For most women, cooking and cleaning, especially cleaning, are necessary evils. Although they may enjoy preparing meals for friends and family, the cleanup after the meal can be tedious. And cleaning floors and bathrooms is probably not on anyone's list of favorite things to do. Despite that, three area women have committed themselves to extra cooking and cleaning by operating a B&B.

Luanne Neumann of The Neumann House, Sue Vorwald, owner of The Victorian Rose, and Becky Johnson of Little Switzerland recently shared their reasons for embarking on such a business, and the challenges and rewards of running a B&B.

Luanne Neumann has the most experience. She bought her B&B, Neumann House, at 121 N. Michigan, Prairie du Chien, in 1987. Her first guests came in January, 1988 to do eagle watching.

She bought the house at a time when legislation was first passed which allowed people to fix up old Victorian homes and rent them out. She likes the business because it brings her great flexibility. "I can be as busy as I want to be," she says. Neumann also works at Catholic Charities, and when things are very busy there she does fewer bookings.

When she bought the house, the addition on the side had been used to run an insurance business and the family lived in the house. Neumann has reversed that. She now lives in the newer section and maintains the house proper for guests.

Neumann grew up in a family business, so she wasn't intimidated at the thought of starting her own. "I also did a lot of homework before I started," she said. She took a class in starting a small business and did a great deal of research to learn about the pitfalls.

Neumann's experience with B&Bs in Europe was that baths were shared. When she first opened, she rented four bedrooms which shared two baths. She has gradually remodeled so that now there are three guest rooms, each with its own bath.

She takes pains to make sure the house looks authentically Victorian and looks for furniture and materials as close to home as possible. The marble for the fireplace came from Check's Antiques, and she purchased one of the bed quilts from Barb Raisbeck of Bloomington.

She purchased two pictures in the dining room from Ziel's Old Faithful when it went out of business, and another picture, purchased from Fred Otto, had been done by an art teacher at St. Mary's Academy in Prairie du Chien. "I always have my eyes open for stuff," she says, "especially at antique dealers and estate sales in the area." Experience serving as a volunteer at Villa Louis, she said, has been helpful to her in selecting items to match the period.

Cooking breakfast for guests has not been a challenge, since she originally trained as a home economist. Her menus are usually seasonal. For example she serves such things as strawberries and asparagus in the spring. Now that winter is coming on, baked apple and french toast find their way to the breakfast table. Whenever possible, she uses locally grown produce.

The work can be demanding, she says. Rooms have to be made up and cleaned; she has to shop for food and prepare meals; and she spends some more time on marketing. Nevertheless, she enjoys it. The Neumann House website is www.prairie-du-chien.com/

Sue Vorwald, who owns the Victorian Rose at the corner of Iowa and Wacouta is the newest B&B owner. She purchased the house last October, moved in and started decorating in December, and had her first guests this past June.

Vorwald had no previous experience in running a B&B, but had stayed in many and liked the experience. Vorwald likes to entertain; she's also a history buff and enjoys antiques. What's more, she raised seven children, so extra cooking and cleaning didn't frighten her. Her breakfasts vary, but she says she usually has fruit, juice and other beverages, an egg dish with meat and waffles or pancakes.

Before she started, she talked with other B&B owners. Vorwald said her friend Becky Johnson of Little Switzerland was a big help. Nonetheless, it took her longer to get ready than she expected. "I opened about five months later than I had planned," she said. It took longer than she thought to obtain the furniture and decorate the house the way she wanted.

Vorwald says she is "in love" with the house, which was originally built in 1890 by a banker for his two spinster daughters. The previous owners, Chris and Mary Mara, had kept it in excellent condition, she said, and took pains to maintain the Victorian style.

She purchased the settee and four chairs in the parlor from the Maras. The other furniture is a mixture of antiques and newer replicas. "I love living in such a beautiful house," Vorwald said, and added she tries to make it homey. "It's kid-friendly because I have grandchildren who come to visit-„it's not a museum."

She has three guest rooms which share a bath. There are the Fort Crawford Room, done up in red, white and blue, the Gold Room and the Green Room. Guests are also welcome to curl up on the sofa in the living room and, if they wish, read a book.

Vorwald's guests have been a mixture of young and old with a variety of interests, including sightseeing, biking and hunting.

In addition to overnight stays, Vorwald also hosts a mystery theater. Guests have punch and hors d'oeuvres when they come, participate in unravelling the mystery, and then solve it over a dessert of cheesecake. Like Neumann, Vorwald has another job, as respiratory therapist at Prairie du Chien Memorial Hospital. She also sells jewelry and candles.

