ST. ELMO — St. Elmo native Dustin Rhodes had posted on Facebook that he was looking for a commercial space for his bladesmithing and blacksmithing business when he received a message from former high school classmate Kim Baron, who also happened to be the mayor of St. Elmo.
“She said, ‘Hey, you know. There are some properties here that you might be interested in,’” he recalled.
The properties were a couple of buildings along the town’s Main Street – one constructed in 1903, the other in 1880. The city’s close access to U.S. 40 and Interstate 70 were critical factors for Rhodes in choosing a location, so he jumped at the opportunity to reinvest in the community he grew up in.
In 2023, Rhodes opened Axe on Main/Forge a Memory in St. Elmo. The business offers different experiences, such as making your own knife or bottle opener, and throwing an axe.
Before he opened the businesses, there wasn’t a lot on Main Street.
“I like to do FB live videos. I remember walking out on Main Street and panning north and south; there wasn’t a car on Main Street. And it was like, this is not what it used to be. Even in a small town, there was always something to do,” he said.
In the first year of opening, Rhodes, with help from the city, hosted a “Forged in Fire” Grudge Match. Rhodes competed in the History Channel’s “Forged in Fire” bladesmithing competition in 2017. The Main Street event brought together six cast members from the show, including Rhodes and wife Cheyenne Brown-Rhodes, who competed in 2022.
The weekend event led to the creation of a tourism committee. They started looking at what St. Elmo has to offer, which is historic buildings on Main Street and interstate and highway access, and how to build on that.
“We’ve started on redeveloping Main Street. Bringing businesses back in, bringing life back into the town,” he said.
Brown-Rhodes has an oddity shop in the building next door, and Dustin Rhodes’ daughter, Elizabeth, is in the process of opening a tattoo shop next door.
Since the Rhodeses opened their businesses, more have followed. Even though St. Elmo is business-friendly, Rhodes said they also want to make it family-friendly.
“Before we opened our businesses, we did notice when we first came here, the kids had nothing to do,” said Brown-Rhodes.
Since then, the couple has hosted events at Main Street Patio, a pavilion property they own that is located across the street from Axe on Main/Forge a Memory. They host movie nights and game nights – different events that Rhodes said essentially don’t cost a thing.
“We had over 300 kids this past October for trunk-or-treat. We had a DJ,” said Brown-Rhodes, adding families traveled from cities such as Vandalia, Mulberry Grove and Effingham.
Brown-Rhodes said they plan to host more events with farmers markets and craft and artisan fairs.
“That’s one of the really positive things about having Dustin and Cheyenne in the community and invested in these events. They’re not trying to serve one group of people. They’re trying to serve everyone in the community in the way that those people feel comfortable being served,” said Baron.
The couple promotes self-promotion for others.
“Get out there and do something with your life; help other people. There’s so much more we can do as individuals and we like to encourage that,” said Rhodes.
Although the tourism committee and St. Elmo Business Association is a collaborative effort with city and park board officials and other business owners, Rhodes and Baron want to get more community members involved – whether it’s events or community improvement. Baron compares the effort to “Stone Soup.”
“We hope to get as many people as possible throwing their ingredients in the pot so we can all eat together. There have been times when we’ve just looked at each other, you know something’s really working, and we just say ‘stone soup,’” said Baron.
Rhodes believes when community members participate, they become invested in the community.
“They gain a sense of pride,” he said. “Anyone can improve their life, their environment, their community. It’s a matter of taking the initiative to do so and realizing that it takes very little to make a difference.”
Baron sees that happening first-hand.
“It’s really often that we sit at that SEBA table and talk about an event, and then Cheyenne just sort of says that yeah, she can make that happen, and she’s making these things happen on a shoestring budget. She’ll take anything and run with it,” said Baron.
Cheyenne said the group is close-knit.
“We message each other across the network almost daily to check in on each other,” she said.
The group is currently working on fundraisers to increase visibility with signage and advertising for the city and individual businesses.
“We have a lot planned for this year and following years in St. Elmo between block parties and family-friendly events,” said Dustin.
However, Rhodes said the one thing missing on Main Street is food.
“We would really, really like someone to come in and open up a restaurant,” he said.