About 18 months ago, a vision Nancy Reichenbacher had in a dream became a reality.

Wednesday, August 16, 2000

About 18 months ago, a vision Nancy Reichenbacher had in a dream became a reality. Her health food store, Days Gone Bye, opened in downtown Osage. Its design and purpose were engineered according to a dream she believes was God-given.

"The way you see the store is the way it was in my dream," she said. "I didn’t have a plan for this. I just stepped out in faith."

Doors kept opening, she said, and everything fell into place.

Days Gone Bye is a unique health food store that offers organically grown fruits and vegetables, as well as organically produced packaged foods. Her walk-in cooler bearing fruits and vegetables, is the only of its kind in a 100-mile radius, she said.

Each day, Reichenbacher makes fresh juice and grinds flour for home-baked bread sold at the store.

In addition to the eats, Reichenbacher’s store offers homeopathic, aromatherapy and Bach Flower remedies.

It’s part of Reichenbacher’s desire to help people get back to basics and back to a healthy and natural lifestyle.

"I’m not a doctor. I’m not a nurse. But I know what has worked for me and my family," she said. "You can work through lots of health problems by doing things naturally."

To complete her own lifestyle change, Reichenbacher stepped out in faith, she said.

After a live blood cell test, which can reveal a variety of potential health problems such as cancer, Reichenbacher was surprised at the results.

"I thought I was doing everything right," she said.

Three years later, she is. Her blood is completely clean.

"Food is the cheapest, most accurate way to heal," she said. "Everything you can find in the store, I’ve used. So I know that it works."

The comfortable atmosphere of the store – open spaces with hard wood floors and Americana knickknacks and signs – is a vision Reichenbacher had in a dream.

In between some of the shelves are doors. While the doors don’t lead to anywhere but a wall, they are symbolic.

"I tell people, ‘There’s the door that you have to open. Are you willing to go through it?’" Reichenbacher said, referring to the lifestyle change necessary to improve health.

The decorating scheme also reveals some political beliefs albeit very subtly.

The red, white and blue Americana flags and other patriotic decorations are Reichenbacher’s way of "subtly protesting the fact that we are told what health care is acceptable. I think we should be able to chose what type of health care we want."

Reichenbacher also offers a variety of classes and services to customers. Stir fry cooking lessons, a visit with a homeopathic practitioner or iridologist, lessons on aromatherapy and Bach Flowers are offering available throughout the year.

Reichenbacher is also one of four sponsors for a holistic health fair scheduled for Aug. 19, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mitchell County Fairgrounds in Osage. Topics there will include homeopathy, occupational therapy’s role in holistic healing, holistic diet, iridology and reflexology.

For more information on the health fair, contact Reichenbacher at Days Gone Bye, (515) 732-1446. The store is located at 609 Main St. in Osage.

The store is open Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and to 8 p.m. on Thursday.