Ark Valley News - Out of the office

Out of the office
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: August 13, 2015

Darla brought class to downtown

She wasn't afraid to complain, but she rarely stopped there. Darla Shaw-Mainz put her time and money where her mouth was. She got involved.

From parade floats to city signs, Darla had a hand in a variety of community projects over the years.

But perhaps her biggest triumph in Valley Center was Le Venue.

"It was her baby," said Keith Harimon, co-owner of the facility with Darla. "She was so proud of it."

In 2006, Keith and Darla took an aging building in the heart of the city and turned it into one of the gems of the community, a facility that hosts weddings, concerts and a variety of events.

"She always wanted to put her best foot forward, and she wanted the community to put its best foot forward," Harimon said.

Darla died Aug. 15, two days after suffering a sudden heart attack. She was 44 years old. Darla's death stunned her friends.

"I just couldn't believe it," said Anne Carter-Hainlen, who has been friends with Darla for 40 years.

Anne talked to Darla on the telephone hours before her heart attack. They were making arrangements to celebrate Anne's parents' 50th wedding anniversary at Le Venue. But they were mostly catching up, reminiscing a little and laughing a lot.

"She was hysterical, she had the biggest heart, she was a hard worker and one of those true, true friends," Anne said.

Darla, who graduated from Valley Center High School in 1989, cared about her hometown and the people in it.

"She believed in Valley. She really loved her community," Anne said.

Darla was on the board of directors for the Valley Center Chamber of Commerce in 2004 and 2005. She helped design and build chamber of commerce floats for the Fall Festival parade. She also hosted annual Halloween community events at Le Venue.

Darla also spearheaded the so-called Greenway Committee, tasked with developing welcome signs and way-finding signs in the city.

In 2011, the city revealed that the signs the committee designed sat in a city building for three years, collecting dust. City leaders said the lettering on the signs was too small and that's why they weren't installed.

The city later had signs remade.

In a story in The News, Darla defended the original design, saying they were intended for slow vehicle and pedestrian traffic to read.

"If everyone that complains did something to make a change, we'd have a fabulous town," Darla told The News.

"That's so Darla," Anne said. "She believed that if we would all work together, we could make such a huge difference."

Darla used Le Venue as a creative outlet, Keith said.

"Le Venue was her 11,000-square-foot blank canvas to create on and she had plans for every square inch," he said.

The Harimons and the Mainzes purchased the building from the Valley Center Christian Church in 2006. Darla designed each of the building's rooms. She had a vision for what she wanted, Keith said, and she wouldn't be stopped.

Keith and Darla had a disagreement over the carpet choice for the auditorium. Darla won, and Keith is glad she did.

"It couldn't be any other carpet," he said.

Darla set high standards for the facility.

"She used to say, ‘We don't do gaudy. We do glamorous,'" Keith said.

Darla didn't accept compliments very well, Keith said. She didn't give out many compliments either.

"In the years I've known her, I received three, and I think I'm making one of them up," Keith said. "But that was OK, because you knew when she did compliment you, you did very, very well."

Keith said he plans to keep Le Venue operating.

"We'd like to continue the legacy, and keep it a viable venue in her memory," he said.

Le Venue wasn't Darla's first business venture.

She started a flower shop in Wichita in 1996. She moved it to a former gas station at Main and Meridian in Valley Center in 2003, calling it Darla's Flower & Coffee Market.

Keith and Darla met at the coffee shop, where they discussed the need for an event venue in Valley Center.

In 2009, Darla closed the flower shop to concentrate on Le Venue.

Le Venue was getting busy, she told The News back then, demanding more of her time.

"I'm at a point where I just need to do one thing at a time," she told The News. "… Le Venue is growing and it needs nurturing. We needed to do that. I'm not going away. We're just shifting and changing."

Friends and family held a celebration of Darla's life Aug. 12 at Le Venue.

Darla is survived by her daughter, Alex Mainz; father, Bill and Nan Shaw; brothers, Brad and Wes Shaw; stepsister, Krisha (Andy) Wilbers; and grandson, Bryer.

Chris Strunk is publisher of The Ark Valley News. Reach him at 755-0821, news@arkvalleynews.com or on Facebook.