Touring the
GREAT RIVER ROAD page 26
ISU Football Legend
JACK TRICE page 50
RETHINKING THE ’BURBS
Can developers re-create small towns? page 42
Cool Iowa Rosés
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1
Tassel Ridge® 2013 Iowa St. Croix Rosé…Simply Extraordinary®
THE IOWAN | iowan.com
You’ll never look at quilting the same way again. Some of the many reasons you should attend QuiltWeek:
1.
Experience beautiful quilts in the first AQS Des Moines quilt contest!
2.
Attend amazing classes with quilting celebrities like Karen K. Stone, Joanie Zeier Poole, and David Taylor.
3.
Shop for the latest in fabulous fabrics, machines, notions, and tools!
4.
Explore stunning exhibits like SAQA™ Wide Horizons IV and The WICKED™ Cherrywood Challenge!
You’ll never look at quilting the same way again!
Des Moines, Iowa September 30 – October 1, 2015 Detail: Shenandoah Falling by Margaret Solomon Gunn
For more information, visit us at QuiltWeek.com or call 270-898-7903
NATIONAL BRAND PARTNER
July/August 2015 | THE IOWAN
1
contents
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015
volume 64 | number 1 iowan.com
ON THE COVER The Great River Road in Northeast Iowa. THIS PAGE: The Mississippi River from Mt. Hosmer in Lansing. “Touring Iowa’s Great River Road,” page 26. Photographs by Dan Weeks
FEATURES 26
Touring Iowa’s Great River Road
Join us for a spectacular fall road trip down Iowa’s
scenic East Coast. Your tour includes a stop-by-stop
guide to 326 miles of some of the state’s best
views, attractions, and events.
42
Rethinking Suburbia
by Amber Barz
Some new suburban developments are starting
to look a lot like Iowa’s charming small towns.
Here’s where to find them — and what it’s like to
live in one.
50
Iowan Icon: Jack Trice
story and photography by Dan Weeks
by John Rosengren
In 1923 legendary lineman Jack Trice was killed
in his second football game for Iowa Sate. His name
is now famous — but it is his character we admire.
66 Photoessay: Iowa’s Country Schoolhouses
by Dan Weeks
Obsolete but still treasured, hundreds of these one-
room wonders still stand. Many are painstakingly
restored. Why do we love them so?
DEPARTMENTS
4
from the editor Lots of Great on Our Plate
6 letters
Heifer Pride; Bob’s Fans
iowa map
7
Points of Interest in This Issue
8
iowa travels
Day Trips
12
Plant Some Fall Color
16
iowa grows iowa tastes Ride. Eat. Repeat.
18
home in iowa
Buckingham Palace
62
from the archives
Capital City News
flashback: 1955
76
60 Years Ago in The Iowan
80 escapades The Haunting of Ham House
from theeditor
Lots of Great on Our Plate We have some great subjects in this issue. Iowa’s Great River Road, page 26, is great in more than just name. It's longer than the drive from, say, Boston to Montreal. It threads trade routes, settlements, and effigies that predate history. It takes us back to the Ireland and Germany and Scandinavia of our state’s Old World settlers. And it opens to vistas rivaling any on Earth. Visitors from afar call driving the road the trip of a lifetime. We call it home.
PROUDLY PUBLISHED AND PRINTED IN IOWA BY THE PIONEER GROUP Publisher Polly Clark
Editor Dan Weeks
Creative Director Ann Donohoe
Senior Graphic Designer Megan Johansen
Image/Photo Specialist Steve Seeman Copy Editor Gretchen Kauffman
Senior Account Executives Kimberly Hawn
Mike Kellner Account Executives Ronda Jans
Becca Wodrich
Jack Trice, page 50, the namesake of ISU’s stadium, was prophesied to become the best tackle in the country. He never got the chance: He died of injuries sustained in his first real college game. His character measures his greatness. Read his story — and his extraordinary letter, written the night before the deadly game — and I think you’ll agree. Iowa’s country schoolhouses, page 66, testify to the great goal of universal education and literacy. It was a project undertaken with more vision than resources. But within those buildings, countless Iowa teachers succeeded in nurturing the minds of generations of Iowans — including greats such as engineer and United States president Herbert Hoover and plant geneticist and humanitarian Norman Borlaug. Visit some restored examples of these schools in our photographs — or tour them in person with the information provided. To experience an abandoned school turned great private residence, see to page 18. Here’s something else we think is a great idea: suburbs that look, feel, and live more like Iowa’s charming small towns. Take a look at our story on page 42 to see if you concur. And, as always, Iowa offers a great variety of places to go and things to see and do in Iowa this fall. See Day Trips, page 8, for some of our favorites. Enjoy a great Iowa autumn!
Dan Weeks, Editor editor@iowan.com iowan.com/blog facebook.com/theiowan @theiowan
Jim Slife Twilla Glessner Accounting Manager Allison Volker CEO
Production Manager
The Iowan, ISSN (0021-0772), is published bi-monthly by Pioneer Communications, Inc., 300 Walnut Street, Suite 6, Des Moines, Iowa 50309. This issue is dated July 1, 2015, Volume 63, No. 6. All content © 2015 The Iowan/Pioneer Communications, Inc., and may not be used, reproduced, or altered in any way without prior written permission. Periodicals Postage Paid in Des Moines, Iowa, and at additional mailing offices. We cannot be held responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited material. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to: The Iowan, 316 W. 5th St., Waterloo, IA 50701. Prices: Subscriptions — Special rate when ordered direct or by mail: six issues per year for $24. International orders require additional postage. Please call for rates. Single copies — on newsstands: $4.95; current issue by mail: $4.95 plus $3.50 S+H. Please call for quantity discount pricing. Single past issues 2005 to present: $5.95 plus S+H, two for $9.95 plus S+H; prior to 2005: $14.95 plus S+H. New Subscriptions, Renewals, Gifts: iowan.com > SUBSCRIBE subscribe@pioneermagazines.com 800-765-1690 Change of Address: iowan.com> CONTACT > Address Change subscribe@pioneermagazines.com 800-765-1690 Past Issues: subscribe@pioneermagazines.com 877-899-9977 Mail Orders: The Iowan Subscription Services P.O. Box 2516, Waterloo, IA 50704 Advertising Information: advertising@iowan.com iowan.com Proudly printed in Iowa 10% PCW Paper Made in the USA facebook.com/theiowan
4
iowan.com
July/August 2015 | THE IOWAN
1
letters A cowboy wrangles a heifer below decks. The stench in unventilated
iowacelebrates
Iowa’s Seagoing Cowboys
at sea. 1,400 had to be fed Yet the animals of hay daily, and four tons pounds of oats the ship’s manpower from the all hoisted by over the side was pitched hold. Manure saltwater every washed with the stalls were hardened seamen same way, and rough and the bats duty was often are drunk as two days. The members crew a rougher. (“The It made life on could be even in his journal.) one cowboy tranquil paradise. today,” wrote 160 acres of the farm look like shearing, and central Iowa the sheep needed that he protest his On Lord’s ship, it. Despite Lord to handle handed me a foreman asked shorn, “they a sheep being plunged. watched he pen merely had into an animal’s shears” and little time for pair of hand ships there was Heatwole, On many outbound scrawled Kenneth like dopes,” tic journal. reflection. “Working in his 1946 transatlan another cowboy,
two Iowa nture lured n organizatio ism and adve In 1946 altru d launch a relief year. sea. They helpe leted its 70th farm boys to that’s just comp by STEVE DINNEN
them” to “May God help they neared port. Many ships had of
give them,” anything we’d they’d beg for in Greece following “The little kids, Lord after landing remembers Howard everywhere.” a farm near “Starvation was World War II. 22-year-old from to help. The whose job Lord was there “seagoing cowboys” one of 7,000 to some of the Grinnell was and other livestock II. horses of World War it was to deliver the ravages hardest hit by world’s places
56
DWIGHT FARRINGER PHOTO COURTESY REISTE AND RICHARD
relief for hunger Heifer organization, A new model humanitarian
a then-new care for, and He’d heard that for men to handle, was looking — mostly International, long sea voyages as they made Victory-class feed the animals Liberty- and the World War II the cowboys; on hastily converted livestock and supplied the freighters. Heifer ships. supplied the on,” page 58) United Nations More Informati hand nal (see “For Rather than Heifer Internatio ions. organizat as breed from other relief was different could be used d animals that was a radical distribute it out food, al capacity. It a region’s agricultur stock to rebuild highly effective. proven chance the since by idea that’s was lured his fellows, Lord $150 for Like many of — and to earn for his fellow man help Wilma, to to travel, his fiancée, trip. He asked the four- to six-week travel to Greece. wedding, I could permission to time for the got home in and fellow Grinnell “She said if I Howell, a pal Lord and Charles to join 28 other go,” he says. News, Virginia, d to Newport for Greece. farmer, hitchhike and sheep bound a load of cattle baby goats, even cowboys and wrangled horses, lly pacifist Other cowboys from traditiona were , men the of Friends (Quakers) chicks. Many the Brethren, ties such as and to fulfill faith communi to serve mankind joined who es Some, like Lord, and Mennonit obligations. objector service studying conscientious college students were Others y composing. were farm boys. — even symphon medicine, journalism
s with violent ated cowhand seas incapacit animals bit and The crowded seasickness. their stalls went down in kicked; horses gave birth coaxed up. Mares and had to be
ships’ holds could be almost unbearable.
to be loaded are waiting These cattle bound for war-torn onto a freighter conditions of crowded lands. In spite en route. few were lost and rough seas,
s when the wreckage All that changed minefields and d by through live been devastate pick their way ports that had ships to reach leveled, Jewish half-sunken entire cities saw firsthand recently war. There many tion camps only d, concentra of on both sides ghettos obliterate in countries ked, and survivors liberated — for food, shell-shoc in rags, begging and dying. the conflict living I d, and still starving life. “Never have for wounded, disoriente of the cowboys es been so It changed many have my sympathi in one day nor Heatwole. learned as much beings,” wrote he my fellow human them.” Later aroused toward May God help Polish people. all they wanted “These poor have given them wish if I could only dirty faces. I added, “Oh, was tending washed their our ld Richard Reiste, them or even forgive 17-year-o clothed God County or have Dallas see — may Another Iowan, in America could his family’s 160-acre — and cows on every Christian the Brethren crops, pigs, the Church of Traveling heard through negligence!” — about a side of the world. farm when he on the other south of Perry a, Japan, of its church It was the same had killed their goats to Yokoham he was a member Farmers there carried milk where the entire horses to Romania. in a ship that es and now needed through cities shipment of to feed themselv Leach passed boiled, d, cremated, during the war cowboy Robert fields again. workhorses — “suffocate to plow their gave vanished ever had were n cowboys Many if they populatio “I thought that’d firebombing. replacements Reiste says. even by American out of Iowa,” or drowned” they could. Some “I’d never been they had to those with them. Orleans and whatever food on their ships be a great chance.” went to New orphans back return voyages, of 1946, Reiste board smuggled war cowboys on cowboys on In the summer duties for the od Victory. Thirty seen. They There were no where they SS Lindenwo on what they’d boarded the to Trieste, Italy, the time to reflect topics with as they steamed and many used social justice tended livestock political, and for Romania. American soldiers discussed religious, on ships with would be off-loaded Some rode back one another. ” dopes Heifer’s like of es. One “Working fresh from battle. ing experienc were eye-open and was The voyages on lower decks 335 mares confined of manure; 20-foot ships carried stalls reeked The animals’ 25 days at sea. 57 May/June 2015
THE IOWAN
iowan.com
HEIFER PRIDE
A FAN OF BOB’S
the 1800s, which in Iowa ranges from
Thank you for the feature on Bob Dorr
presettlement date (except for the
in the July/August issue. I really enjoyed
Dubuque area) to the verge of modern
it, and I’m not just saying that because
times. The significance of the article on
one of my photos was featured on
the assault of the Editor, for example,
page 50! I’ve been a fan of Bob’s music
would vary greatly depending upon
and radio shows for years, and I also
whether it occurred in frontier days
consider him a good friend. His friends
or after the state should have become
and fans have known he’s been an Iowa
“civilized.” I hope in the future the
Icon for years, and it’s wonderful of you
publication dates can be added.
