West Wing - 2nd Floor
The first floor consists of five bedrooms (Bures, Callan, Novotny, Spitsnogle, Stanosheck) with private baths, State Bank of Odell Laundry Room, and an additional Vitosh Lounge room with pull out bed.
Gary and Mary Jo Bures Room
The Gary & Mary Jo Bures room is located upstairs on the southwest corner. The view of downtown Odell is spectacular. This room has a queen size bed, a private, full bath, a wing back chair and is spacious. The Bures room is where Gary’s mother, Lois Neels Bures, had her tonsils taken out in the late 1930’s. It is also the birth place of Gary’s older brother, Allen Lee Bures, in 1943. It features a Wesley-Allen iron bed frame reminiscent of those that were popular in the 1920’s when the Rice Hospital was built. On display is a wedding pictorial of Bures-Ryan marriages back to 1912.
Callan Memorial Room
The Callan Memorial Room is located upstairs on the northwest corner. The room has a full size bed in it. It has a private bath with shower stall. Sink is on outside of bath area. The room is painted with a burnt orange and medium tan colors. The Museum and High School can be viewed out the windows. The Callan Memorial Room has been furnished by the descendants of Thomas Richard Callan, 1856 – 1923 and his wife Lillian Emma Stitzel Callan, 1858 – 1925. T.R. Callan came to Odell in 1883 and opened a hardware store, later expanding to farm implements, as well as farming activities. The four children of T.R. and Lillian Callan were: John S. Callan, 1890 – 1950, a businessman in Odell who also served in the Nebraska Legislature from 1933 until his death in 1950. His wife was Agnes E. Armstrong, 1893 – 1976; Ruth Callan Benson, 1892 – 1941; Madge Callan Christlieb, 1894 – 1978; Thomas Richard Callan II, 1889 – 1945, a businessman in Odell. His was was Ruby Caroline Helmig of Wymore, Nebraska, 1900 – 1976. The sons of John S. and Agnes E. Callan were Clair A. Callan, 1920 – 2005 who served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1965 – 1966) and Dean W. Callan, 1922 – 2011, were also Odell businessmen, although Dean Callan relocated to Boulder, Colorado in 1960 and founded Dean Callan Company, a still – thriving commercial real estate business. Although the remaining descendants of T.R. Callan in Odell and the surrounding area (sixth generation residents of Gage County), many other descendants make their homes in many areas of the country.
The Callan Memorial room is furnished with a four-poster bed and matching chest of drawers that John S. and Agnes Callan purchased at the Odell Furniture Store in the early 1920’s. On the walls hang pictures of early scenes of Odell, the Callan Hardware Store interior, political and other business memorabilia, sports memorabilia of Dean Callan’s days as a member of the varsity baseball team at the University of Nebraska, Clair Callan’s days as a varsity football player at Peru State College, Dean and Clair’s days as members of the Odell Athletics Baseball Team, and a photo of John S. Callan and Dr. C.E. Rice taken on September 18, 1949, the day hundreds gathered to honor Dr. Rice’s service to Odell.
John & Sarah Novotny / Carol (Novotny) & Jay Schulz Room
The John & Sarah Novotny/Carol Novonty Schulz & Jay room is located upstairs on the south side of the building. John and Sarah were the beginning instigators of the restoration of the Rice Hospital back in 2008. Sarah saw the dilapidated building (Rice Hospital) and she could vision what it could and did become. She then set out to get it done. This project is “Sarah’s Dream” and is now a reality. John is the main contractor for the project and has donated thousands of hours of his time to finish the project. Sarah, however, didn’t get to see the finished product. She passed away due to complications of ALS on February 5, 2012. Her legacy lives on in the Rice Lodge & Conference Center. This room is spacious and painted in Sarah’s color which is a soft green. It has a queen size bed and a full, private bath. John and Sarah have three children: Joshua, Jessica, & Jordan, and three grand children: Jacob, Jayna & Josephone. Jay and Carol have two daughters and two grandsons.
Earl & Monica Spitsnogle Room
This room is located upstairs on the north side of the facility. This room is sponsored in loving memory Earl & Monica Spitsnogle by 4 of their children: Jean Novotny, Earleen Stanosheck, Carol Spitsnogle Samples and Earl Spitsnogle, Jr. Earl and his wife, Carmen, still live on the farm outside of Odell. This room has a full size bed and is decorated in rich earth tones. The High School can be seen from the window. This room has a private bath with a shower stall.
