Multi-talented Reed Henschel - also a poet, short story writer, sculptor, and plasterer - invented the requested stool and patented it in 1986.  In 1989, he and Donna launched Tower Stool® Company around their Tower Stool®, then created other products based on its lightweight and foldable design.

"That first stool was opened and closed and stepped on a thousand times," says Donna, and it worked perfectly.  Public demand and healthy sales of the five-pound, 12-inch high (when opened) Tower Stool® opened their eyes to other creative ideas.

"We were at a meeting, the speaker was coming on stage, and two guys were carrying the lectern.  It was heavy and not very portable."  The Tabletop Lectern was born.  Like the stool and their other products, it's made of veneer layered hardwood (oak, birch, cherry, or hickory) with brass-plated steel hinges and fasteners.  The lectern weighs just eight pounds and is a mere three inches thick when folded.

Other products include a folding RV step, a tabletop that slides onto the Tower Stool® to turn it into a table, a shooter's bench, a sportsman's stool, and display cases.  They also make a foldable wooden hideaway blind that camouflages hunters or wildlife photograpers without the rustling of a canvas blind.  It works so well, Donna says, that during field testing, Reed and a friend set one up in a field and then couldn't find it for quite some time.

The Henschels' newest venture, however, is pet caskets and urns.  Their daughter, a pet groomer, told them about the demand for such products among bereaved pet lovers, who often have to purchase caskets and urns intended for humans.  Market research showed that few companies manufacture pet caskets and urns - none of wood - or are located on the Great Plains.

The Henschels have partnered with Monte Albertson of Monte's Woodshop, near Brandon, to offer pet burial products with personalized metal labels, inscribed pet names, and even photographs engraved into the wood by Albertson's computerized laser engraver.

While living in Wyoming in 1989 and on their way to Minnesota, the Henschels stopped over in Faith at a motel.  The owner, a member of Faith's economic development board, saw the stool and asked if they would consider moving to South Dakota.  At that time, the Henschels had no employees and worked out of the basement of their home.

Things happened fast.  "Two men flew in from Pierre," relates Donna, "and showed us a vacant building in Faith.  They said, 'We really like your product.'  We applied for an economic development loan and within five days the loan went through.  It was overwhelming!"  The story gives a whole new spin to "faith" as it applies to economic development, and Tower Stool® Company became a South Dakota manufacturer.

The Henschels were chosen to participate in QVC's 1997 50/50 Tour, where 1,200 Tower Stool®s sold out in three minutes.  Selected for QVC's Best of the Best in 1998, they sold 1,500 stools in under eight minutes.

Reed does their company's design and building and Donna does the marketing.  It's a successful partnership.  "It has been very enjoyable to be married for 47 years to the same guy," says Donna, "and to watch all these things transpire.  It's never a dull moment."

Tower Stool® Company participates in the South Dakota Made Program, the South Dakota Inventors Congress, and the South Dakota and International Exporters Directories.  The Henschels can be reached at 605-967-2418, 800-568-4228, or towerstoolco@gwtc.net.  Their website is at http://www.towerstool.com.