1898-Our school is built and has the distinction of being the First Consolidated School West of the Mississippi.

1909-My grandfather, Henry Jerry Schutter opens a store known as H.J. Schutter Furniture and Undertaking located at 206 N. Main St. in Buffalo Center, IA (in what is now the northern part of Peterson Hardware). 

1920's-My grandfather builds another furniture store in Lakota.  He loves children and gives them a nickel whenever they come to visit him in his store.

1927-Someone snaps a picture of my father in my grandfather's furniture store here in Buffalo Center when he was only 16.  I have this picture over my counter. (I think he is keeping an eye on me!)1930's or early 1940's-My grandfather's store in Lakota burns down.

April 1949-My father, Art Schutter, takes over the family business (which includes the furniture store, the funeral service, and an ambulance service) when my grandfather dies.

October 1949-I am born the baby of seven.

1953-Because he always wanted to be a farmer, my father sells the family businesses when he has a chance to George & Evelyn Winter.

If you look closely at the framed photographs in the funeral home office in Buffalo Center, you will see a little girl standing on the front steps of the funeral home.  That little girl is me.  I am three years old.

July 1955-I open my first store along with my cousin Mary Beth on top of a tree stump alongside Main Street in Buffalo Center, IA.  We sell popcorn and lemonade for a nickel and brownies made by my Aunt Ora Hofbauer for 10 cents.  (We don't ever think to pay her for what we sell). 

I discover that I absolutely love to sell things!

1962-I am definitely not impressed with a young man at Youth Fellowship this fall.  He dares to criticize the brownies I make and bring for our lunch.  His name?  John Davids.  I dislike him intensely!

1963-George Winter buys the two old buildings just up the street from the furniture store: Johnson's Produce and Claus Siebert's barber shop.  He tears them both down and puts up a brand-new building to house his furniture store.

1965-One of my best friends is going steady with John Davids! (He is kind of handsome and he does make me laugh.)

Spring 1966-John Davids asks me to go on a date with him!  I refuse because I can’t do that to my best friend.

Summer 1966-At the age of 16 I become a waitress at the Center Café (located on the spot where the Mercy Family Clinic is now) in Buffalo Center working for Bob & Mabel Wamsley.  I like my job, especially talking to people.
Fall 1966-John Davids asks me out again!  “You wouldn’t want to go out with me, would you?”  I surprise him and myself and say yes.  We go to see “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken”.  I never laughed so much in my whole life!

April 1967-“You wouldn’t want to go steady with me, would you?”  I find a chain to put his class ring on.

April 1968-“You wouldn’t want to marry me, would you?” I wear my engagement ring to my senior prom.

May 1968-I graduate from Buffalo Center High School.

October 13,1968-I become Mrs. John Russ Davids, III…!  We hear that some think we won’t last too long together as we are both babies of our families, me of seven and he of six.  We move to Iowa Falls, Iowa.

December 1968-We move to Ames, Iowa. His student deferment is delayed.

February 1969-He joins the Marines to avoid being drafted into the Army.  I wait for him at home with my parents while he is at boot camp in San Diego, California.

June 1969-We move to Millington, Tennessee.

September 1969-We move to Yuma, Arizona (three different addresses).

September 1971-The Marines Corps moves us back to Buffalo Center.  John is stationed in Japan.

October 1971-“Honey, I miss you! Get yourself over here!”  Jill and I survive a grueling trip from Iowa all the way to Japan.

February 1972-Jill & I fly back home to Buffalo Center and John is sent to the Philippines.

September 1972-John returns after having spent time in Viet Nam and Thailand.  The Marines Corps moves us to Tustin, California.

October 9, 1972-Heather Patrice, our ‘Made in Japan’ baby is born.  Her middle name is after my sister Patsy Schutter who was killed in a plane crash two years ago.

February 1973-John decides not to re-enlist, so the Marine Corps moves us back to Buffalo Center.  We buy our house from his grandmother’s estate.  This is the house that MY grandparent’s built in 1912!  I keep myself busy changing diapers and ‘feathering our nest’.

June 1977-My sister Nancy and I have yet another rummage sale in my mother's garage.  I impress my sister with my entrepreneurial skills when I buy several items at other rummage sales in town and make a profit by re-selling them at our own garage sale.  She says, "You should open a store!"

February 13, 1980-Our daughter Courtney is born.  Three girls!  I’m getting pretty good at keeping bows in a baby girl’s hair.

September 6, 1984-Our daughter Grace Ann is born, and dies.  We realize that Someone is trying to teach us that having a son is not as important as having a child who survives. 

January 8, 1986-Our son John Arthur, IV is born in Iowa City.    At almost eleven pounds, he seems destined to play nose guard for the University of Iowa, but we really care only that he is healthy! 

August 1987- Jill leaves home to attend college at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. 

1989-George Winter decides to get out of the furniture business and holds an auction to get rid of his remaining inventory.  He remodels the interior of his building, dividing it into two parts.

One side he rents to Jerry & Carol Bechler for their flooring business.  They also sell some furniture.

The other side is occupied by kdw exposures, a photography studio, that eventually closes its doors in 1993.

November 1991-We move Heather to her first of many group homes.

December 1991-Jill graduates from the University of Iowa.

April 11, 1992-Jill marries Anthony “Tony” Jennings from Spirit Lake, IA.

February 1995-John and I purchase the building at 212 North Main Street in Buffalo Center from George Winter, the very same man who bought the furniture and funeral service business from my father back in 1953.  (“Baby John” is now nine, and Mama needs something to do!)  We work to get my side of the building ready for customers.

March 1995-"The Emporium" consignment store, occupying the space vacated by the photography studio, opens its doors for the very first time to the public. (I continue to rent the south half of the building to Jerry & Carol.) I have two dressing rooms with full-length mirrors!

