12 Broadcaster Press March 12, 2013 www.broadcasteronline.com One in a VerMillion Meet Bekki Engquist-Schroeder By David Lias david.lias@plaintalk.net To say the last 15 months have been a busy time for Bekki EngquistSchroeder would be an understatement. In that time, she's opened a new business in Vermillion, gotten married, become involved with the leadership of the Downtown Vermillion Action Team (DVAT), moved her business to a new location at 25 E. Main Street in heart of downtown Vermillion, and watched it flourish. No doubt Bekki's late grandmother, Wynie Mae, is looking down at all this activity and is very proud. She draws much of her inspiration from her grandmother's practical, down-to-earth ways, so it seems only fitting that Bekki's business – The Spa at Wynie Mae's – is named in her honor. A line of homemade products – Wynie Mae's Essentials – also bears her grandmother's name. These products include tinctures, poultice blends, herbal remedies, liniments, salves, bath salts, foot soaks, scrubs and oil mixtures. Shortly after moving to Vermillion in 2009, Bekki saw the need for a spa and salon in the community. She worked to received a cosmetology license from the state, quit her job, and opened The Spa at Wynie Mae's in November 2011. She describes her business as a full-service salon and spa that gives attention to clients' hair, skin and nails. “I started with one client and myself, and today, I've got three other girls working with me, and a receptionist,” she said. “We're moving on up.” The Spa at Wynie Mae's customer base has grown to include women, men and children of all ages. “We have a lot of men that come in, and sometimes they feel a bit overwhelmed,” Bekki said. “But, we always make everyone feel welcome, and we're a pretty goofy bunch.” Bekki is originally from Oakes, ND, as is her grandmother. “Grandma Wynie was not the type of grandma who kissed your booboos and then had you crawl up on her lap,” she said. “She was the type of grandma that, when you were sick, held you up to the kitchen sink and made you gargle with salt water. When you had a fever, you had to sweat it out, or try an oil or drink some tea or some other home remedy.” Bekki's grandmother was renowned in Oakes for her gardening skills. “She knew everything there was to know about every kind of plant, and every kind of flower, and she always had the most beautiful gardens,” she said. That knowledge wasn't limited to simply knowing how to make plants grow and flourish. Wynie Mae also knew the healing and comforting natural products that could be created from plants and other common household items. Thus, when Bekki launched her Vermillion business, she knew it had to include, in some way, her grandmother's essence. “I just thought I would do an ode to my grandmother,” she said. “I think she would laugh and think I was a nut for naming it The Spa at Wynie Mae's. But it just kind of gives you the sense of what our goal is. We're a very legitimate, down-to-earth kind of place, and I wanted to try to get that across in the name, too.” Bekki is such a believer in these homemade products that she taught classes for a time this past year through USD Community Education on how to create homemade salves and lotions. It's just another way to pass a bit of her grandmother's wisdom along to this generation. “I don't sell a whole lot of these homemade BE SMART. STAR TOWNSHIP learning things from each other, meeting my clients, finding out all of the people that we know just in the short time that I've been here,” she said. Through her own experiences as a business owner, Bekki has discovered the unique role that each shop plays in the Vermillion community. The Spa at Wynie Mae's is no exception. “There is a telling of stories and a sharing of heartaches – people sit down in stylists' chairs and they think we are therapists – they just really open up, because they feel comfortable enough to tell me, and I'm honored to be entrusted with whatever they feel like talking with me about. It's that sense of community, and building on that and working on that is really awesome … I feel that I can be part of something by being in Vermillion.” Bekki said she believes she is involved in the beginning stages of many progressive happenings that are bound to occur soon in the community. “That is what I like the best – to simply be a part of it,” she said. ?3???ŽŽ?3dŽ???Ž???3 3 ??3z????Ž? 3 www.broadcasteronline.com Scan our QR code with your smart phone and discover the Broadcaster Online! products, but we do use it here (in the salon), and through those classes I just liked to teach other people how to get creative, she said. “I try to find the best combination of ingredients that I can to help people to do everything from just relax, or if you have some type of skin issue, or whatever, and to be able to deal with it naturally. “We use the bath salts, and the foot soaks with our pedicures here at the salon,” Bekki said. “If you have a salt glow or a sugar scrub, we make it right at the time of that you need it, and we can custom make an aromatherapy or essential oils product for whatever the client's needs are.” The last year has been a busy one, she admits, but also very rewarding. “I love the clients and the people that I get to meet. I love making people feel more beautiful after they've been here,” Bekki said. “I love being able to get more involved in downtown. “Some people, when they think of community, simply think community is a town, and one of my favorite things is being in a community with people – sharing the same likes, BOARD OF EQUALIZATION MEETING t4'/KE3,4>> 3 DKE4z?3D4Z,33???3????3 3 3 ???3W?D? ? NOTICE Norway Township Board of Equalization will meet March 18, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. at the Clay County Highway Shop. Appeals must be submitted to the clerk by Thursday, March 14, 2013. Jay Bottolfson, Clerk 45723 Timber Road, Vermillion, SD • 624-8249 BEHLEN MFG. CO. AUCTION THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2013 ~ 9:30 A.M. START EAST HWY 30 - COLUMBUS, NEBRASKA Inspection is on Wednesday, March 20, 2013, from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Nissan 60 Forklift; Toyota 7FGU30 Forklift; Yale GLP060TFNUAE0087 Forklift; 8” & 10” Purlins & CChannel; Building Sheeting, Trim, Down Spouting, Material; ADP Panels; Tanks, Gates, Feed Bunks, Corral Panels; Big Valley Excess Cattle Working Equipment; Squeeze Chute; Squeeze Alley Way Frames; Round Bale Feeders; Cosmo 500 3 pt. Spreader, 540 PTO. For additional info & color photos visit: www.stockra.com Behlen Mfg. 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