What a pleasant surprise to see the
—Russ Richardson
—Roger Burkhart via email
article about Heifer International in
Urbandale
Mr. Burkhart raises a good point.
to share his story with your readers.
The Iowan May/June 2015 issue [p. 56].
Yes, we can be more specific. Our
I grew up on a family farm in Kalona,
“From the Archives” pieces were
graduated from Iowa State, and have
originally compiled for and published
worked in Brazil with Pioneer Hi-Bred International for 40 years, but my Iowa roots are very strong. In 1965 I went to Bolivia as a volunteer with Mennonite Central Committee and worked at a Methodist agricultural school. We produced Duroc
BOB DORR:
in The Iowan from the late 1950s to
IOWA’S FAVORITE BLUESMAN
the early 1970s by the late Drake
page 46
11
University professor of history William
page 10
heading “The Iowa Record: Iowa News
PLACES TO MAKE A SUMMER SPLASH
D. Houlette. They ran under the
WHY THE WACKY WEATHER? page
of 100 Years Ago,” which would make
38
the articles cited from the late 1850s
hogs from Heifer Project stock that
through the early 1870s.
were passed on to small farmers. Their
—ed.
payment was the sows’ first offspring, passed on to another family — truly gifts that continue giving. Of course the follow-up and breeding program went along with the animals to maintain the program’s success. It really works! I returned to Kalona in 1968 and started a campaign to send dairy heifers to the Dominican Republic. Churches, civic groups, and individuals contributed; dairymen gave animals; WMT-TV and Bob Nance gave support. That November we trucked bred Holsteins from Kalona to Miami, then loaded them on a C-46 transport plane for the Dominican Republic. How exciting it was to see the faces of those who received those heifers. I was, and still am, so proud of the
MORE MURALS
AMAZED I am amazed every time see Bob Dorr perform at how talented he is. His low, gravelly voice is choice, and his ability to play rhythm is second to none. He appears intimidating on the stage but has no problem coming out into the audience either to play his harmonica or talk with individuals. If you have never seen Bob Dorr and the Blue Band
baseball murals in Norway. The Iowa Baseball Museum of Norway has three outdoor baseball murals and more indoors. Vinton has more, including one of our own Hal Trosky. We hope you can cover them someday. —Dan and Shona Frese Norway
—Carol Nickels Cedar Rapids
Iowa’s
MURALS springing Epic artwork is state. up all over the Why?
DATES, PLEASE
and sensitivity to help others wherever
articles [The Iowan’s “From the Archives”
they are. I am also grateful to all the
column, specifically “Adventures in
Iowa people who made it possible
Frontier Newspapering,” July/August,
through their gifts for those families to
page 56], but I was disappointed to
have milk. It was great to be an Iowan.
find that the date of original publication
iowan.com
page 34], but you missed some great
missing something special!
I enjoyed the reprints of early newspaper
6
May/June 2015 issue [“Iowa’s Murals,”
or heard Bob on KUNI, you are really
Iowa people, their values, generosity,
—Marlan Logan Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil
Great job on the mural article in the
was not given with each. The only date indication was that they were from
by DAN WEEKS
That effort installed project for Iowa. . Lake buildings statewide ccording to Spirit murals in public n for opposite, Wood found inspiratiothe artist Jack Rees, from home to West Okoboji is his murals in a quote statesman mural the world’s largest 19th-century American tillage just “When artist — and he’s Daniel Webster: painted by a single By that other arts follow.” it. begins, — finishing has 28 the first artists logic, farmers are Nearby Rock Rapids rural life bring the The city and murals about murals — and counting. for and representation more each year process of creation wonder Iowa plans to add two no full circle. Perhaps the foreseeable future. ground for murals. Homstad is known was and is fertile Decorah’s Carl scale of Iowa’s He’s painted dozens Perhaps also, the Or as “Iowa’s muralist.” itself to big art. landscape lends across the state. of community here the Walldogs sense as known intimate the A group to capture and in 2006 and left is one people want descended on Keokuk an elegant mural Or the prairie heritage with orate. later, commem it, four days ents that followed early-20th-century and the achievem in the style of classic, of remembering. fond advertising. we’re wall ones ted are hand-pain In any case, we’re the 1930s have a Or all of the above. Perhaps not since here. artwork. Here are heyday epic a in such rich a state murals enjoyed — some old, some Wood, Iowa’s few of our favorites barely dry. That’s when Grant is t artist, headed the on which the paint most iconic regionalis (WPA) Administration’s Works Progress
A
May/June 2015
34
iowan.com
THE IOWAN
35
iowamap
IOWA s Movie
at the
MISSING MOVIE
, coming attractions Iowa’s best movies, . theaters, and more actors, film festivals,
Points of Interest in This Issue
I recently reread your January/
2015 | THE IOWAN
37
PHOTOGRAPHY © PHIL POOL OMNI
February 2015
January/February
47 37 60 31
19 28
50
issue. The article
42
41 43
25
29
“Iowa at the Movies” caught
my attention. We just showed the movie
15
The Final Season in our Central Park. It
34
20
is a great example of an Iowa-oriented
62
movie that could have been included in your article. As you might expect, this
5 23
11 58
54
39
40
2 46
3 8 17 56 59 21 44
30
32
movie was well-received by us Iowans;
9 55
57 4 12 49 1 48 16 33 35
45
61
51
6
26
53 14 52 38 1824
I recall the reviewers (usually from the East and West Coasts) did not rate the
7
13
movie well. How can we expect them
10 22
to understand that Iowans truly do care
27 36
about one another? Much of the movie plot centered on that. Keep up the good work with your great magazine!
32. Honey Creek— p. 8
1. Amana — p. 8
—Alvin Noehren Garner
2. Ames — p. 17, 50, 51, 52, 56
33. Iowa City — p. 16, 17, 42, 44, 46
3. Ankeny — p. 44, 45, 47
34. Jefferson — p. 8
Thanks for reminding us of this 2007
4. Atkins — p. 10
35. Kalona — p. 6
film based on the Norway High School
5. Balltown— p. 28
36. Keokuk — p. 34, 35
baseball team’s final 1990–1991 state
6. Bellevue — p. 30
37. Lansing — p. 2, 28
7. Bentonsport — p. 9, 76, 77
38. Le Claire — p. 32, 33
8. Bondurant — p. 10
39. Madrid — p. 9
9. Buckingham — p. 18
40. Manning — p. 9
championship winning season. The film featured Ottumwa native Tom Arnold and was shot in Shellsburg and Cedar Rapids. —ed.
STAY IN TOUCH!
10. Burlington — p. 34, 35
41. Marquette — p. 28
11. Cedar Falls — p. 69
42. Mason City — p. 9
12. Cedar Rapids — p. 6, 16, 17
43. McGregor — p. 28
13. Clarinda — p. 9
44. Mitchellville — p. 10
14. Clinton — p. 30, 31
45. Muscatine — p. 34, 35
The Iowan
15. Conrad — p. 77
46. Nevada— p. 17
300 Walnut Street, Suite 6
16. Coralville — p. 8
47. New Albin — p. 28, 34
Des Moines, IA 50309
17. Dallas Center — p. 13
48. North Liberty — p. 10
editor@iowan.com
18. Davenport — p. 32, 33, 44, 47
49. Norway — p. 6, 7
iowan.com > Contact
19. Decorah — p. 10
50. Orange City — p. 10
Facebook.com > The Iowan
20. Denison — p. 8
51. Orient — p. 9
21. Des Moines — p. 8, 13, 17, 44, 62, 63
52. Princeton — p. 10
READ OUR BLOG! iowan.com/blog features local characters, favorite places, littleknown facts, and other Iowa Discoveries every Friday.
22. Donnellson — p. 10
53. Sabula — p. 30, 31
23. Dubuque — p. 6, 9, 30, 34, 80
54. Sioux City — p. 8, 9
24. East Davenport — p. 32
55. Traer — p. 18
25. Elgin — p. 10
56. Urbandale — p. 6
26. Emeline — p. 74
57. Vinton — p. 6
27. Fort Madison — p. 34
58. Waterloo — p. 18
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28. Garner— p. 7
59. Waukee — p. 8, 46
Like what you see? Don’t miss an
29. Guttenberg — p. 28
60. Wexford — p. 28
30. Harlan — p. 66
61. Winterset — p. 71
31. Harpers Ferry — p. 28
62. Woodbine — p. 66
issue! Subscribe at iowan.com
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
7
iowaxxx iowatravels
DayTrips Events worthy of an excursion
FRYfest
Pedaler’s Jamboree
Monarch Tagging
CELEBRATE EVERYTHING HAWKEYE!
PEDAL TO THE BEAT
DREAM BUTTERFLY DREAMS
Coralville, Iowa River Landing
Waukee to Jefferson Raccoon River Valley Trail
Honey Creek, Hitchcock Nature Center
Friday, September 4, 10 a.m. 300 E. 9th Street fryfest.com 319-337-6592 Festival: free, Concert: $15 in advance Billed as a day to “live, eat, and breathe our beloved Hawkeyes,” this festival includes a collector’s showcase, a blackand-gold fashion show, a former-player panel discussion and autographs — plus a pep rally, an outdoor concert by hard rock legend Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, and the world’s largest Hawkeye tradeshow. And (of course!) tailgating.
Saturday–Sunday, September 5–6, leave 7–9 a.m. Waukee Trailhead pedalersjamboreeiowa.com 573-234-4642
Grab your butterfly net and get ready to meet a monarch. Learn all about the
takes riders along the Raccoon River
beautiful butterflies — their life and
Valley Trail from Waukee to Jefferson
migration — while tagging them as part
and back — with a live sound track.
of a national research project. Preregister
Nonriders are invited to the many
by September 9.
musical stops along the way. Nearly every town on the trail provides entertainment and refreshments.
COME YE TO THE TOURNAMENT
Amana, Millstream Brewing Co.
