WAYNETOWN, Ind. -- Dale and Sherry Rhodes will open the Hitching Post, a combination gas station, convenience store and wedding chapel, on January 1. Both ordained ministers, the Rhodes will offer a more cost-effective place to get "hitched," reported The Journal Review.
The chapel has a decorated arch at the altar and can be filled with tables, chairs or any other necessities for a wedding or reception. Couples also can renew their vows there. The Hitching Post will serve the more-traditional customer, too, with a gas station and convenience store that [image-nocss] will have subs, pizza, a full breakfast, coffee, cappuccino, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, soup, hot dogs and all the other staples.
"We'll marry them, feed them, give them gas and send them on their way," Sherry Rhodes told the newspaper.
"We desire to give hope to the marriages that we perform here at the Hitching Post," Dale Rhodes added. "Our goal here is for people who are getting married here to understand what marriage is all about. The more information they have when they're first starting out, the more successful they'll be."
The Hitching Post will be cheaper than renting a church or hall for a wedding, Sherry Rhodes said, and the couple can still plan their wedding however they want. The chapel can accommodate weddings that are as elaborate or as simple as the couple wants, she added.
"We really want it to be their wedding and their flavor," Dale Rhodes said. "We're going to do it the way they want it done."
The Rhodes hope to expand the Hitching Post within the next two or three months to include a Cracker Barrel-type restaurant, said the report.
"My hope is we have to build on to this building to add the restaurant," Dale Rhodes said. "It's just dollars and cents. It's going to have more of a restaurant appeal to it, and that will grow when we grow."
On opening day, the first 100 people will get their name entered in a drawing for every $15 they spend for a free tank of gasoline up to 25 gallons.
The Hitching Post used to be called the Outposta c-store, gas station and art gallerythat closed in May. When the Rhodes moved back to Indiana from Florida because of deaths in the family, the couple saw the building and the idea to open the Hitching Post was born, said the Journal Review. "We drove by and said, 'Hey, cool'," Dale Rhodes said.
The couple has been in the ministry for more than 30 years. They performed and planned several marriages and opened 14 churches around the country. Dale Rhodes is a manager at the Crawfordsville Steak 'n' Shake, and Sherry Rhodes substitute teaches in the South Montgomery district. The two entrepreneurs have owned a restaurant and hotel in Ohio, as well as a fitness center and fire and security system business.
Once the Hitching Post opens, they will spend a lot of their time there, as the store will be open 6 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday and the Rhodes will be the only ones working there at first. "We're not hiring until we know how well it's doing," Dale Rhodes said.
"The biggest challenge is where it is," he said. "This is going to have to become a destination for folks. There has to be a reason for people to come eight miles out of Crawfordsville." The Rhodes are betting on the Hitching Post's friendly, neighborhood, country store atmosphere to draw customers out into rural Waynetown, said the report.
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