Gene & Rosalie Stanosheck Room
This room is located upstairs on the southeast corner. The room is spacious in that it not only has the sleeping area, but an additional “nook” area full of windows for relaxing. This room has its own private full bath. It is furnished with two twin beds. Gene & Rosalie Stanosheck have four children who have sponsored this room in loving memory of their parents. They are: Karen Stanosheck Nannen Wallinger, Lawrence W. Stanosheck, James B. Stanosheck and Mary Ellen Stanosheck Stephens. Beautiful downtown Odell can be viewed from the windows in this room.
State Bank of Odell Laundry Room
The State Bank of Odell is sponsoring the laundry room. This room is located upstairs on the north side of the building. The Innkeeper will be able to do all the laundry for the Bed & Breakfast on site. The laundry flooring is new tile which is somewhat of a replica of the original tile that the Doctor put in the hospital when he built it. The washer/drier was donated by the Gary and Mary Jo Bures family.
The State Bank of Odell was chartered on May 17th, 1907 by Thomas W. Stanosheck, Mr. Stanosheck had, however, been a resident of Odell since 1884, coming to the new town of Odell from Iowa City, Iowa, where he was born in 1859 to Albert and Pauline Stanosheck. Upon first coming to Odell, Mr. Stanosheck and his brother, Frank, operated a general merchandise store until 1897. Mr. Stanosehck devoted most of his time to his own affairs and business investments until opening the new bank. The ability to speak four languages and understand three others aided Mr. Stanosheck in working with the many different ethnic groups in the community. Among the original stockholders of the State Bank of Odell were: Chris Riggert, C.C. Gafford, T.R. Comer, August Riggert, J.A. McGuire, F.H. Riggert, Albert Sohl, Frank Masek, Dr. I.N. Pickett, Henry Rengstorf, Tony Hirmon, J.B. Renard, L.E. Callan, Ernest Loemker, James Colgrove, A.O. Burkett, Frank Hirmon, D.D. McGuire, J.E. Murphy.
The first location for the State Bank of Odell was the northwest corner of Main and Perry Streets in the building which had formerly housed the J.D. Meyers Bank. The limestone structure still stands as one of Odell’s landmarks. The fourth generation of the family, Lawrence W. Stanosheck, son of Gene, entered the bank’s employment in 1965, and another son, James B. began in 1974. Both Lawrence and James are now with the bank and serve as vice-president and president. The bank was in posession of the Rice Hospital when renovations began. The bank donated the building to the Odell Community Foundation so tax free funds could be raised for the restoration and then the Odell Community Foundation donated the building to the Village of Odell. The Village owns the Rice Lodge, however, no Village funds were ever used to restore the building or pay for any operating bills.
Joseph & Annie Vitosh Lounge
This room is located upstairs on the northeast corner and is full of windows. The room is warm and inviting. It happens to be the room where a few of the Vitosh descendants were born! Twenty-six family members of Joseph (1866 – 1940) & Annie Vitosh combined to sponsor the Vitosh Room. Joseph Vitosh came to America with his parents from Czechoslovakia in 1867 when he was just 14 months old. He settled in the Odell area in 1885. Joseph married Annie Kostal in 1892. They had 7 children: Rudolph, William, Charles, Harry, Joseph Jr., Mary & Clara. This room is a ‘lounge’ where guests can come to sit on the mission style, channel back sofa and visit or watch television, or put a DVD movie in and relax, or just read. The room can also be used as an attachment to one of the other bedrooms being rented as the sofa is also a full size hide-a-bed with a 7 inch mattress. The room can be rented for $30.00 + tax for a family of 3 or 4 that do not want to rent 2 bedrooms at $75.00 each. The children, or a parent and child, could sleep in the Vitosh room and still have use of the bath area in the parents rented room. The furniture and television in this room have been purchased in loving memory of Rose B. Vitosh and her son, Larry L. Vitosh. On display is a scrap book of the story of Joseph coming to America and his family history. There is also a collage display of his family pictures and it includes a picture of the ship the family sailed to America on.
Additional Second Story Photos