4051 Dean Avenue dmrenfaire.com 641-357-5177 $16 adults, $8 ages 5–12, free ages 4 and under There will be merchants, jousting, artisans at work, and singing in the streets. There will also be a narrated torture chamber tour, complete with sound and visual effects, in a medieval castle. Dressing in Renaissance attire is encouraged, as is bringing a purse full of coin for shopping in the 16-acre Festival Park’s permanent village.
8
iowan.com
$6 adults, $5 kids ages 6–18
This weekend bicycle-and-music festival
Festival of Iowa Beers
Weekends, September 5–20, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.
27792 Ski Hill Loop pottcoconservation.com 712-328-5638
$60 adults, $25 youth 16 and under
Des Moines Renaissance Faire XIII Des Moines, Festival Park
Saturday, September 12, 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m.
DRINK UP Sunday, September 6, 1–5 p.m. 835 48th Avenue millstreambrewing.com 319-622-3627 $20 in advance, $25 at the door Taste the best beers made in Iowa at the state’s oldest brewery. Meet the brewmasters, quaff their suds, and listen to music of Fleetwood Mac (as well as Journey, REO Speedwagon, Steely Dan, and more) played by cover band Holiday Road. Proceeds go to the Iowa Brewers Guild to help keep the beer flowing.
Tri City BBQ Fest BREAK OUT YOUR BIB Denison, Uptown Friday–Saturday, September 18–19, Friday: 5–11:30 p.m., Saturday: 10 a.m.–11:30 p.m. Uptown Denison tricitybbq.com 712-263-6622 Festival: free admission; Concert: $20, $15 in advance, $25 two-day pass Des Moines, Omaha, and Sioux City bring their best BBQ and music to Denison for a two-day showdown. The winner gets a trophy; you get food, drink, and plenty of entertainment. With a car show, carnival, street vendors, and historical tours, you’ll barely have time for the BBQ and Iowa craft beers. The main stage features rock bands Fuel, Hairball, and The Verve Pipe.
Sioux City Orchestra 100th Season Opening Gala CELEBRATE WITH SONG Sioux City, Orpheum Theatre Saturday, September 19, 7:30 p.m. 528 Pierce Street siouxcitysymphony.org 712-277-2111 $75.50, $30, $15, student and group rates available Grammy and Tony Award-winning guest vocalist Audra McDonald celebrates the dawn of a new century for the Sioux City Symphony with hits from Broadway to Hollywood.
Cookin’ with Katie: Holiday Appetizers WHET YOUR HOLIDAY APPETITE
Country School Preservation Conference
Iowa Independent Film Festival
NEVER STOP LEARNING
SOAK IN THE SILVER SCREEN
Madrid, Iowa Arboretum Conference Center
Mason City, Historic Park Inn
Friday–Saturday, October 9–10, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Friday–Sunday, October 23–25, screening times vary
1875 Peach Avenue boonecountyhistory.org 515-795-3216
7 West State Street iowaindie.org 641-355-3218
Conference: $30, Friday night BBQ and program: $11, Saturday tour: $12
$30 three-day pass, $15 one-day pass
From how to preserve a country school
movie scene, you’re about to be proved
to comparing Common Core and country
wrong. More than 30 new videos;
school curricula, this conference offers
feature-length, documentary, and short
new insights to the country school
art films; and student productions hit
enthusiast and newcomer alike. Also
the big screen to showcase Iowa’s
included: a walking tour of the arboretum
cinematic talent in this annual three-day
and a trip to the Kate Shelley Railroad
event. Look for a few in-person celebrity
Bridge Museum — because every country
appearances as well.
school kid learned about Kate Shelley.
Orient, Henry A. Wallace Country Life Center
Oktoberfest
Tuesday, September 22, 5:30 p.m.
WEAR YOUR LEDERHOSEN
2773 290th Street wallace.org 515-243-7063
Manning, Hausbarn Heritage Park
Alice in Wonderland — Pushcart Players GO ASK ALICE Dubuque University of Dubuque Heritage Center
Saturday, October 10, 5 p.m.
Renowned for her creative use of locally
12196 311th Street germanhausbarn.com 712-655-3131
grown foods, Chef Katie Porter will fill
$10
you with holiday ideas, not to mention
You can’t get more authentic than
tasty tidbits, in this creative cooking
Oktoberfest in a real German hausbarn.
class. Enjoy the natural beauty of the
Built in Germany in 1660 and relocated
Country Life Center and dinner of local
to Manning in 1996, it hosts an evening
foods (included in the price). Preregister
of food, beer tasting, and dancing to
to reserve your spot — space is limited.
polka music by Barefoot Becky and the
$40
60th Annual Southwest Iowa Band Jamboree STRIKE UP THE BAND
Monday, October 26, 10 a.m. 2000 University Avenue dbq.edu 563-589-3432
Ivanhoe Dutchmen. Admission gets you in the gate; food and beer are extra.
TAKE A TRIP BACK IN TIME
Saturday, October 3, 9 a.m., 1 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday, October 10–11, specific event times vary
$7, group rates available With whimsical music, design, and direction, this nationally known children’s theater company brings Alice to life as she takes her journey of self-discovery. The SchoolBus Performance Series has group rates for school field trips, but the presentation offers entertainment
Bentonsport Riverfest
Clarinda, Downtown Square & Clarinda High School football field Downtown and 100 N. Cardinal Drive clarinda.org 712-542-2166
If you don’t think Iowa has an active
Bentonsport, Historic District
for all ages.
GET LISTED!
Field competition: $5, Parade: free
Downtown Bentonsport greefstore.com 319-592-3579
This is the king of Iowa high school
free
marching band competitions. Nearly 50
Live music. Pioneer games. Antiques,
bands compete in the parade marching
crafts, jewelry, food. The Riverfest has
competition downtown at 9 a.m. Around
it all, including an art festival by the
25 compete at 1 p.m. for the field
Van Buren County Arts Council. Historic
marching competition. It’s colorful. It’s
Bentonsport shines as part of the Villages
action-packed. And the music is great!
of Van Buren Scenic Drive.
Does your organization put on an event worthy of an excursion? We’d love to consider it for inclusion in Day Trips. For more information, email calendar@iowan.com.
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
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iowatravels
a-Maize-ing Mazes are carved out of cornfields
COURTESY PINTER’S GARDENS AND PUMPKINS
statewide. They’re a fun way for people of all ages to get out in the field and test their navigation skills and are often paired with playgrounds, pumpkin patches, and other outdoor attractions. Here are a few we’d enjoy visiting.
Atkins BLOOMSBURY FARM Open September and October Monday–Saturday 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. 3260 69th Street bloomsburyfarm.com 319-446-7667 $8.50, free kids under 2 Bloomsbury Farm has two corn mazes, a pumpkin patch, and a zip line that soars over cornfields, pastures, and Dry Creek.
Bondurant GEISLER FARMS
Donnellson
North Liberty
HARVESTVILLE FARM
COLONY PUMPKIN PATCH AND CORN MAZE
Open September 1–October 31 Monday–Saturday 9 a.m.–7 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.–7 p.m. 1977 Highway 2 harvestvillefarm.com 319-470-1558 $6 ages 3 and up, free 2 and under A large maze, mini maze, child play area, and Moonlight Maze Saturdays in October.
Monday–Friday 4–6 p.m. Saturday–Sunday 10 a.m.–6 p.m. (Friday and Saturday: flashlight maze open 7–10 p.m.) 2780 Front Street NE colonypumpkinpatch.com 319-430-5672 $5 for the corn maze, $6 for the flashlight maze. Bring your flashlight! Also: hayrack rides,
Open weekends in September–October Saturday 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Sunday noon–6 p.m.
Elgin
5251 NE 94th Avenue growingfamilyfun.com 515-964-2640
Open August through Halloween; hours vary
Orange City
22580 A Avenue iowamaizemaze.org 563-419-1133
Open September and October Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–dark
$8 maze and hayride ($1 off admission with donated food item).
a playground, and plenty of pumpkins.
MAIZE MAZE PUMPKINLAND IOWA
$7 ages 12 and over, $5 ages 5–11, free 4 and under; group discounts available
4123 Jackson Avenue pumpkinlandiowa.com 712-737-8364
Decorah
The maze is near the Gilbertson Nature
$6 adults; $5 ages 5–12, free 4 and under
Center, petting zoo, fishing pond, and
A 7-acre corn maze plus a munchkin
PINTER’S GARDENS AND PUMPKINS
Hart Dummermuth Historical Home.
maze for little ones. Pumpkins, squash,
Find all 20 fence posts in the maze and win a slice of pizza!
Weekends September 19–October 25 Saturday 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 2475 State Highway 9 pintersgardensandpumpkins.com 563-382-0010 $10, free ages 3 and under; senior discount. Enjoy a pumpkin patch, wagon rides, pumpkin bowling, and a “jumping pillow” for bouncing fun.
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gourds, and apples for sale.
Mitchellville ALLSUP’S PUMPKINVILLE AND CORNMAZE
Princeton HAUNTED CARTER FARMS
Open daily August–October 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
Friday and Saturday nights in October 7–10:30 p.m.
618 Center Avenue S. pumpkinvillecornmaze.com 515-710-2843
28322 Great River Road hauntedcarterfarms.com 563-289-9999
$7 for the large maze; $1 for the mini maze; check for group rates
$12 (discount for military and/or donating 2 canned food items)
Allsup’s features two mazes — one is
Wind your way through 4 acres of
quite challenging, especially at night!
twisting paths plus an indoor 3-D maze.
This is ahh-mazing. Stroll through a tranquil garden that’s home to 90 varieties of roses. Find your groove at the nationally renowned Iowa City Jazz Festival. Explore the Midwest’s largest and most diverse collection of 1930’s Art Deco architecture. Meander among larger-than-life sculptures in the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park— one of the nation’s largest public collections. Extraordinary art and uncommon culture come together in Iowa. Discover unexpected trip ideas at TRAVELIOWA.COM.
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
11
iowagrows
PLANT SOME
Fall Color!
