouse.)
Don't be surprised to see Amish buggies lined up at the drive-thru window, enjoying the classic Maid-Rite, loose meat sandwich and a wide variety of other menu items. "I see visitors sitting by the large windows in Maid-Rite, enjoying a meal, and drifting back in time to a scene of early Iowa," Bette said. "Travelers take a quick walk into the look of another century." Bette was recently honored by the GU Board of Trustees for the marvelous job she has done to create a "total makeover" of the old Welcome Center complex. Board members said the new facility is something Graceland and the community can be very proud of.
Teresa Fuller is general manager for both Maid-Rite and the Amish Country Store. She and her husband Cliff helped construct the complex and get the facility open. Teresa says she is excited about the complex's future in Lamoni and delighted that she is seeing so many visitors from I-35. On any given day, at any given time, the parking lot out front is full of vehicles - local, and from around the country.
It is an unusual move for a small, private university to get involved in a project like this, but Graceland President John Sellars is committed to stimulating economic development in Lamoni. "This destination is bringing many more travelers from I-35, to eat, to shop, to get to know our community," the president said. Visitor growth has been remarkable in recent months. A Grand Opening for the Amish Country Store and the new Maid-Rite restaurant was held recently. (At left, Bette Sellars is shown cutting the ribbon at the Grand Opening. President Sellars is pictured on the right.)
The two-mile corridor from I-35 to downtown Lamoni has been the focus of recent "beautification" efforts. A new "Welcome to Lamoni and Graceland University" sign now adorns the corner of Hwy. 69 and Smith Street. Trees (a ‘Trees Forever' grant project) have been planted at that corner 
and along the route. And, there have been a number of sprucing-up projects undertaken along the route and downtown. Light poles have been installed by Lamoni Municipal Utilities. (At left and below, a wide array of merchandise awaits visitors to the Amish Country Store.)
President Sellars is encouraging development along the Hwy. 69 corridor between I-35 and downtown Lamoni. Future development and revitalization of the route is expected to draw more visitors to the city. "A gauge of the success of the new Welcome Center facility," said Sellars, "is how well we spotlight local businesses, how well we get the good word out about Lamoni. That is our purpose." Employees at the facility make sure to point out Lamoni's many attractions to visitors. Graceland purchased the building from the city of Lamoni in 2008. The university is owner/operator of the non-profit facility.
A 25-foot-high sign has been erected at the edge of the exit, with an Amish bed board look, alerting
travelers to the new site. A large sign with an old-time look adorns the porch roof of the store. Bette and Teresa have a hundred ideas for expanding and enhancing the new destination along I-35. Tour bus operators are making the facility a regular stop, and marketing information is going out to other Welcome Centers, retailers and tourism sites.
The Lamoni Bike Trail pops out right at the Welcome Center so bikes might be available someday to travelers who want to take a ride into downtown. Graceland's national champion SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team is currently taking a look at marketing possibilities for the facility. There are also long-term, employment opportunities at Maid-Rite for area residents and Graceland students.
When you are back for Graceland Homecoming 2009 (October 9-11) be sure to visit the new complex
and see how Bette's vision for the once-neglected site has come to life. Crafts people will be demonstrating their skills, tours will be given of the Pioneer School and you will be able to see what all the excitement is about. Come out and see what can happen when Gracelanders put their minds to something and make it a reality. (Pictured at right, tourists stop for a meal and to check their email. Amish visitors from out of state enjoy the new Maid-Rite.)
