Potter’s Wheel now open with the sunrise

For those who can’t get their day started without a cup of coffee, the options have increased.

The Potter’s Wheel Coffeehouse, 205 S. Main St., Ottawa, began opening at 5:30 a.m. Monday.

“I saw an opportunity to better serve our customers by opening earlier so they could get the best cup of coffee in the area for a better start to their work day,” Bill Hedrick, new owner, said.

The Potter’s Wheel is now open from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. Starting May 1 the 8 p.m. closing time will change to 9 p.m., Hedrick said.

For some regular customers, Hedrick may be a familiar face. He worked at Potter’s Wheel for a month before he was sent to Iraq in March 2005 and also for a couple of months after his tour of duty was complete, he said.

He purchased the business from his sister and her husband, Dawnua and Scott Dawson.

“My brother has worked for us on and off for the past four years and has come to love this place as much as Scott and me do,” Dawnua Dawson said about her brother taking over the coffeehouse from her and her husband, Scott.

Scott Dawson’s battle with Lyme disease made keeping the coffeehouse open unfeasible, Dawnua Dawson said.

“Scott is currently in an IV treatment in Grandview, Mo., seven days a week, two times a day. This has been his life since early December,” she said.

“I have kept things together for as long as I could but had to make the decision to make Scott a priority over the coffeehouse,” she said. “He is very sick right now and can no longer stay by himself.”

“Bill will do a great job picking up where I have left off and you can be sure that he will give you your ‘Therapy in a Cup,’” Dawnua Dawson said in an e-mail to customers.

Hedrick admits that his background doesn’t really relate to the coffeehouse.

“Unfortunately, I don’t really have any direct business background. The experience that I have in management, though, is being in charge of reconstruction projects in Iraq,” he said. “I was responsible for managing millions of dollars and making sure that what we were paying for was actually happening.

“Granted, dealing with governments of foreign countries will be different than dealing with individual people who only want a latte instead of a new water plant, but I believe in learning how to deal with people of a different culture will help me to better understand those I live next to,” Hedrick said.

Regardless of the business he is in, working with people is what makes it all worthwhile, Hedrick said.

“The most rewarding thing about being in this business is the opportunity to talk to and relate with people in Ottawa and the surrounding areas,” Hedrick said.

“I am very much a people person and love trying to make their day just that much better.”