Bring the hues and textures of Iowa’s autumn to your yard by planting these flamboyant trees and shrubs. by DEB WILEY
PHOTO COURTESY MARIA ZAMPINI, UPSHOOT LLC, UPSHOOTHORT.COM
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To guide your fall planting this year,
‘BRILLIANTISSIMA’ ARONIA
we asked Andy Schmitz, director of horticulture at the
(Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’)
Brenton Arboretum near Dallas Center, to pare his long list
“Most aronias have great fall color,
of fall favorites to these eight.
but if you want one with consistent red fall color, try ‘Brilliantissima’,” says
RASPBERRY TART ARROWWOOD VIBURNUM
Schmitz. Fruits are too tart to eat
(Viburnum dentatum ‘Rastzam’)
straight off the shrub but make
Tough, versatile viburnums are staples in Iowa yards, but
antioxidant-rich juices and jellies.
many grow quite large. This compact shrub’s glossy green
Glossy green summer foliage turns
leaves transform to raspberry red in fall (opposite). At 4 feet tall by 5 feet wide, it provides cover for birds and produces blue-black fruits favored by cardinals, bluebirds, cedar waxwings, grosbeaks, and robins. ‘AUTUMN BRILLIANCE’ APPLE SERVICEBERRY (Amelanchier grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’) “If you want a small tree with three-season interest, plant ‘Autumn Brilliance’,” Schmitz says. “I want my landscape to be beautiful and to provide me with food.” At 25 to 30 feet tall by 15 to 25 feet wide and growing in full sun to shade, this small tree is adaptable to anything but wet soil. White flowers in spring
bright red in fall. Also called red chokeberry, it grows 6 to 10 feet tall and 3 to 5 feet wide in full sun to part shade. ‘TOR’ BIRCH-LEAF SPIREA (Spiraea betulifolia ‘Tor’) This foundation plant boasts exceptional fall color in shades of orange, red, and purple. “We have a whole circle of them at the arboretum, and I have them in my backyard,” Schmitz says. The dense, rounded mound reaches 2 to 3 feet tall and wide. It grows best in full sun.
become delicious edible fruits in June. Fall brings a show of
COMMON WITCH HAZEL
red-orange leaf color.
(Hamamelis virginiana) “What else is blooming in the fall?”
BEARBERRY
asks Schmitz rhetorically. He loves
(Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
to watch the fragrant yellow flowers
This groundcover shrub
appear in October when the leaves
cascades over a retaining
also become a handsome yellow.
wall at the arboretum. “It’s
In full sun to part shade it reaches
like a waterfall,” Schmitz
15 to 20 feet tall and wide. “With
says. “It’s just gorgeous.” Slow-growing bearberry prefers dry, well-drained soils and sun to part shade. Only 6 to 12 inches tall, it spreads up to
those delicate petals and yellow leaves, it’s just gorgeous,” Schmitz says.
15 feet wide. Pink or white flowers become red berries by late
SPICEBUSH (Lindera benzoin)
summer. Glossy green leaves turn reddish purple in fall and
Its size, at 6 to 12 feet tall and wide,
hang on through the winter.
makes spicebush perfect for a larger SEVEN-SON FLOWER (Heptacodium miconiodes) This multistemmed tree introduced to the United States from China in 1980 deserves wider
yard where it can be massed or placed in a focal point. Enjoy “outstanding shades of yellow” and bright red fruits that ripen in September and October. Grow in full sun to part shade. The stems release a spicy scent when lightly bruised.
acclaim. “It should be a
For more information on these trees and shrubs:
focal point in the yard,”
thebrentonarboretum.org
Schmitz says. White fragrant flowers are borne on seven-tiered panicles from August into October. “The real show occurs in October and November when the calyces, or sepals, turn reddish. The effect is spectacular and long-lasting.” It grows best in full sun and
Deb Wiley is a Des Moines-based garden writer and regular contributor to The Iowan. Photos this page courtesy Rob Cardillo (2, 6 and 8), Deb Wiley (3 and 7), Mark Kane (4), and Bill Johnson (5).
reaches 15 to 25 feet tall, 8 to 12 feet wide.
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
13
Nobody works harder (or smarter)
to manage your risk.
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www.reynolds-reynolds.com 14
iowan.com
FIGGE ART MUSEUM EXHIBITION
Ellen Wagener: Horizon Lines OCTOBER 3, 2015-JANUARY 24, 2016 Artist Ellen Wagener takes the quintessential Midwestern landscape—rows of corn receding to the horizon under ever-changing skies—as the starting point for her works. Working in pastel, and often in series and at large scale, Wagener uses sketches, photographs and her memory to create vivid evocations of particular weather patterns and times of day. Horizon Lines will feature several new series of works depicting the seasons and the rising sun, as well as earlier works, such as F5 Tornado from the Figge collection. Contributing sponsors: Scout Wolf, Xenotronics, Pappas Davidson O’Connor & Fildes, P.C. Ellen Wagener, Summer, 2014, pastel, courtesy of the artist.
Davenport, IA • 563.326.7804 www.figgeartmuseum.org
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
15
iowatastes
Ride. Eat. Repeat. Exploring local food by bicycle story and photography by DEB WILEY
It’s probably no surprise that a state that hosts the largest,
“The food movement in Iowa has really taken off,” says
longest, and oldest bicycle-touring event in the world would
Audrey Wiedemeier, an Ames native who started the Culinary
also give rise to a growing number of single-day bike rides that
Ride in Iowa five years ago.
pair bicycling with farms and local food. This year, RadTour (German for a bicycle ride with friends)
Wiedemeier and her partners, Kris Estergaard and chef Gaby Weir, volunteer their time to create routes that change
hosts Culinary Rides from Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, and the
each year, find farmers to host a couple hundred bicyclists,
Quad Cities. Local Food Cycle sponsors a similar ride through
and ask chefs to showcase their skills using local bounty.
eastern Story County. (See “Will Bike for Food,” opposite.) It’s all part of a movement to connect people, pedals, places, and producers.
“Chefs get a local food subsidy from us but pay for anything that’s not local,” Wiedemeier says. “It’s a really good platform for promoting farmers and chefs.” No two years’ bicycle tours are alike.
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Bicyclists pay an entry fee, show up, eat, drink, and ride. The distance can vary from mileage in the mid 20s to the 60s, and the participants are limited to 150 to 400 riders. “We want to give you a ‘wow your bike socks off’ kind of ride that you never expected and is a total surprise,” Wiedemeier says. Many farmers live along gravel roads, so cyclists should be prepared to handle riding on almost any surface. Last year’s Local Food Cycle started in Ames with zucchini-chocolate chip and apple streusel muffins made with local produce. After a 5-mile ride to Onion Creek Farm, cyclists ogled the chickens that laid the eggs for their breakfast wraps replete with farm-grown leeks, onions, garlic, chives, ‘Red Opal’ basil, Italian basil, and parsley. Nine miles farther, almond-currant-date granola bars were served at a private wetland. After cranking another 8 miles, bicyclists noshed on quiche and two kinds of watermelon plus local craft beers at Red Granite Farm. It was a quick 3 miles to Mustard Seed Community Farm, where ISU Dining served sandwiches of capicola, sliced roasted beets, ricotta, and tapenade on pumpernickel paired with kale slaw. “A Culinary Ride appealed to us because we got to be paired with a farm, learn about them, and also get the chance to meet a lot of different people on the ride,” says Scott Bruhn, ISU Dining’s executive chef. “The passion with which people
ISU Dining Executive chef Scott Bruhn and his team served sandwiches with local ingredients and a side of kale slaw. ISU Dining will return to this year’s Local Food Cycle ride August 30.
grow and prepare quality products is strong here, and that makes for a strong sense of community.” The sandwiches fueled the longest stretch of the ride: 13 miles (including some gnarly gravel) to Fisher’s Flowers
WILL BIKE FOR FOOD
and Produce for a rewarding raspberry tart and honey-ginger
Join these Iowa culinary rides or contact the organizers
ice cream topped with fresh chocolate mint.
to learn how to host one in your area:
The last food stop, 4 miles away at Prairie Moon Winery, yielded two kinds of melon, wine, and a folk singer crooning from the winery’s corncrib gazebo, a peaceful interlude before the final 3½ miles back to the starting point. Bikers loved it. “It was well organized, the route was the right length, the farms were fun to see, and the food was AMAZING,” one rider raved to the Local Food Cycle organizers. Jessica Johnson, marketing coordinator for Prairie Rivers
AUGUST 30: NEWBO CULINARY RIDE starting at the NewBo City Market, Cedar Rapids culinaryride.com
AUGUST 30: LOCAL FOOD CYCLE starts and ends at the Story County Fairgrounds in Nevada prrcd.org/local-food-cycle
SEPTEMBER 13: QUAD CITIES CULINARY RIDE
of Iowa, says this year’s Local Food Cycle route is shorter: a
a fund-raiser for Freight House bike racks
choice of 34.5 or 26.6 miles. It will end with root beer floats,
culinaryride.com
a live ukulele band, and a hayride back to the start point.
SEPTEMBER 20: IOWA CITY CULINARY RIDE
Connecting people with farmers is important, but Culinary Rides also have their silly sides. Wiedemeier encourages riders
fifth annual ride, costumes encouraged culinaryride.com
to wear costumes; tutus and vegetables have been seen atop bikes. “Sometimes the local food movement and bike advocacy get a little serious for me,” she says. “It should be fun.” And easy: Eat. Ride. Repeat.
Deb Wiley is a Des Moines-based garden writer, regular contributor to The Iowan, enthusiastic bicyclist — and eater.
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
17
home iniowa
Buckingham Palace Jim and Linda Sawyer rescued, renovated, and live in a 6,000-square-foot, 1923 school in tiny Buckingham. Their friends quickly came up with a grand name for the place. story and photography by DAN WEEKS
There’s not a lot left of Buckingham, a town four miles or
on the facade that suggest heraldic shields, and just a hint of
so north of Traer in Tama County: a couple dozen houses, a
castlelike crenellation above the main entrance. It served as
grain co-op — and one landmark that almost didn’t survive:
the town’s seat of learning for more than 40 years, from 1923
Buckingham School.
until 1964, when Buckingham’s few remaining students were
The stately brick building is the grandest thing in town. It features ornamental brickwork, carved limestone plaques
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bussed to the North Tama County Community School District in Traer.
School’s out Forty years after that, in 2004, Linda and Jim Sawyer stumbled on the place while out for a drive. The building didn’t look so grand then. Some of the beautiful floor-to-ceiling windows had been boarded up. The roof was rotten and leaking. Inside, plaster was falling from the walls and ceiling. Earlier, others had made an aborted attempt to renovate and live there, eventually camping out around woodstoves after the aging furnaces failed. The last owners simply gave up and walked away. Linda Sawyer’s reaction as she stepped through the front door for the first time, took a deep breath of moldy air, and looked up the stairway to the second floor landing? “Gee, that would be a great place to put the Christmas tree!” The Sawyers lived in Waterloo at the time, where Jim had recently retired from Deere and Company and Linda had done office work for a series of phone companies and other organizations. They were “pretty handy,” says Linda, and had worked on all three of the modest homes they’d owned. Now they were looking for a place big enough to host large family gatherings — an old house (they like antiques) with a really big living/dining room perhaps. “But when we saw this,” says Linda, “there was the gym.” Yep. They have their own gymnasium — a huge, highceilinged room with a sunken floor and its own stage that takes up half of the first floor. That sealed the deal. There were other inducements. Aside from the roof, the place was rock solid with thick masonry walls. The original woodwork, doors, and details such as the water fountain on the second-floor landing; the velvety blackboards that adorned many of the rooms; and the stage in the gym were still in good
Simple, beautiful proportions are visible throughout, as in this view from the landing to the entryway. An antique-plaster paint treatment and walls of ancestral photos welcome family and visitors.
shape. Original bronze-painted lettering on doors glowed under multiple coats of varnish. Huge windows let in lots of natural light. Upstairs were four large classrooms; downstairs, two restrooms, a kitchen, and the gym.