Vorwald's website is www.victorianrosebedandbreakfast.com, and the telephone number is 326-2065.

Becky and Randy Johnson own Little Switzerland in McGregor, which they purchased in 2003. Actually an inn, rather than a B&B, it has four separate units, including a cabin. Located right on Main Street, the building dates back to 1862, when it was built to house the North Iowa Times.

The name comes from the designation once bestowed on the county, ïLittle Switzerland of Iowa.'

"It's something I've always wanted to do," said Johnson, "I've always enjoyed working with the public. I think it's in my blood. My mother ran a restaurant." When they purchased it, said Johnson, the inn had gone through many owners and had not been run properly. "We had to do some quality control to restore the business, " she explained.

Since they opened, they have had guests from many parts of the world and from every state in the union except Hawaii.

The river, she said, is the big draw, and some people bring their boats and spend all their time on the river. "People seem to like the small town atmosphere of this area," she added.

There are three units in the main building: The Rob Roy, the Chalet and the Alpine. The Rob Roy is the largest, with its own fully equipped kitchen, dining room and living room. An added bonus of the Rob Roy is a balcony which overlooks Main Street and the river. All of the units have their own bathrooms and living areas.

The cabin, a separate building, was purchased elsewhere in Iowa, brought to McGregor and reassembled. All the logs are over 150 years old, but the cabin itself has all the modern conveniences of home, including a jacuzzi.

In front of the cabin, she and her husband have a small vegetable plot. They have discovered that some people have no knowledge of gardening: "We've had people who had never seen broccoli or potatoes growing."

"It's a lot of fun but a lot of work," Johnson comments, "I didn't know how much work it would be." Running the inn is her full time job; her husband Randy works for Union Pacific, but does all the repairs and restorations on the buildings.

The rewards, she said, make up for the hard work. She enjoys meeting people from all over the world and learning from them. "Seeing them have a good time makes up for everything else," she says. Breakfast is perhaps her favorite time, when guests meet and mingle with each other, often generating some interesting conversations. She recalls one breakfast conversation among a doctor from Jerusalem and two veterans, one who had been to Iraq three times. They were discussing Saddam Hussein. The inn is open year around and has a website at www.littleswitzerlandinn.com. The telephone number is 563-873-2057.

John Kramer has no idea how many times he's concluded his auction chant with "sold to . . . ." As a matter of fact, he has no idea how many auctions he's conducted in his 40 years as an auctioneer, but the numbers would have to be in the thousands.

John traces his interest in auctions back to his childhood when he accompanied his dad to auctions. In high school, he had to do a presentation on a job he thought would be interesting, and he chose auctioneering. After he graduated, his high school agriculture teacher talked him into going to auction school.

In December of 1966, John took a three week auctioneering course in Mason City, Iowa. "It was just like you were in the military," he said, "they really beat it into you." Classes began at 6 a.m. and ran until 10 p.m. They were very strict, he said. He remembers that a couple of guys in his class went out for drinks one night and got into an accident. They were immediately kicked out.

Each day, students had to practice their auction chant in between classes. He said it was also a little like a Dale Carnegie course: "We came out all pumped up and ready to go."

He learned, however, that being ready to go and having a place to go were two different things. "It's difficult to get started," he explained, "unless you have a family member or other close connection in the business. People don't want to put their belongings in the hands of a young person just out of school; they want to go with an established business." John said he has learned that only about four percent of those who attend auction school become successful auctioneers.

He did charity auctions for a time, and a farmer he'd met at one of those gave him his first break. When the man had an auction of his own property, he insisted the auction company include John as one of the auctioneers. A flyer from that first auction on Oct. 21, 1967 is framed and hanging in John's office.

In 1968, John said he realized he was "starving to death" in the auction business, so he enrolled at UW-Platteville to obtain a degree in agricultural economics. Through it all, however, he kept plugging away at auctioneering, working for a variety of companies.

In 1973, he married his wife, the former Cheryl Rybarczyk, and with her encouragement, he branched out on his own. Later, Cheryl took over as cashier„the person who takes registrations and collects the money„and bookkeeper.

In 1998, son Curt joined the business full time. As a child, Curt had been a "ring man," holding up auction items so bidders could see them. He continued working there during high school, and in college started auctioneering. Although he earned a degree in business from UW-Stevens Point, Curt explains, "I started out auctioneering to make money for college, but found out I liked it." "Curt attended the Kramer Auction School," said John. "As we'd drive down the road I'd make him practice his chant."

Curt and John are both state-licensed auctioneers, and all three Kramers have real estate licenses. John and Cheryl obtained theirs before Curt was born, and Curt received his license after college graduation.

