WaveFire Games, 101 E. Madison Ave., is not your ordinary game parlor, explained Shannon Roloff, who, with his wife, Anita, runs the business.
“We offer imagination,” he told the audience gathered for Friday’s See, Hear Iola.
Roloff said their new venue, the former McGinty-Whitworth on the southeast corner of the square, is several times larger than their former location on South Washington and provides the room necessary to accommodate large game tables.
“It’s great for tournaments,” Roloff said, which typically begin at 5:30 on Friday evenings and are referred to as “Friday Night Magic.”
WaveFire Games, now in its eighth month, includes role-playing board games that can use a combination of figurines, dice and cards.
Roloff lauded the Iola community as “an amazing outlet” for Star Wars games in particular. Other games include Pokémon, Dungeons and Dragons and Magic Monopoly.
Instruction on how to play the games is provided, Roloff said.
“We have teaching sessions,” he said. Some of the games are complicated and require the ability to strategize, he said. Roloff has no shortage of dreams for the venue.
Down the road the Roloffs envision opening “The Chaotic Wyvern,” a Nordic-themed diner that serves hearty fare such as steaks and stews.
CHASE REGEHR, a senior at Iola High School and president of the local FFA chapter, explained the club’s mission and presence at IHS.
Regehr displaced several myths about FFA, including that it’s for farmers, only.
“Eighty percent of national membership doesn’t live on a farm,” he said. It’s also not a male-only club, introducing females in 1969. Today, females make up 40 percent of membership.
Students are required to take agriculture- and animal-science related classes, Regehr said.
The local chapter’s community outreach is with the after-school backpack program that ensures elementary students have non-perishable food items to see them through the weekend.
JOHN BROCKER, Iola Realtor, said 2016 real estate activity in Iola experienced a slight uptick, from 45 to 48 sales with an average price of $63,727.
As for Allen County, 75 transactions occurred, up from 59, and with an average sale price of $60,972.
For comparison’s sake, Chanute, with a population of 9,225 against Iola’s 5,613, experienced 71 real estate transactions for 2016, down from 78. Coffeyville, population 9,950, experienced 124 sales in 2016, up from 115 in 2015.
As a region, Brocker said the average sale price of homes in Southeast Kansas was $44,000.
