The Chamber’s July spotlight is on the Guttenberg Motel. The motel is owned and operated by Dave and Patty Schwarz, formerly of Clinton, Iowa, who employ several part-time helpers. The 12-room motel offers nightly and weekly lodging all year round.

In Clinton, Dave and Patty ran a moving company and lived in the country while raising their family. After visiting Guttenberg many times throughout the years, the Schwarzes purchased the Guttenberg Motel in November of 2015 and relocated.

The couple has been busy remodeling the 1958 motel and adding a deck to the east side of the building. The deck features a large seating area, gas fire pit, and a gas grill for customers to use while they stay at the motel. The Schwarzes have updated the motel with log cabin and colored stone siding, and have added a wooden walkway around the motel, in addition to updating the rooms and electrical. In the future, Patty hopes to make each room unique with nature inspired decor and locally made items.

“Business is wonderful; I am booked each and every weekend until late August.” says Patty.  “Many dates in the fall are fully booked too. I am telling people to think about dates for next year, as summer weekends fill up fast.”

Dave and Patty’s interests have shaped the activities and appearance of the motel. Dave grew up fishing on the Mississippi and still spends many summer days on the river, so the motel offers a fish cleaning station for the convenience of its customers, many of whom visit Guttenberg to take advantage of the fishing. Dave is happy to offer fishing advice to customers to help them have a successful day on the river. In 2016, the Schwarzes hosted the first annual Guttenberg Motel Catfish Tournament which saw 19 teams competing, and will be hosting their second tournament on Saturday, July 22 with prizes and 100% payback. Patty’s love for flowers and gardening shines at the motel. She carefully tends to the vibrant flower pots and hanging baskets each day to create a welcoming atmosphere for customers and a beautiful view for those passing by.

“We really feel fortunate to be in Guttenberg; people here have so much community pride, they take such wonderful care of their yards, properties and surroundings. The Chamber and other businesses lend helpful advice and ideas to each other. We help one another to succeed at an amazing level!” says Patty.

The Schwarzes will be holding an open house and grand opening celebration for the motel on Wednesday, October 25, so keep an eye out for more details in the coming months.

The Chamber’s June business spotlight is on Clayton Ridge Farm and Picket Fence Café, opened by Jane and Tom Augustyn on South River Park Drive in 1998.

Clayton Ridge Farm and Picket Fence Cafe offer farm-to-fork lunches prepared daily featuring fresh ingredients, along with gourmet salsas, sauces and mustards, and several brands of native Iowa wine. Catering for all types of events is also available. The couple has recently gotten interested in finding, repurposing and selling vintage farm and industrial items. Items are always coming and going so the displayed items change often.

Jane grew up working on a farm in Guttenberg with her family and learned about cooking and gardening from her mother and grandmothers, developing a talent for both. Tom grew up in suburban Chicagoland and attended college at Iowa State University. The two met when Tom visited Clayton County on a weekend trip, and the couple married in 1985.

Tom and Jane describe their business as an evolution of their personal interests. They were raising high quality hogs and always had a large garden, finding a niche in marketing through the Farmers Market around 1992. Tom and Jane both enjoy cooking, so they started cooking samples of their products to help sell them at the market. It didn’t take long for Jane to start preparing food by-order for people having parties and family gatherings. In the spring of 1998, the Augustyns decided to try a full-time location as an alternative to hectic Saturday mornings at the Farmers Market. Their goal is to celebrate and showcase fresh and local foods while helping to create a stronger local business community, so as much as possible of what the Augustyns sell and serve in their store, restaurant, and at catered events, is grown locally.

The café is known for Jane’s pies, and her Triple Fruit Pie was featured in an article in the Des Moines Register as one of 100 things you must eat in Iowa before you die. The Picket Fence Café was also recently featured in a Facebook-sourced article of 10 highly recommended stops along the Great River Road.

“I love Guttenberg’s small-town atmosphere and being in a tourist destination. We get to live in a place where a lot of people work hard just so they can spend some weekends here!” says Jane of doing business in Guttenberg. For nearly 20 years, Clayton Ridge Farm has worked hard to accommodate their customers’ tastes and desires for fresh, wholesome, and great tasting food.