Hot coffee, warm smiles and mouth-watering meals

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

March 17, 2025

BLAIR – The Rise + Shine Cafe features a sign that says, “Where everyone has a seat at the table.” 

And the cafe located in downtown Blair truly means it – as it welcomes all members of the community, including individuals with different abilities.

Kailee Jahr and her mom, Penny Paulson, said it was actually their work with individuals with different abilities at their first business together – A New Day Adult Day Services – that prompted them to start the cafe.

Jahr said they started A New Day in 2019 to provide life-enriching services to adults with physical and cognitive disabilities, as well as the elderly.

As an outgrowth of their work with these individuals, the mother-daughter duo said they discovered two gaps: one in employment opportunities for those individuals in their programming who wanted to work and a need for a breakfast cafe in downtown Blair.

“We didn’t want to start something just to start something,” Jahr said. “But when we looked at what the community needed, it was clear there was a gap and (opportunity) to serve more than just our folks but the greater community.”

‘You don’t know if you don’t try’

Though Jahr said she admits she had a dream of owning a local specialty coffee shop for years, the reality was that the Blair community really needed a place to go for not only coffee but food and community as well. 

It’s a gap Jahr and Paulson said they realized has existed since the Rainbow Restaurant, a community mainstay, shuttered its doors a few years ago.

“The Rainbow was where people came together to connect – where farmers went in the morning for their coffee,” Jahr said. “It was a Blair staple known for their huge and fluffy pancakes made from scratch.”

As Jahr and Paulson contemplated what it would take to open and run a cafe, they said they knew they wanted those pancakes on their plates.

Though she wasn’t too sure if the Olson family – who owned the Rainbow – would be open to sharing their popular recipe, Jahr said she figured – as with many aspects of this endeavor – it couldn’t hurt to ask.

“The dad of the family came to the cafe, showed us the recipe and made it with us,” she said. “It’s things like that that are important to the community that we wanted to bring into play.”

Admittedly, Jahr said the idea of starting a cafe was a daunting task.

And though the pair successfully started a small business together in 2019, Jahr said the food business was something else altogether – which included taking a big step financially, even though the commercial space was available. 

The duo said they were driven by the two-pronged need: meet a community need and offer employment opportunities to some of A New Day’s clientele.

Jahr said that prompted her to apply for a Wisconsin Department of Health Services Home and Community-Based Services grant to help fund the venture.

“When we saw that opportunity, Mom and I looked at each other and thought, ‘Maybe this is a way we could do this,’” she said. “I filled it out and submitted it thinking it was a long shot, but you don’t know if you don’t try. And we got it.”

Jahr said the grant helped make it possible for them to pursue the extensive renovations required for the property at 129 W. Broadway St. in Blair, including significant structural reinforcements that took more than a year to complete.

“We had our work cut out for us,” Jahr said of the 1891-era building. “It’s a very old building and had structural integrity issues aside from the cosmetic piece. But now it’s good, and should last for decades.”

Paulson said when she was growing up, the space that now houses the Rise + Shine Cafe was home to Stumpf Clothing Store – a “mini department store” that sold everything from bib overalls to girls’ dress shoes.

She said it has also been home to at least one thrift store and an ice cream shop.

The property is 2,400 square feet, but Jahr said a significant amount of that space is designated to the kitchen, storage and bathrooms.

Paulson said the cafe space was designed to seat about 62 people and features a lot of white, natural wood and black accents, with most of the pops of color coming from plants. 

“We wanted a space that people would feel good about hanging out in,” she said. “That’s worked out as people come in and work on their computers for a few hours – it’s comfortable to be here.”

Many of the seating arrangements, Jahr said, feature large table configurations to accommodate large groups.

The duo said they designed the space with a focus on a modern look and feel that almost makes guests feel like they’ve been transported somewhere else.

“Blair is a very small and older town, with the downtown just being revitalized now – there is a spark of excitement going,” Jahr said. “We wanted to show that we can have nice things, too – come to Blair as we have a lot to offer. This is a modern space not typical for our area.”

