Bold Thinkers
by Mike Venable

Meet local entrepreneur, Buddy Helms.

Bold thinkers are child-like by nature. They are wired to see the wonder in things. Their pupils dilate when they’re presented with a challenge and the tougher the challenge, the better.

Our first Bold Thinker is Kenneth W. Nelms. Buddy, to his friends and to those who know him, is the consummate bold thinker. He has the demeanor of a stubborn entrepreneur backed by a surprising innocence for a man of 52 years.

He prefers alternative medicine to traditional treatments, traveling a considerable distance out of town to a self-described “Indian medicine man” who has treated him for over 15 years.

Despite his non-traditional healthcare, his ponytail and the fact that he sees almost everything from a completely different angle than most of the rest of us, Buddy is a vibrant, healthy and active music lover, horseback rider, Harley rider, bicyclist, float plane pilot, ballroom dancer, real estate investor, hotel owner, recording studio owner and retail and restaurant entrepreneur.

Buddy’s early years were spent following his father, Buck Nelms, around military bases and crawling around in helicopters. The guts of Cobras, Hueys and Chinooks were often Buddy’s playgrounds while Buck was on the job. He developed a love for flying, wide-open spaces and an equal disdain for convention and confinement.

He says most of the things he saw as a youth in Fitzgerald, Ga. were seen from his vantage point atop the saddle of a bicycle. The vibrant Fitzgerald downtown offered Buddy and his dusty footed, shirtless band of friends movies, soda fountains, shopping and “dope,” the name his “Granny” used for the small bottled Cokes he used to fetch for her on his bicycle. With his grandmother and the rest of his mother’s family spending nearly all of their days slaving in the cotton mill, he was free to roam a safe Southern town with no lock on his bike or his home. He loved old buildings, but what he loved most were the people behind the counters in those buildings.

In the spirit of complete transparency, I was Buddy’s business partner in Ride On Bikes, the thriving, ground-floor retail bicycle shop in his 1036 Broadway building. I thought I knew Buddy Nelms pretty well, until I heard him mention ballroom dancing at our interview for this story.

And, I’m not talking about your daddy’s ballroom dancing. Nelms and his mom, Mamie, and a large troupe of dancers traveled extensively around the world delighting huge crowds while swaying to the acoustic music of the Dick Wickman Orchestra. They waltzed in Johann Strauss’ gardens. They played cities in Iceland, Thailand and Japan and they even threw an unadvertised concert in a village in Communist China, where the throngs who attended were not only treated to their first big band music, but also learned for the first time how to clap their hands in appreciation of the performance.

This international gallivanting wasn’t the extent of his travels. His walkabout included spending some time in Los Angeles. “I was amazed at how much time and money the movie studios would spend to get that perfect few seconds of film,” he said. One of his boldest ideas came several years ago while standing on the riverbank with a group of friends after the possibility of reclaiming the river and its whitewater became public knowledge.

“We ought to set up some bleachers and sell tickets for people to watch them blow these dams,” Nelms said. “No, we really ought to contact Stephen Spielberg and let him bring a film crew down here to film the breaching of the dams for a movie.” His idea included the use of a helicopter gunship to blast holes in the dams at just the right place. “A couple of passes and we’d have this party started,” said Nelms. “And, we could let somebody else pay for it.” Ideas like this are what make Buddy Nelms our first featured Bold Thinker.

Nelms bought his first downtown Columbus real estate in 1985. He signed the papers to buy 1032 Broadway and opened the Fusion Creative Dance Studio when Broadway was home for pigeons, wig shops and homeless people. “There were a few cars down here during the day because of the Government Center, but at night this place was a ghost town,” he said. Then came the 1036 Broadway building, 1039 First Avenue and then a 2002 partnership with Joe McClure to purchase the historic white iron bank building on the southeast corner of Broadway and Eleventh Street.

Nelms laments that it was frustrating dealing with things like façade boards and licensing and permitting issues. He credits his success developing downtown properties to early and frequent meetings with the late Rozier Dedwyler. “None of this would have happened had I not received his wise counsel. He knew his way around city government. He was a common sense kind of guy. He helped me focus my ideas and together we developed a way to make it happen,” Nelms said.

What followed were several restaurants, retail shops, entertainment companies, The Loft, the Loft Recording Studio, Ride On Bikes and the Uptown Jam. I mention the Uptown Jam because Nelms lists his efforts to birth and grow that event as his greatest triumph (that it happened) and his greatest disappointment (that it eventually failed). Buddy tells a story about Christian Bush of today’s successful megaact Sugarland. He said that Bush played the first Uptown Jam in 1992 for $50, a Loft T-shirt and an order of chicken fried rice from Ok-Sun’s, Buddy’s first restaurant venture. “Christian didn’t come down here for the $50 or the chicken fried rice. He came down here because there was something exciting going on,” Buddy said.

He says you can’t create these signature events by building big fences and trying to control everything and only letting certain people get to the show. The way to build these events is to open them up, fan the flames and let culture make its own way.

“We are European descendants. European people get together, the young ones and the old folks. They get their bread and coffee at the same place every day. It is built into our souls to want to gather. Americans live in cubicles communicating with each other via the Internet.

I have a vision to build this community, and if we’re going to be a community we have to start acting like one,” he said

One of the characteristics of a Bold Thinker is the ability to know when he’s failed and it is time to throw in the towel. I have personally witnessed Buddy’s ability to do this. Once on a trip to Las Vegas for a bicycle trade show, I talked Buddy into going with me to one of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants for the “best sandwich I have ever had in my life.” I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into another of the roasted prime rib panino (the singular form of the plural panini). We started with a cold beer and I began to regale the table with a description of the feast that was about to be served. When the sandwiches were delivered, we each took a bite of ours, and I knew I was in trouble. This sandwich just wasn’t spot on, and I said as much. I noticed Buddy was staring blankly over my left shoulder — for what seemed like an eternity.

Then, he looked right at me and said, “When we get home on Friday, I’m going to close the Olive Branch. If Wolfgang f***ing Puck can’t get it right, I sure as hell can’t.” He made his decision to cut and run right there, without emotion in that moment of clarity.

“I really believe Columbus is a cool town. I’ve got my bitches and complaints just like everybody else. I just can’t stand to be held back. Let’s air it out, let it breathe. Let’s roll the dice! I only regret the things I didn’t get done. I’d rather try and fail any day than to not even get up to go do it. And I’ve done both, I know what they both feel like,” he said.

And as we stood in the midst of the construction cacophony of his newest restaurant venture, yet unnamed, he was abuzz with his dreams for the rebirth of the 1032 Broadway space. “This is one I really want to get right."

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