March 1996-Jerry & Carol decide to buy a building across the street and vacate the south half of my building.  I need to think of something to put in there that will help with the utilities!  Some people ask me about renting the south half to put in a day care center.  I look into the requirements and find that a daycare center will not be feasible.

I decide to stop selling the second-hand clothing since it does not sell very well to concentrate on the knick-knacks and, possibly, antiques.

I also start a very popular one-for-one Free Book Exchange in one of the former dressing rooms and move my office into the other one.

I have been trying to sell used furniture, but not much is being consigned.

A former Buffalo Center store owner tells me about a furniture company from which he bought chests of drawers for resale.  I contact the company and decide to take the plunge and become a furniture retailer. I change the name of the store to "Emporium Furniture".

April 24, 1996-I place my first order with Perdue Woodworks, the very first company from which I will buy new furniture for re-sale.

July 10, 1996-My very first furniture sales representative (Dick) walks into my store. (He saw my sign down on the highway).  He asks me if I would like to sell new furniture from his company, so I give him my first order with 7-C Furniture, an import company.  He also starts me with a very small mattress company that also carries 3 models of an inexpensive recliner.  I’m on my way! 

July 14, 1996-John & I welcome our first grandchild…Alexandra Leigh Jennings.  Wow… Jill has made us grandparents!

August 1997-I start attending Furniture Market in Minneapolis twice a year and continue to add new companies each time I attend.

May 1998-Not liking my gray hair, I start having it dyed auburn, my natural color.  (I don’t want to look like my mother!)

August 1998-Courtney leaves home to attend college at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.  This leaves only her brother John (aka “liljohn” at home).

September 14, 1998-Another sales representative introduces himself and offers me a line of sofas and recliners.  I give him my first order with Jackson Furniture Industries, otherwise known as Catnapper.

September 24, 1998-My sales representative (Dick) convinces me to switch to the new mattress company that he has begun representing.  I give him my very first order with Symbol Mattress.

July 20, 1999-Jill presents us with a grandson… Austin Anthony Jennings.  This grandparent thing is pretty cool.  We get to spoil them and then give them back to their parents!

October 1999-I get my first tattoo “The Bluebird of Happiness” to commemorate turning 50.  (The more people disapprove, the more fun it is for me!) 

November 1999-John and I go on a honeymoon trip (thirty-one years late) to Puerto Rico that I earned selling mattresses.

January 2000-I celebrate the Millennium by getting my second tattoo, “Thumbelina Riding on the Back of the Swallow”.

Mid-2000-I take Courtney up to Mankato to get her another tattoo and end up getting my third (and last) one, “Calla Lilies for My Dad and My Grandfather Who Were Both Undertakers”.

March 17, 2001-Jill decides that “3ZNUF” (her license plate number that I thought of for her) after she adds Macy Jillian Jennings to her family lineup. 

May, 2002-Courtney graduates from the University of Iowa.

November, 2003-We let Courtney and her brother John (aka “lj”) use our tickets for the Symbol trip this year to Aruba when it becomes apparent that John won’t be able to go because the trucking has become very busy.

August, 2004-Our son John leaves home to attend college at (where else?) the University of Iowa at Iowa City, Iowa.

July, 2005-I quit dying my hair and am surprised to find that it has turned completely white!

November, 2006-We send Jill & Tony in our place to Cancun, Mexico, for this year’s Symbol Mattress trip.  You’ve got to treat the kids fairly, don’t you?

December 15, 2006- We purchase the old pool hall next door to the north of the store for John to use for storage.  He offers the front to me to use for a place to put extra freight, but I decline because it is very dirty and musty and it needs a new furnace. 

August 15, 2007-I walk into a nightmare.  Water is pouring from the ceiling in many places.  There is already three inches of water on the floor and I can't seem to catch my breath.  I lose half of my inventory!

We let the salvage company use the old pool hall to store my damaged inventory for a week until their trucks can pick it up and haul it away.  I notice that there is a lot of nice space in that building going to waste!

Eventually, I am able to get all of the damaged items replaced, including the roof, the carpeting, the floor tile, the ceiling tiles, and have all the walls painted.

I chat with my carpenters about fixing up the old pool hall, too.  They tell me "no problem".  So after a lot of bleach, elbow grease, caulk, paint, carpet, and a new furnace, the new Emporium Sleep Center is ready for customers! 

It becomes increasingly bothersome to go outside to unlock the Sleep Center whenever someone wants to check out the mattresses.  Happily, I am able to convince John to agree to let the carpenters break through the two walls, construct a ramp, and brick around the opening for easier access. 

Early November 2007-John & I take our first vacation in eight years to Saint Martin (Sint Maarten).  Thank goodness for the Symbol Mattress incentive trips!  It is nice to not think of water damage and inventory and all that goes with that for just a few days.

Late November 2007-I have my Grand Re-opening on Thanksgiving weekend.  I have been gradually replacing the inventory that was lost.

February 2008-In just two weeks, the carpenters open up an arched walkway between the two buildings so that I no longer have to go outside to access my bedding department (Sleep Center).

April 2008-I launch my new website... www.emporiumfurnitureonline.com

June 14, 2008-Courtney marries Stephen Cable in the back yard of their new house when the first two sites that were chosen became flooded during the Flood of 2008. 

2009-This year will mark the 100th year since my grandfather opened his store here in Buffalo Center. I think he would have been proud to know that his granddaughter is the third generation of his family to sell furniture in "bustling" downtown Buffalo Center, don't you?

2030-If I’m still open and selling furniture in 2030, I promise to celebrate my 75^th anniversary of being a salesman with you by serving lemonade and popcorn and homemade brownies in memory of the little salesgirl that I was back in 1955…!