Sweden Creme Then and Now

The Sweden Creme has been a popular ice cream and food service place for more than 65 years along Highway 36 in Mankato. It's going even stronger today. Recently a new dine-in addition was built onto the east side of the building and remodeling was done in the original part. The menu has been increased over the past years to suit the customers' wishes and needs. Recently it was voted as serving the "Best Hamburgers" along Highway 36, in Jewell County. With the COVID 19 issues for businesses, the Sweden Creme made adjustments that included closing the dine-in service for almost a year. Following the closing of the dine-in service, a drive-up window was added and a food delivery service was started. At the helm of the business is Karla (Ross) Fleming, who is a part owner and general manager.

The Sweden Creme is rich in family history that spans more than three generations of the Ross family, with a few other owners in between. It began in 1957 when Alfred and Viola Ross decided to purchase the building and business from Murrell Reager. It had once been a filling station before being converted to a fast food business. Viola was an elementary school teacher in Mankato Schools at that time. The Ross's were looking for extra income to put their children through college. They decided to turn it into a cafe and only keep the business open during the summer months when Viola could help out.

During the summer months, the couple would drive back and forth from their farm south of Lovewell Lake to their new business. It quickly turned into a popular stopping place to get ice cream, burgers, fries and sodas. When considering a name for the business, they went with the name on their ice cream machine, Sweden Creme, and it has stuck with the business all these years. There was no dining in back then, but there were two walk-up windows on the south side of the building where the customers were served.

In 1965, Alfred and Viola's son, John Ross, and his wife, Karen, moved from Kansas City back to their home area. John had been serving in the Air Force. They purchased the Sweden Creme from John's parents and continued the family business. Eventually a screened in area was added to the east side of the original building for customer seating. A year later, John and Karen decided to build and open the Buffalo Roam Steakhouse, just a block east of the Sweden Creme. For 12 years they would own both places, keeping the Sweden Creme open during the summer months.

In 1977 the Sweden Creme was sold to Karen's cousin, Verla Roe. For several years Verla would help out at the Sweden Creme when needed and at the same time work her full time job in the rural electric office in Mankato. She continued the tradition of being open during the summer months. Eventually a small inside dine-in area was added. Verla sold the business in 1996 to Bob and Jan McCune. Later it was sold to the Chandlers. These owners kept the business open year around. Around 2008, the doors of the Sweden Creme closed and they remained closed for four years.

Karla had grown up in the restaurant business. She and her siblings worked through high school and college years at their parents' Buffalo Roam Steakhouse. Karla heard from others just how much they missed the Sweden Creme and hoped that someday it would open again. She said, "People were beginning to write off Jewell County." She began thinking about the possibilities.

In 2012, Karla attended a meeting where people came together from other areas to share ideas of encouraging businesses and people to move back into the rural areas. After listening, she believed, "I could do this." Besides the Sweden Creme being closed at that time, the Town and Country variety store had also closed. Karla began to share her ideas with others and the Jewell County Justified LLC was born.

Since then, the LLC has grown, adding more like minded investors and owners who now total 30. A new business, appropriately named Possibilities, is now in the former Town and Country building on Mankato's main street. The building underwent extensive remodeling and recently a coffee bar was added at Possibilities. Next door is a flower shop "Pedals." Also owned by the LLC, Sweden Creme was open for business after volunteers helped with the interior remodeling and exterior painting, and new equipment was put into place.

Soon it was evident that more indoor seating was needed. "Our customers were having to stand while waiting for their orders." Plans were made for increasing the dine-in area. Karla said there had been concrete on the east side with concrete blocks surrounding it. It was starting to crumble. For a while they got along with putting tables out there with umbrellas but they knew they had to do something different. The old concrete was torn out and new concrete poured to get ready for the new addition.

Then COVID hit and the addition they had been planning was put on hold. Following the COVID regulations, the indoor dining was closed. Her husband, Mark, added a drive-up window area that closed off the main door. Karla believes the drive- up window was the key in keeping the business going.

A delivery service was also started which allows customers to call in orders and the employees would deliver within Mankato. "We had to employ more people in order to keep up with the operation that now includes the delivery service," said Karla.

In the fall of 2020, two hired builders and Mark began constructing the new addition on the new concrete pad. At the first of this year, the new dine-in addition and remodeled existing dine-in area were open to the public under COVID guidelines. The kitchen area was expanded.