The Kramers started their business in a little building, a former gas station, that sat beside Coaches Restaurant. Coaches purchased the building when they expanded. "I figure the fireplace in the dining room at Coaches is approximately where that first office was," said John.

They ran their business out of their home for a while, and then Cheryl suggested they buy the old Metro Theater Building, their present location at 203 E. Blackhawk. They turned the theater section into an auction gallery and remodeled the lobby for real estate offices. For Cheryl, it was a sort of homecoming; her first job was as a 'popcorn girl' at the theater. They have been at that site since March of 1996.

There are many factors involved in being a good auctioneer, and recognizing the value of something is one. The men agree that experience is the key, and they have to know where to find information if they aren't sure of the value. "You just get an eye for stuff," said Curt. John added, "We've had people digging through their dumpster to get out stuff they were going to throw away."

As important as knowing the value of an item, Curt said, is to advertise and market the items properly to assure a good sale.

Both are federally licensed firearms auctioneers, and Curt specializes in firearms sales. Last year, they were contacted by an attorney to handle a large firearms estate. They picked up the items and researched the more unusual ones. One gun turned out to be a Civil War firearm produced for two elite Union regiments of sharpshooters. It brought a final auction price of $12,100. The story of that auction was written up in "Collectors Journal" and also appeared in "Gun List," a world-wide publication.

John recalled one firearms auction with three big bidders, one from Minneapolis, one from Chicago, and one, via telephone, from Iceland. For large firearms auctions, he said, it's typical to have bidders from all over the country.

The number and types of auctions have changed over the years. Kramers handled up to 100 a year in the 1970s, many of them farm auctions. Now, with the number of farms reduced, they typically handle 40 to 50 auctions a year. There are fewer farm auctions, but many estate, antique and real estate auctions.

Getting ready for an auction requires some preparation. For a recent antique auction, between two and four people worked daily for about a week, identifying the most valuable things and setting them aside, then sorting out the rest of the items. They then have to be displayed properly so as to bring to attract attention and bring top dollar. That auction, said John, started at 10 a.m., and by 9 a.m. there was a row of people a block long waiting to register.

Once the auction begins, timing is important. The auctioneer has four or five hours in which to sell the merchandise. He or she must warm up the audience, keep their attention, and sell the most valuable items when excitement is most intense. John said people tell him of auctions when the auctioneer has drawn things out too long, spending too much time on items of lesser value until the crowd loses interest. Sometimes the auctioneer needs to break the sale into two rings to speed things up.

Kramer Auction has done a lot of 'firsts' in the area. "When we first started," said John, "every household auction was on a Saturday and never started before 1 p.m." He began starting sales at 10 a.m. He was the first person in the tri-state area to run an auction during the week, on Monday and Tuesday evenings. "At first," he recalls, "it was hard to talk people into it because they were afraid no one would show up." Saturday sales, he said are becoming increasingly difficult, especially in he summer, because of the many other competing activities.

One of the biggest 'firsts' was to computerize the system. During the auction, someone sits at a computer entering all the sales information. The information goes directly to the cashier, who can be ready instantly when people come to pay for their purchases.

Coming across a valuable Civil War firearm was one of the highlights of Kramer Auctions, but there have been many more interesting things as well.

John remembers an incident some years ago at a farm owned by an old man who kept to himself. John and a veterinarian went out prior to the auction to draw blood for testing the cattle. The barn was old and rickety, and as soon as they entered, the cattle, unaccustomed to strangers, got nervous. "The veterinarian stuck his needle into the first cow," John recalls, "and she took off through the barn door, taking the stanchion with her. I don't think we ever did test that cow."

They remember one estate belonging to a woman who lived all alone near Mt. Sterling. No one had seen her all of one winter, and when someone finally checked on her, all they found was a skull and bones.

John was asked by her relatives to conduct the estate auction, but he declined because the house was a mess. The woman seemed to have never thrown anything away. The relatives kept insisting, and finally he said he would do it only if they hauled the stuff in to the auction house and cleaned it themselves. To his amazement, they did, and the auction brought in over $50,000.

"Every once in a while," Curt said, "we go into some place and it's like walking into a time capsule." Perhaps the most memorable of these was a house which had been boarded up since the 1940s. "We went into the house and it was full of beautiful antiques," said John. They did not yet own the auction house, so they rented the basement of St. Gabriel's and the auction lasted for two days.

Since they have the opportunity to see so many interesting and beautiful things, one might think the Kramers would have accumulated a collection of their own, but the opposite is true. Said John, "Cheryl and I have seen so many things it's turned us into minimalists."