2025 Hometown HEROES Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS June/July 2025 Page 21 Repair, which is on the same block as the store and café. They said Peter and Andrea Niehaus are good neighbors on the square in Elkhart. Peter Niehaus brings them cookies all the time, which they appreciate. Ransom said the Niehaus’s are very generous to the community. When someone is ill, they will often send soup. In 2017, a 36 feet long by 8 feet tall mural was mounted on the side of the buildings owned by the Niehaus. The mural was sponsored by the Elkhart Historical Society and Peter and Andrea Niehaus. The design and artwork were done by Renee Baldwin Sisk, who is Andrea Niehaus’ sister. This mural depicts 22 landmarks in the community and provides a way of celebrating the town’s history. People coming off the highway on Route 66 can see the mural when they enter the town while also learning something about the history of the town. An October 16, 2017, Lincoln Daily News article by Nila Smith about the mural’s unveiling said, “Renee Sisk and her sister Andrea Niehaus worked many months on the project, with Renee being the primary artist, and Andrea working under her.” Peter Niehaus said, “one of the more challenging aspects of the mural was its size. In order to make something large and noteworthy, the mural had been done in fourfoot sections. The artwork had been done in the Niehaus home, and the artists could fit only three, four-foot sections into the work area at a time. To Peter Niehaus, the challenge “was making sure that though the sections were done individually, the end product would need to come together with precision. He noted that in his opinion at least, the ladies had done a fantastic job of it.” The day the mural was officially unveiled, Andrea Niehaus gave the lion’s share of the success to her sister Renee. She said Renee had arranged the layout and done all the drawing and much of the detailed painting. Andrea laughingly said, ‘I painted a lot of trees and hills.’” As Ransom said, the work Peter and Andrea Niehaus do is quite an added ingredient in how to keep a village alive. She said it keeps people coming to Elkhart instead of at the big shopping centers. By shopping in Elkhart, people can experience the small town camaraderie. The café and the shops are open Thursdays through Sundays from 10 am to 2:30 pm, so head on over to meet Peter and Andrea Niehaus and enjoy some good shopping and great food. [Angela Reiners]
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