Today the Sweden Creme employs a staff of 15 full and part-time employees. The décor of the Sweden Creme is done in a "modern diner style." The colors of black and red are used that include red booths and dinette black booths. One wall is covered halfway up from the floor with galvanized sheeting. Televisions are on two of the walls. The main door is on the east side of the new addition. Karla plans for the drive-up service to remain. Soon the drive-up area will be remodeled to match the building's exterior. It wasn't until recently, while looking through old photos, that Karla noted the first Sweden Creme had a red roof. When the new metal roof was recently added, the color red was chosen.

Throughout the years, the Sweden Creme menu has been expanded to include wraps, pizzas and salads. Of course it still included are the grill items such as the prize winning hamburgers, french fries, onion rings, other popular sandwiches, side dishes and ice cream goodies. "We try to serve what our customers want. We always use fresh ingredients. We make most of our salad dressings." Another award given to the Sweden Creme came a few years ago. It was voted in the top 10 in Kansas as having the "Best French Fries."

Karla said, "We keep gaining customers every month since the COVID. We are proud we were able to keep the business open by having such loyal customers and blessed with such a great staff." Future plans for the Sweden Creme are installing updated cash registers and two systems of touch screens that will make customer ordering easier and more efficient. "We keep getting ideas to incorporate into the business in keeping up with the times and making our customers happy."

Recently Karla left her full-time job as an assistant at the law office of Darrell Miller. She said, "Now I can devote more time to the business." She fills in with the staff where and when needed.

Carrying on the family tradition of operating the Sweden Creme is important to Karla. She believes Jewell County has a good future. "The small rural communities are so important. There's no reason why we can't work and live here."

SHDHD opening vaccine eligibility to age 18+

On Monday evening, Michele Bever, South Heartland District Health Department (SHDHD) executive director, said general population residents age 18+ will now be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Adams, Clay, Nuckolls and Webster counties. "However, we are asking vaccine providers to take a reverse age approach and also focus on individuals with underlying medical conditions so that, as a district, we are concentrating first on vaccinating those who are most at risk of severe illness," she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides vaccine considerations for people with underlying medical conditions . "The CDC states that COVID-19 vaccines may be administered to most people with underlying medical conditions once vaccine is available to them. If you have questions about getting COVID-19 vaccine, we encourage you to talk with your healthcare providers for advice. Also, make sure you inform the vaccinator about all of your allergies and health conditions."

Bever said the department will be wrapping up shots for Phase 1B and 1C priorities, which includes essential staff from food processing plants, co-ops, and the transportation sector, as well as residents at homeless shelters, residential and congregate living care facilities.

South Heartland is encouraging residents in the eligible age groups to register for a COVID vaccine on the state vaccine registration and administration system, vaccinate.ne.gov. This site can also be reached by clicking on the red ribbon at the top of the SHDHD website home page at southheartland health.org , where site visitors can find current information about the vaccine and vaccine roll out in South Heartland. Next, click on the picture of the vaccine to start your vaccine registration on the Nebraska vaccine registration portal.

"Our district is transitioning to Nebraska's vaccine registration and administration system to schedule people for their COVID-19 vaccine appointment," Bever said. "Once we transition, residents will need to be in the system to have an opportunity to schedule an appointment." Those needing assistance with registration should contact the NE State Vaccine hotline at 833-998-2275. Individuals 60 and over can contact Midland Area Agency on Aging for assistance with vaccine registration at 402-463-4565 Extension – 499.

Bever also said Bert's Pharmacy and Walmart in Hastings were participating in a Federal Retail Pharmacy Program and receiving their own separate allotments of COVID-19 vaccine. "The pharmacies in this program are another good local option for accessing the COVID-19 vaccine," she said.

Health officials reported 11 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases from March 26 to March 29, bringing the cumulative number of cases in the four-county health district to 4,587. The new confirmed cases for the four-day period were eight in Adams County, one in Clay County, and two in Nuckolls County. By county, the new cumulative totals are: 2,985 cases in Adams, 749 cases in Clay, 505 cases in Nuckolls and 348 cases in Webster.

Overall positivity (number of positive tests divided by the number of tests conducted) in the health district for the week ending March 27, increased to 5 percent compared to 2.2 percent the week before. "We have another week of good news in our long-term care facilities, where staff and resident testing logged zero percent positivity for the sixth week in a row," she said. "If we look only at community testing, the positivity is 11.6 percent, up from 7.6 percent the previous week."

"Prevention continues to be important to protect ourselves and others from severe COVID-19 illness," Bever said. "This includes physical distancing, wearing masks that cover our noses and mouths, and scheduling the COVID vaccine when it is our turn," she said.