Let’s get this party started But before the guests arrived, there was a bit of work to do. Eight years’ worth, in fact. The Sawyers dove right in, patching the roof even before they owned the place to prevent further water damage. Then they eradicated mold that had festered in the damp, unheated building with “gallons and gallons and gallons of bleach,” says Linda. They decided to keep the floor plan largely original with one major exception: They built a wall down the middle of Room 1 to create a master suite with a walk-in closet, a big bath, and hidden laundry area. Room 2 is a former geography classroom they refer to as the Library because of a wall-length bank of shelves and drawers salvaged from an old drugstore in Traer. Room 3 is a guest suite, and Room 4 houses Jim’s staggering collection of M&M’s memorabilia — a favorite
High ceilings, lots of natural light, and echoes of its classroom past grace the Library, which the Sawyers use as a living room.
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
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home iniowa
The Sawyers’ cozy, elegant master suite answers the question everyone asks: Can a former schoolhouse feel like home? (left ) Even the master suite retains its chalkboard (above). “The kids love to write and draw on them when they come,” Linda says.
exploration place for the couple’s grandkids. A deck off the
Go for it
master suite completes the list of alterations.
Palatial nickname aside, the school was surprisingly affordable
But that short list doesn’t begin to describe the work
— if you don’t count the eight years of sweat equity that went
involved. Ripping out tacky faux-wood paneling glued on
into the project. The couple bought the place for the current
the gym by previous inhabitants. Replastering walls the size
price of a decent midsize car and spent “three or four times
of billboards. Drilling and chiseling through foot-plus-thick
that” on the renovation. Still, for the cost of a big RV, they now
masonry to accommodate all-new plumbing, electrical, and
own a genuine Iowa landmark, and they couldn’t be happier.
mechanical systems. The Sawyers did most of the work themselves with lots of help from visiting family and friends. The hardest part? “Living in a demolition zone,” laughs Linda. “You’d clean up all the dust
There are lots of closed and unused old school buildings in Iowa’s small towns and cities, but Linda and Jim say those needn’t deteriorate to unusable eyesores. Their advice for others who might be tempted to renovate
and debris so you could sit down and have a meal, and the
one? “Be realistic, but don’t be afraid,” Linda says. “Realize
next day you had to do it all over again.”
that the renovation will cost multiples of the purchase price.
The result was better than they had imagined. The Sawyer
Don’t do it halfway” or you’ll end up like the previous owners
family by tradition gets together “every holiday, birthdays,
of Buckingham School — walking away from a moldering hulk
whenever we can,” says Linda. Grandkids come for weeks at a
rather than enjoying a restored showplace. “But outside of
time during the summer, and “last Christmas, there were 45 of
that, if you have a positive attitude and determination, you can
us here from as far away as Salt Lake City and Dallas.”
make almost anyplace look and work wonderfully for you.”
The kids — and there are dozens of them, counting all the
And restore a jewel in a small town’s crown in the process.
grandnieces and grandnephews — love the place. “It’s old. It’s unique. We have few restrictions. They can run around and tear up the place,” says Linda. “It’s a school — if it hasn’t been hurt by now, it’s not going to be. We have lawn games in the schoolyard, board games in the gym. When my daughter got married here, we sat 100 people in the gymnasium. We can get quite a few in.”
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Dan Weeks is editor of The Iowan.
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
21
Fall Harvest Friends Fall Festival
Scenic Drive Festival October 10–11, 2015
AVAILABLE TO RENT
Largest arts, crafts, antiques and flea market event in Southeast Iowa! Countywide event Spectacular Fall Foliage FREE admission
Hillview Recreation Area 25601 C 60, Hinton Iowa Contact Diana for details: 712-947-4270
ddowhower@co.plymouth.ia.us PlymouthCoConserv_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
April–Nov • Weddings • Parties • Corporate Events
515-729-8349 www.northrivercornmaze.com Corn maze Schedule for 2015
SEPT 25–OCT 30
Schedule a trip to visit our 3 corn mazes this fall. All ages welcome! Jumping pillow, barrel train, animals, hayrack rides, food and much more. Schedule a fire pit for your group!
October 10th, 2015 11am–8pm CRAFT FAIR ✺ KIDS GAMES BAKE SALE Halloween at Hillview 6–8pm
North River Adventures PARTY BARN
www.villagesofvanburen.com 800-868-7822
7/20/15 12:33 PM VillagesVanBuren_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
www.northrivercornmaze.com 2768 U.S. Hwy 65/69 Carlisle, Iowa 50047
515-729-8349
NRiverAdventures_SOIowan_2015.indd 1 7/15/15 9:40 AM
7/28/15 10:05 AM
38th Annual Creston/ Southwest Iowa Hot Air Balloon Days September 18, 19 & 20, 2015 Creston, Iowa
Over 50 Balloonists will compete in Hot Air Balloon Races over the weekend, Marching Band Contest, Night Glow, Flea Market, Car Show, Food & more
Call 641-782-7021 for more information www.crestoniowachamber.com 22
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7/7/15 1:42 PM
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Cherish Yesterday ~ Dream of Tomorrow ~ Live Today!
Your path to
at the
Fall Family
Farmall-Land-USA Museum in Avoca, IA
Fun!
A Great Getaway for a Day
Farmall-Land-USA is a 26,500 square foot museum which houses the personal lifetime collection of Jerry Mez— an incredible display of more than 250 IH full-size tractors, Cub Cadets, pedal tractors, toy tractors, artist's prints, and memorabilia.
Explore Amish Country & Historic Downtown Discover Crafts, Quilts, Furniture, & Antiques Enjoy Fine Dining, Yummy Bakeries & Chocolates Quilt Block Walking Tour & Barn Quilt Drive 10 min from Casino & Award Winning Golf
corn maze • corn box Travel back in time on our scenic back roads and get a sense of the rigorous days that comprise the Amish way of life. Tours take about 90 minutes. For more info on upcoming events & area attractions,
Kalona Area Chamber 319-656-2660
kalonachamber.com Farmall_SOIowan_201.indd 1
Sat 9-5:30 Sun 10-4
wagon rides to pumpkin patch
The museum is well-lit, climate-controlled, and handicap accessible.
Hours: Tues-Sat: 9 am–5 pm Sun: 12–5 pm Closed Mondays To arrange a group tour, call 402-490-1574 or 712-343-6354 Please visit our website at: www.farmall-land-usa.com
Sept 19 - Oct. 25
haunted attractions big slides • tetherball farm animals • goat walk giant jumping pillow pedal carts with track pumpkin blaster ball-zone • wiggle carts grain cart rides
6/26/15 12:03 PM
2015
The Bakery
Friday, Sept. 25 9:00 am - 9:00 pm
Saturday, Sept. 26 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Stroll through historic buildings, quilt galleries & museums, and enjoy old world demonstrations, antiques, craft festivals, good music & great food!
concessions available all day plus homemade fudge, cupcakes and seasonal treats
Iowa’s Best Kept Secret 4.5 miles west of Decorah, IA
715 D Ave, Kalona, IA 52247 319-656-3232 www.kalonaiowa.org
563-382-0010 • 2475 State Hwy 9 PintersGardensAndPumpkins.com for seasonal hours
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
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15th Annual
ST. ANSGAR FALL FESTIVAL
Sept 12, 2015
Art, craft, vintage, antique, seasonal goods, food and other vendors. Local merchants will also have in-store promotions. St.Ansgar Community Chamber For more information call: 641-713-4698
little PRAIRIE
Lincoln Highway Arts Festival Sept 19, 2015 Downtown Mount Vernon, Iowa More than 60 artists, food, music and family fun.
GIRL
HOME GOODS & CLOTHING
→ 312 Main St.
Cedar Falls → 20428 160th St. Holland
319-240-5060
www.mvaac.org
er-
• Sh
ari
ng
7/15/15 4:17 PM
In
Iowa
Pompoen Harvest Festival 2015.indd 1
U-pick apples and pumpkins, hayrides, corn maze, animals, pedal tractors, corn pool, jumping pillow, bakery, farm meals, weekend festivals, and more! 32835 610th Ave Cambridge, IA 50046 515-383-4354
http://practicalfarmers.org
Barn Stahl Farm Offering Affordable Family Fun since 2007! Open: Wed–Sat 1–6pm Starting Sept 9: 1–7pm Wed-Sunday! Over 35 different Farm and Exotic animals ✦ Petting Zoo ✦ Corn, Bean & Hay Mazes ✦ Pumpkin Patch, plus a lot more!
www.centergroveorchard.com CenterGrove_SOIowan_2014.indd 1
OUTDOOR JUNK MARKET 224 Pearl St. Walnut, IA www.facebook.com/truejunk
Free Face Painting and Balloon Artist Like us on Facebook for special events throughout the season!
16519 185th Wellsburg, IA
iowan.com
7/16/15 4:25 PM
TrueJunk_SOIowan_2015.indd 1 7/22/15 11:17 AM
Lucas County Hay Bale Art Contest September 22–November 1 Maps available
www.charitonareachambermainstreet.com
CharitonChamber_SOIowan_2015.indd 1 6/10/14 8:55 AM
TrUe JuNk
FALL FEST–Oct 17 & 18 1–7pm
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Pumpkin Harvest Fall Festival Sept. 25-26, 2015 PellaHistorical.com
tion
years
BarnStahl_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
Hosted by Pella Historical Museums
f
1985 - 2015
PRACTICAL farmers of Strengthening Farms and Communities
Pompoen Harfst
ma
Far m
We
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ing All LittlePrairieGirl_SOIowan_2015.indd lcom 1
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Junk-tober Fest Oct 2–3, 2015 10am–5pm
7/17/15 4:52 PM
Colony Pumpkin Patch a little country in the city
FALL FESTIVAL
Sat Oct 3rd OPEN: Sept 19–Oct 30 Mon–Fri 4pm–dusk Sat–Sun 10am–dusk
Located on S. Front St. North Liberty 319-626-6091
www.colonypumpkinpatch.com
6/9/15 9:12 AM ColonyPumpkin_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
7/8/15 4:06 PM
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
www.naturallylouisacounty.com
DRIVE THE
Most Scenic Byway IN IOWA
ffice for Contact our o el guide your free trav mchsi.com neiatourism@ 4-1424 or call 800-82
allamakeecounty.com AllamakeeCo_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
6/17/15 4:29 PM
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
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s ’ a w o I g n i r u o T
GREAT RIVER ROAD
Join us for a fall road trip down the picturesque East Coast of Iowa. story and photography by DAN WEEKS
Iowa’s Great River Road offers plenty of vistas like these — plus historic river ports, parks and recreation areas, locks and dams, and 326 miles of relaxing touring.
