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have included fundraising events for the Relay for Life, local
schools, churches, the Oasis Senior Center, first responders. For
these events, the organizations receive ten percent of the sales
that afternoon and evening.
On a website with history about the first Culvers restaurant, Craig
Culver said he encourages all franchisees to be active in their
community. Aue has definitely done that over the years.
In a June 11, 2013, Lincoln Daily News article about a Relay for
Life fundraising event, Aue said, “we're proud to call Lincoln home,
and doing our part to help just feels right…We strive to make a
difference in the community we share with so many others, and
working with Relay for Life of Logan County allows us to help
support individuals and families in our area."
As the article said, “Culver's support of Relay for
Life is just part of their dedication to giving back to the
community. From Culver's founders to each locally owned and operated
restaurant, each franchise partner and team member understands the
importance of serving those in need.”
Tonita Reifsteck, Aue’s mother, explains some of Aue’s motivations
for helping others. Reifsteck said Aue was doing work for the
community even in her youth.
The Reifsteck family moved to Lincoln in September 1969 and the
children went to Central School, Lincoln Junior High School and
Lincoln Community High School. Elaine was involved in various school
activities such as singing in chorus, playing the violin in the
orchestra, and playing sports, especially volleyball and baseball.
In addition, Aue was active in her church’s youth program,
participated in 4-H and was an Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital
candy-striper.
As Reifsteck said, the entire family was expected to
support the community they lived in so that included CROP walk and
other interdenominational and community programs.
Among Aue’s varied employments, her first job was at Bob’s Roast
Beef.
When the family left Lincoln for a period of time starting in 1982,
Aue remained, so she has been a Lincoln resident for almost 54
years.
When Aue opened Culvers, she followed Lincoln IGA’s
Charlie Lee's lead of giving back to the community through
fundraising events for organizations.
One community event Aue supported was the Relay for Life for cancer.
When Reifsteck was survivor Chair for the Relay, Culvers had a
fundraiser for the event. Reifsteck’s team and others worked in
shifts to make Aue’s effort generate more funds.
Another of Aue’s motivations for giving back has to do with her late
sister, Lucinda Reifsteck, who was in an automobile accident on
Valentine’s Day morning in 1985 at the young age of 24. Lucinda was
in a coma for a year after the accident and was unable to walk or
talk for the remaining 27 years of her life. Tonita Reifsteck said
Elaine lost her sister twice, once with a car accident that left her
paralyzed and the other time when her sister died.
On April 8, 2017, Culvers held a fundraising event
for Stacy Peacock, who had been injured in an accident in October
2016 that left her paralyzed from the chest down.
For this event, Aue chose to donate 100 percent of the sales. Teena
Lowery’s 2017 interview with Aue for a Lincoln Daily News article
about the fundraiser revealed Aue’s reasons.
Aue said she first saw news of Peacock’s accident in a paper and
then somebody brought in a flyer to Culver’s and asked for a
donation. She said, “it kind of hit home because of my sister’s
accident many years ago. I know what it’s like...It hits home. It
hit hard.”
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In 2021, Devan Duncheon became part owner of Culvers
after working at the restaurant since 2008. Duncheon said, “Elaine,
from the beginning, has set a standard of getting to know each and
every team member, to making sure to specifically tell each team
member hello at the beginning of their shift and to tell them each
individually goodbye.”
As Duncheon said, “we get the privilege of hiring, oftentimes, young
adults with no prior work experience and watching them grow not only
in the work environment but in their personal lives as well. There
is nothing better than when a former team member walks back in for a
meal and you get to catch up on each other’s lives.”
Having worked with Elaine since age 16, Duncheon said, “it really
was an inspiration to see not only a successful business being built
up from the bottom, but to see an independent woman doing it.
Overall, I can’t pinpoint exact instances that were memorable, but
watching our team members grow with the business has been exciting.”
For Duncheon, “the most memorable fundraising events
are those that the Lincoln community really shows up for! Often
times, people want to focus on the negative, but working at, and now
being a co-owner of Culver’s, it really makes it hard to see
anything but positives with our community.” She said, “We have quite
a few organizations that do monthly fundraisers, and building those
relationships with the volunteers that are there consistently is one
of my favorite times.”
A caring nature is one of Aue’s most outstanding traits. As
Reifsteck said, whether it be family, friend or some stranger down
on their luck, whether it be health [issues] or a life situation
“through no fault of their own,” Aue will be there however she can
help.
Aue’s family sees her as a super daughter, terrific sister and
mother and true friend to many, and also very humble.
Though Aue’s priority now is her two granddaughters,
she also finds time to volunteer at places like the Logan County
Humane Society. With all the ways Aue has cared for and helped
people over the years, selflessness would be another good
description of her. She has given so much to the community and is
very deserving of the hometown hero title.
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