Hopedale‘s Hometown News Site

Yoga may be one of the oldest practices in human history to focus on a person’s happiness - a person’s physical and emotional well-being. In the United States it is estimated that 36 million adults practice yoga on a regular basis. They are likely to practice one of a couple kinds of yoga that derive from Vedic yoga and involve 12 basic postures, with names like cow, cobra, or fish. These kinds of yoga will also involve teaching deep breathing patterns  along with a focus on being present and mindful. Luckily for Mackinaw area residents, we have an expert on the subject: Julie Rhoades of Yoga4Life, located at 107 South Main Street in Mackinaw.

For this week’s Business Spotlight, I was able to speak with President of KDJ Sales and Services Inc, Dustin Schmidgall, and get a peek into the history of his company and what the future may look like moving forward. Started by Keith Schmidgall in Armington IL in 1978, the company originally focused on residential plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. After about 7 years, the decision was made to move the company to Mackinaw in 1985 and switch focus to doing electrical work on grain elevators. In 1987, the company moved to the Mackinaw Industrial Park, where they remain today. In 1995, KDJ added to their list of services when they added automation and control systems development.

Opening up on April 9, 2022, the 3:7 Garden Shed is a gardening shop owned by Jeff and Chris Litwiller but you may also see their four daughters around the shed helping out. The 3:7 Garden Shed took the place of the Hopedale Garden Shop after the owner decided to sell the business to Jeff and Chris Litwiller. Before this, the business originated as Slager Lawn Service in the 1980s. The shed’s name comes from 1 Corinthians 3:7; “Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow”.

With 10 years of experience in fire equipment and the fire safety industry, Fred Lawrence, along with his wife Emily, started Fred Lawrence and Sons Fire Equipment in Pekin in 2010. Business came quickly and before long, the decision was made to incorporate the business to its current name F.L. Sons Fire Equipment Inc. in 2015. Fred and Emily began hiring employees and realized that their current situation: one work truck, a very small 10’x15’ garage, and a spare room in their home acting as an office - just wasn’t going to meet their needs. So, the Lawrence family started to look elsewhere, knowing that they would need a home for them and their 2 sons, along with a separate building to run their business out of.

Carol Ann’s Worsh House is a laundromat located on 109 SW Arch Street in Atlanta, Illinois. This business was opened just a little over one year ago on account of the small town needing a place to wash or “worsh” their clothes after the previous laundromat owner passed away. Jared and Brandy Mattingly saw an opportunity to reopen the facility and stepped up to the task! The name “Carol Ann’s Worsh House” is named in honor of Jared’s mother, the late Carol Ann Mattingly. Both Jared and Brandy’s mothers used to “worsh” everything.