Getting a fresh new look

In anticipation of Flandreau' 150th next summer

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Ekern Home Equipment in Flandreau is redoing its storefront to make it more attractive, owner Dave Ekern said.
The building on West Second Avenue has been painted a brick color with gray along the bottom. Lettering with the company name will be next, he said.
“I just want it to look nice,” Ekern said. “We’re fixing it up just because I felt bad about the way it looks.”

The store update is in time for next year’s 150th anniversary of Flandreau next summer. Several people are encouraging businesses and homeowners to spruce up for the event that will include an all-school reunion.
Ekern said he budgets improvements each year for his buildings, which has included roof work.
This summer’s work on Ekern’s building also included covering up glass block, putting new sheetrock on the north wall inside the store, and rebuilding the bottom area of the store’s front.
Henderson Construction is working on the project, which has been delayed some by rain.
In the process of updating the exterior, workers uncovered old painted signs on the bricks, including one that said McCormick Deering.
Ekern remembers his family moving the business into the east part of the building in 1966, when he was a kid. In addition to the west end of the building having been used as an implement dealership, it also was used at one point as a car dealership and most recently the Firestone business operated by Dale Gust before Ekern expanded into that space.