Switching things up, Jahr and Paulson said, also meant working with the city and state to make the property wheelchair- and walker-accessible – something many of the old buildings in the downtown area do not offer. 

Jahr said they also want the accessibility aspect to include all its forms, with coffee and comfort food being the catalyst to creating an environment for inclusion, belonging, connection and community.

That, she said, also dovetailed nicely with the name they selected.

“Rise + Shine is not only a play on the morning but also an opportunity for folks to rise and shine and be seen,” Jahr said. “We wanted the name to be special and meaningful.”

The staff at the cafe, she said, includes four differently abled team members, who work alongside the rest of the team in a very complementary and natural way. 

“We want people to intermingle and build relationships with people they may not otherwise be able to,” she said.

Paulson said it’s about being a real part of the community.

“Not just in the same building, but working together, integrated, with a purpose and opportunity to earn a real income,” she said.

Jahr said the cafe has a carefully curated list of menu items from the Countryside Lefse made right in Blair, to the Rainbow Restaurant’s original fluffy and huge pancake, to an assortment of other items recommended by their cook. 

“As we were getting closer to opening, she made some items for us to taste-test, including some things we hadn’t thought about, and they were showstoppers and have a place on the menu,” she said. “The pancakes are popular, but so are many other things. The cinnamon roll pancakes, the cinnamon rolls that are homemade with brown butter frosting and even my mom’s homemade monkey bread.”

And though the indulgences are plentiful, Paulson said the menu does offer other staples, whether that’s protein sources, salads or sandwiches.

Everything on the menu, she said, is made with fresh vegetables and fresh meat.

For example, Paulson said they only use fresh mushrooms versus canned, because quality is important.

“Even our distributor asked us if we were sure about some of our (order choices), because we picked really good (and expensive) bacon, for example,” she said. “But it’s so good and people talk about it and the quality of our food.”

Intentional choices

The mother-daughter duo said they successfully tackled the intricacies of everyday operations together, figuring out what it means to offer lattes, for example – which Jahr said was a learning curve for her.

The pair said their pre-opening research included reaching out for input from other local restaurants on everything from space planning to the equipment that was a must-have. 

One thing they said they knew out of the gate they would insist on was that serving delicious food with great customer service was at the heart of the operation.

Jahr and Paulson said they were intentional about starting with a scaled-back menu to ensure they could perfect their customer service, food and craft before adding more to it.

When Jahr came in with a collection of cute ice cream bowls, Paulson said her initial reaction to them was that they were the “silliest thing.” 

“But kids and adults alike look at that ice cream cooler and light right up,” she said.

Paulson said kids receive a free scoop of ice cream with their order off the kids’ menu – with parental permission, of course. 

Lunch, she said, includes everything from lasagna and steak sandwiches to grilled cheese and soups.
The cafe is open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, with final orders accepted at 1 p.m., Jahr said, so customers can enjoy the meal before they close the doors at 2 p.m.

Paulson and Jahr said word of mouth has served them well, drawing guests not only from Blair but also outlying communities within a 30-mile radius, including Acadia, Pigeon and Black River.

They said they’ve had interested parties pop in from Onalaska and beyond, as well.

Jahr and Paulson – who also run their adult daycare business from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays – said it’s a juggling act balancing the two.

However, Jahr said A New Day is a “well-oiled machine” and has a great staff that provides them the ability to focus on the cafe when it’s open. 

Paulson said the cafe’s team is phenomenal, or as Jahr likes to say, “extra.”

“They’re inviting, smiling, social and welcoming, and their hearts are here,” Paulson said. “They take almost as much pride in how beautiful this is and the food we serve as we do. We’ve been very blessed with a lot of big hearts.”

Jahr said those who are differently abled work the hours they can, with the team accommodating needs for some of those staff members to work when it’s not the breakfast or lunch rush, for example.

But, she said, it’s afforded those employees the opportunity to realize goals they couldn’t before.

“There has been enthusiasm, the opportunity to save up and purchase things (as a result of their employment here) – all things (many of us) take for granted,” she said. “There is a sense of purpose and pride to be a part of the team.”