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he Missisippi riverbank is our East Coast, where Iowa’s modern settlement began. And the Iowa Great River Road runs through it. It threads 326 miles of some of the state’s most spectacular scenery. In some places, you’d swear you were in Switzerland, Germany, Ireland. In others, you can be nowhere else but Iowa. The route is a favorite touring destination, especially during fall foliage season. Even then, the road is generally uncrowded and the towns and cities welcoming. Stay at local inns, hotels, and B&Bs or choose from dozens of campgrounds en route where you can drift off to the muted thrum of towboats churning past. In addition to the scenery, the road travels through great walkable small towns and historic cities with lots of antiquing, shopping, and dining options. Parks and overlooks with hiking and biking trails. River walks and locks and dams and museums to explore. And festivals, concerts, wineries, and river cruises to enjoy. It’s the trip of a lifetime. And it’s right on your doorstep, so it’s one you can afford to take every year. That’s good, for there’s more here than you can experience at one pass. Each stretch of the river has its own landscape, its own culture, its own character — and its own surprises. Join us for a photographic tour. Then plan your own trip with our detailed map, list of attractions, and Iowa Great River Road resources.
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NEW ALBIN TO BALLTOWN Start your trip in the top right-hand corner of Iowa: the driftless region the glaciers missed. Here the river is entrenched by limestone bluffs riven with steep valleys and box canyons — and topped by hardwood forests and burial mounds of ancient civilizations. The small river towns here are some of Iowa’s best-kept secrets. In these frontier ports, Scandinavians and Europeans stepped off riverboats to make a home in a faraway, yet familiar-looking land. Their farming, logging, stonecutting, and building transformed this stretch of the river into a little Europe. The towns’ wide main streets, elegant riverboat captains’ houses, and 19th-century brick and stone buildings often remain remarkably unaltered, just waiting for you to rediscover them. Take the spectacular Driftless Area Scenic Byway (northeastiowarcd.org/driftless-area-scenic-byway) through the fjordlike Upper Iowa River valley to New Albin with its picturesque town square, 14-sided barn, 1849 cast-iron obelisk marking the boundary between Iowa and the Minnesota Territory — and delicious smoked meat at City Meat Market & Grocery (563-544-4236). In Lansing (mylansingiowa.com, mainstreetlansing.com, 563-538-9229) enjoy the view from 450-foot-tall Mt. Hosmer, tour the historic downtown, bargain-shop at the grottolike New Albin
Clockwise from opposite top left: NEW ALBIN: With its blaze of maples and air tinged with freshly sawn oak from Konkel’s sawmill, New Albin on the Minnesota border is where Iowa’s Great River Road begins. The town hall is now a historical museum.
Driftless Area Scenic Byway
Lansing
ATOP MT. HOSMER: Lansing’s Mt. Hosmer offers a bird’seye view of the river — and the 1931 Black Hawk Bridge, the northernmost on Iowa’s Great River Road.
Harpers Ferry
WEXFORD CHURCH: Built by refugees from the potato famine just 13 years after their arrival, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Wexford attests to their faith, craftsmanship, and success. This authentic Irish church overlooks a valley so lush it could well be in Ireland’s County Wexford, whence came its builders.
Yellow River State Forest Effigy Mounds
Marquette McGregor
GUTTENBERG HAUS: The Guttenberg Haus in Guttenberg was built of hand-hewn bur oak timbers and native limestone by German immigrants in the manner of a German town house. It is now a bed and breakfast. Blink and you’re in Bavaria!
Prairie du Chien
Pikes Peak State Park
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Horsfall’s Lansing Variety, rent a kayak or houseboat, and take a sightseeing cruise. View massive barges at lock and dam #9 and cast for a dozen or so varieties of fish in the river and in 20 stocked trout streams near Harpers Ferry. Scenic hiking trails abound in Yellow River State Forest (iowadnr.gov, 563-586-2254) and in nearby Effigy Mounds National Monument (nps.gov, 563-873-3491 ext. 202), home to 200 prehistoric mounds. Marquette and McGregor (mcgreg-marq.org) offer charming, historic downtowns with shops, restaurants, B&Bs, and a casino. Nearby Pikes Peak State Park (iowadnr.gov, 563-873-2341) has one of the most spectacular views along the entire Mississippi, plus hiking and camping. Guttenburg (guttenburgiowa.net, 563-252-2323), named one of America’s 20 prettiest towns by Forbes, features a mile-long riverfront park, a 15-mile bike trail, lots of mid19th-century stone architecture, and a museum in the only remaining lockmaster’s house on the upper Mississippi. Balltown is a tiny place with two big attractions: a spectacular view (page 29) and Iowa’s oldest (1852) bar and restaurant, Breitbach’s (breitbachscountrydining.com, 563-552-2220), continuously owned and operated by six generations of Breitbachs.
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STREETSCAPE: McGregor’s Main Street beckons visitors to explore. Antiques shops, eateries, boutiques, and inns abound in Iowa’s river towns, offering resort amenities and ambience at small-town-Iowa prices. They fill handsome brick and stone buildings that recall the towns’ heydays as busy shipping ports before railway bridges and barge traffic. SWISS VIEW: Stop to enjoy this vista near Balltown in the heart of Iowa’s Little Switzerland region. The Great River Road takes to the ridgetops as well as the riverbank, offering some of Iowa’s loftiest views.
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DUBUQUE, BELLEVUE, SABULA, AND CLINTON Midway between the Quad Cities and the Minnesota border, Dubuque was a thriving mining and industrial city that’s reimagined itself as a center for technology, culture, education — and a tourist destination. It combines a historic downtown with a brand-new riverfront resort, waterpark, museum, and more. In Dubuque (traveldubuque.com) museums, casinos, resorts, dining, and outdoor recreation abound. Must-see attractions include Fenelon Place Elevator, Port of Dubuque and National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, the Dubuque Museum of Art, Mines of Spain Recreation Area, and 29 miles of paved trails. Bellevue (bellevueia.com, 563-872-5830) is a beautiful port turned low-key resort with lots of dining, lodging,
camping, and recreation options. Don’t miss the view from Bellevue State Park (iowadnr.gov). Sabula gives you an island vacation without leaving the state. Camp, boat, and swim at South Sabula Lake Park (mycountyparks.com), get a superb wood-fired pizza with a big helping of character at Bombfire Pizza (bombfirepizza.com, 563-249-8688), and relax and enjoy the view at quaint Castle B&B (sabulacastle.com, 563-357-5467). In Clinton (clintoniowatourism.com, 563-242-5702) you can view live theater on an authentic sternwheeler, watch logs get ripped into boards at a working sawmill museum, tour a lumber baron’s mansion, see more than 20 exhibits at the Felix Adler Children’s Discovery Center — and enjoy lots of parks, trails, and other outdoor amenities.
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PORT CITY: Nestled in the elbow of a river bend (above top), Dubuque has quietly won dozens of national quality-of-life awards and is one of North America’s least-known best small cities. RIVER OVERLOOK: The Mines of Spain Recreation Area (above bottom) is now a picturesque park — one of many in a city that likes to hike, bike, ski, and enjoy watersports. Spain really did own these lead-rich limestone bluffs before the Louisiana Purchase.
Clockwise from top left: RIVER MUSEUM: Dubuque — not Minneapolis, St. Louis, or New Orleans — is the site of the world-class National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, which interprets the natural history and culture of the river. RIVER WALK: It ties together the River Museum, Grand Harbor Resort and Waterpark, Grand River Event Center, and other riverfront attractions. The sparkling-new river-facing redevelopment is called the Port of Dubuque. Last year Dubuque’s was named the number 4 Best American Riverfront. FENELON PLACE ELEVATOR: Much of Dubuque retains its 19thcentury charm, with lots of elaborate brick homes, row houses, churches, and commercial buildings. The 1882 Fenelon Place Elevator was built to take wealthy residents from their work in the city to their mansions on the bluff. It remains a fun way to gain a great view. The elevator is the shortest, steepest railroad in the world. BOMBFIRE PIZZA: The driftless region ends at Sabula, Iowa’s only island city. Sabula’s Bombfire Pizza offers perhaps the best wood-fired pies we’ve ever encountered. A mellow, friendly, retro-hippie vibe draws diners of all ages and types. One diner says he detours up from I-80 “every time I cross Iowa.”
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COURTESY OF THE QUAD CITIES CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
DAVENPORT RIVERFRONT: Davenport’s riverside parks are the city’s front porch. Residents and visitors gather by the thousands for a steady stream of music and river festivals, baseball games, and other events throughout the year.
THE QUAD CITIES REGION Le Claire (visitleclaire.com, 563-289-4242 ext. 61135) is not officially one of the Quad Cities, but this small town just north of Bettendorf is where the region begins. Formerly a shipping port and home to riverboat pilots, Le Claire is now known for fine locally made wine and spirits; boutique shopping, dining, and lodging; riverboat cruises and soaring pelicans; and as the home of the American Pickers — and the Buffalo Bill Museum, where you can explore the last paddle-wheel steamer to navigate the Mississippi and the history of local boy Buffalo Bill. Start your visit to the Quad Cities proper (visitquadcities.com, 800-747-7800) at the Union Station Visitor Center. This beautiful restored train station is
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also where you can rent bicycles to tour the cities’ miles of riverfront and other bike paths; get information on watercraft rentals, cruises, and the cities’ water taxi; and take a Segway scooter tour. Adjacent Le Claire Park on the riverfront is the site of nearly nonstop festivals and events. Fall is a great time to visit because the world-famous Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival has been rescheduled this year to Labor Day weekend, and the Quad City Riverfront Pops follows on September 6. East-West Riverfest, a 15-day celebration of arts, cultural and heritage organizations, and events and businesses also kicks off in September; toward the end of the month, don’t miss the juried Riverssance Festival of Fine Arts amid the shops and restaurants of the picturesque village of East Davenport. Also downtown on the river, the 1931 Modern Woodmen Park is the first minor league ballpark to feature its own 105-foot-tall Ferris wheel and a 300-foot-long zip line. The Rhythm City Casino is right next door. From there you can walk the Sky Bridge to downtown to enjoy a 360-degree view of the riverfront and skyline. Downtown attractions include the century-old Figge Art Museum, the Putnam Museum/National Geographic Giant Screen Theater, Bucktown Center for the Arts, the German-American Heritage Center, and more. Wildcat Den State Park (iowadnr.gov, 563-263-4337) about 20 miles southwest of Davenport makes a great base camp for enjoying the Quads or a restful stop on the way out of town. There you can tour an 1800s grist mill and schoolhouse and enjoy hiking and primitive camping.
COURTESY OF THE QUAD CITIES CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
Clockwise from top left: SKYBRIDGE AND CASINO: The Davenport Skybridge offers control tower-like views of the river and skyline — and access between the Figge Art Museum and downtown and the neon-lit Rhythm City Casino and Modern Woodmen Park baseball stadium on the riverfront. PLEASURE BOATS: From cabin cruisers to kayaks, the river is home to thousands of Iowa pleasure craft. These are out for an earlymorning paddle through the heart of the Quad Cities. Visitors can rent everything from houseboats to fishing skiffs to paddlecraft at many locations along the river — or take a sightseeing cruise or river taxi ride. STEAMBOAT PILOTHOUSE: This is the pilothouse of Lone Star, built in 1868 and the only surviving example of a wooden-hulled, western rivers steamboat. It retired in 1967 after 99 years of service and is on display at the Buffalo Bill Museum in Le Claire. The a town is past home to pilots who navigated steamers through treacherous rock rapids (now submerged) just downstream. BARGE TOW: Towboats and their barges offer a never-ending display of power and skill as they maneuver through Iowa’s locks. Overlooks such as this one near Davenport let you watch the multiton ballet. Each 15-barge tow is a quarter mile long and carries more than 225 train cars’ — or 870 semi trucks’ — worth of cargo, mostly food and farm products bound for worldwide markets.
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THE SOUTHERN CITIES Downstream from Davenport, the character of the drive changes. The road generally flattens, sometimes running straight down the floodplain, sometimes skirting the base of the bluffs at its western edge. And the sprinkling of northern port towns yields to long runs of fields punctuated by Iowa’s southeastern cities. Each city has its own monuments to a boomtown past — and lots going on in the present. Muscatine’s (visitmuscatine.com, 563-272-2534) colorful Victorian downtown includes the excellent Muscatine History and Industry Center that highlights the history of pearl button manufacturing in the former “button capital of the world.” At night the only LED-lit bridge on the river competes with the Mississippi Mist waterfront fountain for the best light show in town. Don’t miss the Biannual Boat Show (muscatineboatshow.com) September 4–6, which features vintage, antique, and new watercraft of all kinds — including some hovercraft that can skim over water or land on a cushion of air and soar, bank, and turn like aircraft in low, ground-effect flight. In Burlington (greaterburlington.com, 319-752-6365) stop at the Port of Burlington Welcome Center on the riverfront for the complete scoop on area attractions; admire (or cross) the graceful new cable-stayed Great River Bridge; drive down Snake Alley, the crookedest street in the world; and take in a riverfront festival or farmers market. Fort Madison (fortmadison.com, 319-372-5471) is where you can visit the Sheaffer Pen Museum (sheafferpenmuseum.org, 319-372-1674), see the largest swing-span double-decker bridge in the world, go on a selfguided architectural walk of some of the city’s impressive 19th-century homes, and take a weekend tour of a reconstructed 1808 frontier fort. Keokuk (keokukiowatourism.org, 319-524-5599) turned an old bridge deck into an observation platform — a brilliant idea. It overlooks the 1927 George M. Verity Riverboat and Museum at its permanent berth on the river front. From the observation platform you can also marvel at the mammoth and handsome 1913 Lock and Dam 19 and powerhouse — the largest in the world at the time it was built and just as impressive today. Here in Iowa’s southernmost city you can walk down Grand Avenue and ogle the mansions built by 19th-century industrialists and hunt for the world’s finest geodes at various nearby shops and mining locations. Dan Weeks is editor of The Iowan.
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Before You Go CHECK OUT THESE RESOURCES: For an interactive map, printable guide, and lists of interpretive centers, communities, cruises, restaurants, and overlooks: traveliowa.com/aspx/lifestyles.aspx?id=23 For a map of recreation, culture, and scenic view attractions: experiencemississippiriver.com/states/iowa For a 15-stop, 3-day self-guided tour: traveliowa.com/getaways?id=5 For detailed information on the New Albin to Dubuque section of the Iowa Great River Road: riverroads.com For a guide to Army Corps of Engineers recreation and other river facilities: missriver.org.
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Clockwise from top left: MUSCATINE STREETSCAPE: These brightly painted Victorian buildings look almost San Franciscan in the slanting fall sunshine. SHELLS AND BUTTONS: Muscatine was once home to a thriving industry that mined the river’s vast supply of freshwater clams and cut and drilled the shells to form mother-of-pearl buttons. Plastics and zippers replaced them in the mid-20th century. The Muscatine History and Industry Center downtown tells the fascinating story. BURLINGTON’S SNAKE ALLEY: You can drive down the crookedest street in the world in Burlington, according to Ripley’s Believe It or Not. Like Dubuque’s Fenelon Place Elevator, Snake Alley was created to speed access to bluff-top mansions. It ascends a hill too steep for horses to traverse in a straight line. Bricks set at an angle increase traction. CHIEF KEOKUK: A statue of the Chief surveys the Mississippi from atop a bluff in Rand Park in the city that bears his name. Perhaps he’s watching the bald eagles that make Keokuk their seasonal home. CITY GARDENS: Keokuk calls Rand Park “the city’s front yard.” Its elegant gazebo and formal plantings recall Keokuk’s boom days in the late 19th century, when millionaires outdid themselves building grand mansions on the river bluff, many of which still stand. A self-guided walking tour offers one jawdropper after another.
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Northeast Iowa in Clayton County
Welcome to life without stoplights
Visit www.claytoncountyiowa.com or call 563-245-2201 for a FREE brochure
40th Anniversary Fall Arts & Crafts Festival ~ Oct 3–4, 2015 24th Anniversary Leaf Arts & Crafts Festival ~ Oct 10–11, 2015 Original Arts & Crafts * Historic Town Live Music * Beautiful River To be held in Triangle Park Downtown McGregor, IA For more information: 563.873.2186
www.mcgreg-marq.org
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Paper Moon Books
The Ultimate in Therapy Shopping! Three floors to shop for unique treasures like: jewelry, toys, children’s books, greeting cards, home décor and more! 206 A Street, McGregor IA 563-873-3357
www.papermoonbooks.com
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BLOOMING BRANCHES Full service florist that offers unique gifts, home décor and a cozy coffee shop.
511 S. 1st St. Guttenberg, Iowa (563) 252-3800
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39053 Great River Road Guttenberg, IA 563-252-2665 www.promiselandwinery.com
River Park Place Conference center Vacation studio rentals
Landing A Riverfront Inn
For booking and availability contact
(563) 252-1615
www.river-park-place.com
Join us for a great weekend getaway in one of our riverview suites. We also feature a gas dock and fishing barge on the Mississippi River, boat rentals, bait, beer, tackle and supplies.
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Lori: 319-551-6171 Jeff: 563-880-5856 huknorth@yahoo.com
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Guttenberg Bed and Bath
Nestled beside the majestic Mississippi River Join us for casual comfort with Iowa hospitality. Spacious accommodations for two in historic downtown Guttenberg. guttenbergbedandbath.com 641-751-0977
Paradise Valley
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On the Great River Road
The
www.staycobblestone.com
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Located in the Southern hills of Guttenberg on the Great River Road. Taste the award-winning wines, enjoy a delicious pizza, browse our boutiques and listen to live music in the courtyard.
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Big City Quality, Small Town Values
LOCATED ON THE GREAT RIVER ROAD 100 North Street Marquette, IA 52158 563-873-8900
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Private Resort Summer Time Fun For The Whole Family! Located 7 miles South of McGregor, Iowa just off the Great River Road Seasonal sites, holiday events, 8 miles ATV trails, swimming & fishing ponds, play ground, convenience store Near Sny Magill trout stream & only ¼ mi. to Mississippi river access For seasonal information call Sandy 563-880-7300 or Shane 563-880-2426 Office 563-873-9632 19745 Keystone Rd. #2 Garnavillo, IA 52049
paradisevalleynews.net
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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Explore the Mississippi River in Clinton, Iowa www.clintoniowatourism.com
Find us on Facebook & Twitter at Visit Clinton, Iowa Clinton CVB_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
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2016 Season tickets on sale NOW!
Professional live theatre on the banks of the Mississippi. 303 Riverview Road Clinton, Iowa 52732 (563) 242-6760
563 242 0343 563-242-0343 www.thesawmillmuseum.org
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Handmade, Wood Fire Pizza
Felix Adler
Children’s Discovery Center Clinton, Iowa’s Children’s Museum!
FREE
“Stop in for a peace!”
ADMISSION
BOMBFIRE PIZZERIA
Sabula, IA 563-249-8688 www.bombfiresabula.com
with purchase of 1 at regular price
The Lincoln Highway @ US 67 (563) 243-3600 the FelixAdler_SOIowan_2015.indd Visit 1
OPEN: Wed–Sun 1–4 pm Gallery, Theater, Gift Shop, Art Classes, Rainbow Pottery 229 5th Avenue South Clinton , IA (563) 243-3300
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George M. Curtis Mansion
3/18/14 11:22 AM
420 5th Ave S, Clinton, Iowa
Home of the Clinton Lumber Industrialist Saturday Tours 1:30pm & 2:30pm Other times by appointment. 563.242.8556 Go to www.georgemcurtismansion.org to view upcoming events. Available for private rental.
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FISHER HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST 407 5th Ave S Clinton, IA 52732 563-249-8948 www.fisherhousebb.com
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Jackson County Simply Beautiful ... in the Fall
Jackson County Area Tourism 800-342-1837 jacksoncountyiowa.com
Experience a most unique place where the jazz and southern food of Bourbon Street meet the blues and BBQ of Beale Street in a beautifully restored 170 year old grist mill. Ribs, jambalaya, pulled pork and gumbo will feed your inner southern soul.
Tucked into the bluffs just off the mighty Mississippi River, lies The Inn at Potter's Mill. Come and find rest in one of three B&B rooms filled with historic charm, steps away from delectable grub, endless Blues, and outdoor adventure.
300 Potter Drive, Bellevue, Iowa • 563.872.3838 • www.pottersmill.net • info@pottersmill.net •
Why go out for ordinary when you can have
Extraordinary?
Call to book your winter get-a-way NOW!
Whispering Meadows Resort LLC River Ridge ATV Trails LLC
118 North Riverview Bellevue, Iowa 563-872-3164 www.WaterStreetBellevue.com
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34580 100th St., Spragueville, IA Steve & Kathy Tebbe (Owners) 563-357-3784 whisperingmeadows@yahoo.com www.whisperingmeadowsresort.com
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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Irish Meadows Yarn Barn & Boutique You’re always welcome.
NEW in 2013 Indoor pool, free wi-fi fitness center, free breakfast 4115 N Riverview Dr. Bellevue, IA 563-872-5000 www.baymontinnsuitesbellevue.com
3 FLOORS OF MERCHANDISE IN A RESTORED GRAINARY
Featuring Alpaca yarns, rovings & fleece, and hand knit gift items: socks, teddy bears, scarves, hats, blankets, and gloves. Large selection of sweaters and jackets. OPEN: Thursday–Saturday 10am–5pm August–March (excluding holidays) Other times by appt., including evenings. 23477 Bellevue Cascade Road (D-61) La Motte, Iowa 563-543-1375
"Where the only thing better than the food, is the view."
4111 N Riverview Dr. Bellevue, IA 563-872-5800 www.offshorebellevueia.com
(25 minutes South of Dubuque, IA)
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www.facebook.com/BellevueArtsCouncil www.bellevueartscouncil.org
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Serving homemade to order ice cream specialties, breakfast and lunch!
306 S. Riverview Dr. Bellevue, IA Open Fri, Sat, & Sun @ 7:30 am 563-872-4240
www.grandpasparlour.com
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Great view of the Mississippi River
Hurstville Interpretive Center
More Than a Room
Educational Exhibits • Nature Trails Outdoor Play Area • Free Admission Open Weekdays 9-4 • Weekends Noon-5
VACATION HOME RENTAL – Call us for your next weekend getaway, family reunion or cozy couples retreat.
U.S. Highway 61, 1 mile N. of Maquoketa. Nature Center/Visitor Center 563-652-3783 Visit jacksonccb.com to learn more.
…when just a room won’t do! 100 Spring Street, Bellevue, IA Call to reserve: 563-542-1243
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A SEASON FOR ALL
Keokuk
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Museums Hunt Keokuk Geodes Mark Twain Historic Sights Iowa’s Only National Cemetery Award Winning Civil War Reenactment Historic Lock & Dam Winter Home for Bald Eagles
KEOKUK AREA CONVENTION & TOURISM BUREAU www.KeokukIowaTourism.org 319.524.5599
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With its 19th-century-style architecture, front porches and stoops, alley-access garages, and mix of housing types, Iowa City’s The Peninsula Neighborhood is a new development with vintage appeal.
Rethinking Suburbia Some new suburban developments are starting to look more like small towns. Here’s what they are, where to find them — and what it’s like to live in one. by AMBER DAWN BARZ
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hen people think of the America that used to be, of family farms and roadside diners with great pie, ice cream socials around a town square, and all those other Norman Rockwell scenarios, rest assured you can still find those things in Iowa,” wrote one former Iowan about what he missed most about Iowa on the community weblog A Weakness for Iowa. With urbanization, the writer reflected, “Iowa is becoming a lot more like the rest of the country. But sometimes I wish there was a way to make the rest of the country more like Iowa.” Well, it turns out there is a way — not only to make the rest of the country more like Iowa but to make new Iowa suburbs feel more like the state’s most charming small towns.
The Iowafication of suburbia
This “way” has been called a number of things: new urban development, neotraditional neighborhoods, new traditional developments, smart growth, and the current buzz phrase, master planned communities (MPCs). The movement started in the 1980s as a backlash to suburban sprawl — the typical housing tract development that proliferated around nearly every American city, including Iowa’s, in the second half of the 20th century. MPCs first popped up in states such as Florida and California, where megapolitan suburbs can sprawl for hundreds of miles with little more than freeway exit numbers to differentiate them. Now they’ve come to Iowa.
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Commerce, housing, and green space coexist in planned communities. Lots of sidewalks and landscaping encourage walking in Ankeny’s Prairie Trail.
MPCs feature less traffic and more sidewalks and trails that connect residential areas to nearby stores, restaurants, offices, schools, and parks. Single-family homes, townhouses, and multifamily housing in a range of prices may share the same block, encouraging people of all ages and income levels to connect. Garages tend to be located in back and porches in front to encourage neighborly visiting. Multiuse town centers give the places a geographic locus and a unique character. Conservation principles work to preserve open space and make best use of existing topography, natural waterways, and other features. In some developments, small lot sizes keep the development compact and walkable and conserve land. In short, they are designed more or less the way many of Iowa’s prairie towns were during westward settlement: with a plan. To fit with their traditional town character, many of them feature homes of traditional American architectural styles. MPCs have risen recently near Davenport, Iowa City, and Des Moines. So how are these developments going over with Iowans, who likely know what a great small town looks and feels like?
“A perfect blend”
Nola and Steve Ryan describe life in Prairie Trail, a planned community in Ankeny, as idyllic. At just over 1,000 acres, Prairie Trail is the size of a small Iowa town. Eye-pleasing boulevards with planted medians, alleyways with back44
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facing garages, and community green space are common. More than 13 miles of trails and 200 acres of parks grace the community. “I grew up on a farm in Kossuth County and Steve is from Ankeny. Prairie Trail is the perfect blend of rural Iowa and suburbia. We visited the Prairie Trail Home Show in 2008 and made an offer on a home two days later,” Nola says. Nola works in Ankeny as the Family Services Director for Memorial Services of Iowa Funeral Home, and Steve works in Urbandale as a Senior Business Analyst for MidAmerican Energy. “When we moved in, our kids were in college. Now they are all married and we have grandchildren,” Nola says. “We have a 5-acre park across the street from our home, and it’s the perfect place to entertain little ones. “Our neighbors — we know them all — range from young families to empty nesters,” she continues. “There’s a doctor’s office within throwing distance, and we can walk to restaurants and the grocery store.” Something of Iowa’s small-town neighborliness seems to thrive there was well. For Jorge and Angela Padilla, who are expecting their first child, it was the instant welcome that sealed the purchase of their Prairie Trail home three years ago. “When our real estate agent was showing us the backyard, the neighbors were outside and came over to say hi. They told us how much they liked the area,” says Angela,
who grew up on a farm near Greenfield. “We loved the layout and style of the home, so we made an offer.” Both Jorge and Angela work downtown — Jorge is a banker at Bankers’ Bank of the West, and Angela is a graphic designer for ad agency Flynn Wright — but the 20-minute commute they sometimes take together seems reasonable — especially to Jorge, who grew up in urban California and knows what sprawl looks like. “Originally I was opposed to living in Ankeny, but our Realtor asked us to take a look anyway, and I’m glad we did,” Jorge says. “We bought one of the more modest houses in the area, but there are million-dollar homes close by. I love the friendliness and the diversity of the people who live here. We get together with our neighbors regularly, and they have become some of our closest friends.”
What’s not to like?
If you opt to build or buy in an MPC, by covenant the exterior style of your home or business may be limited to one of the approved architectural styles and color palettes. In Ankeny’s Prairie Trail community, for example, home designs are limited to four traditional styles: Arts and Crafts, Colonial Revival, Victorian, and European Romantic (akin to Tudor). To promote socialization and safety, most homes have front porches or stoops and garages located in the back or on the side. In most MPCs, annual association fees are assessed to cover the cost of the additional community services, activities, and amenities. Although these communities look traditional, they are brand-new. If you’re looking for a century-old home or a fixer-upper, you’re not likely to find one in an MPC.
Back to the future?
Are the retro look and Earth-friendly features of MPCs in more Iowa new-home buyers’ future? Conservationists hope so, pointing out that intensive, mixed-use development combined with green space gobbles up less of Iowa’s farmland than does conventional tract development and — theoretically, at least — reduces driving and promotes walking, bicycling, and public transportation. Real Iowa small towns — especially those that lack a city nearby to attract commuters — may see MPCs as simply more of the urbanization that has pulled people and jobs from rural counties into urban ones. “If people want authentic small-town living,” says one rural resident wryly, “they should move out here and join us. We invented friendly — and we could use the company!”
ELEMENTS OF A MASTER PLANNED COMMUNITY (MPC) MULTIPLE USES. The goal of a master planned community such as Ankeny’s Prairie Trail, above, is to enhance the quality of life of the residents that live there by make shopping and leisure activities available within a short, ideally walkable, commute.
THE FUTURE. An MPC design projects the full build-out condition of the community, taking into account land use, including zoning and environmental sustainability. This includes preservation of historic landmarks, existing wetlands, and other natural features, plus the addition of storm-water retention systems and green spaces.
THE LOCAL ECONOMY. MPCs take into account the local economy in order to better predict a development timeline, including the addition of new businesses. The plan also identifies any improvements that can be made to help stimulate economic development. AESTHETICS. Streetscaping is carefully plotted to encourage socialization, safety, and a healthful, active lifestyle. Residential design is often limited to specific styles and contains requirements for amenities such as front porches and landscaping. Exterior color choices may also be limited to a specified palette.
GREEN SPACE. Parks, open space, and trails are an integral part of MPCs. The goal is to respect and make the most of the natural beauty of the environment and to encourage active, healthful lifestyles. MUNICIPAL SERVICES. Education, public safety, water and sewer, energy, and other services that enhance the quality of life are all part of an MPC’s comprehensive plan. Roads are designed to promote good traffic circulation and parking. Alternate transportation options are also included in the plan.
Amber Dawn Barz is a Des Moines-based freelance magazine and book writer.
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MASTER PLANNED COMMUNITIES IN IOWA THE PENINSULA NEIGHBORHOOD Iowa City peninsulaiowacity.com This neighborhood on Iowa City’s north side, right, features a town square with a playground, gazebo, and a mix of multifamily housing and storefront businesses such as the bistro in the foreground. Here and on surrounding streets, Colonial, Victorian, and Arts and Crafts architectural styles predominate; most homes have porches or stoops that face the street. “Front porches bring residents together,” says Amy Pretorius, The Peninsula Neighborhood’s Assistant Project Manager. “It is a design that shaped Iowa’s historical neighborhoods. Newer communities are bringing it back.” You’ll find a mix of townhomes, condominiums, apartments, and single-family homes in The Peninsula Neighborhood, which features bus service to downtown Iowa City. Prices for homes range from $110,000 to $700,000.
KETTLESTONE Waukee kettlestonewaukee.com Situated on 1,500 acres, Kettlestone, below, is planned
and apartments, nearly 4 million square feet of retail
districts that include parks, ponds, trails, shopping,
space, and 5 million-plus square feet of office space. Like
dining, and entertainment. Building has not yet begun.
other Iowa MPCs, Kettlestone will be walkable and
Kettlestone’s homes will have front-facing porches,
accessible, with wide-ranging housing options, mixed
windows, and entryways; apartment and condominium
land use that even includes a lake and community
exteriors feature elaborate trimwork, brick or stone
amphitheater — and a civic and cultural presence that
accents, and patios or balconies. The appearance of
enhances quality of life.
garage doors will be minimized.
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The area is expected to accommodate 7,000 houses
as a mixed-use neighborhood divided into 10 distinct
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PRAIRIE HEIGHTS Davenport facebook.com/prairieheightsliving As with other Iowa MPCs, Davenport’s Prairie Heights, right, features “traditional neighborhood design and town center appeal,” says Ryan Rusnak, a Davenport city planner. Green spaces, play areas, and paths intertwine throughout the northeast side neighborhood. At 220 acres, the Prairie Heights park is one of Davenport’s largest and includes ball diamonds, a shelter, batting cages, and a playground. Four lit tennis courts, a dog off-leash area, an archery range, a regulation soccer field, and trails connecting to Goose Creek Park are planned. There are also plans for a new elementary school (subject to sale and approval by the Davenport Community School District) and a neighborhood commercial center. Home styles are American farmhouse, Arts and Crafts, Victorian, and American Foursquare. Single-family homes start near $200,000, and tax credits and buyer incentives are available.
PRAIRIE TRAIL Ankeny prairietrailankeny.com Since its inception in 2006, Prairie Trail, above, has grown
restaurants, and entertainment are all open for business.
rapidly. Today more than 300 homes line the streets.
“We have a spectrum of offerings for people of every
Sidewalks and trails connect the development to the city
stage of life, including multifamily rentals,” says Ashley
of Ankeny. Three new public schools have been built.
Johnson, Marketing Director for DRA Properties.
Salons and spas, fitness centers, clothing boutiques,
Prices range from $192,000 to $1,000,000+.
a major supermarket, medical clinics, daycares,
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Where the Story of American Agriculture Comes to Life
Dysart Historical Center Historical and Agricultural Museums Restored Country School & Memorial Rose Garden Silos & Smokestacks Area Site An Iowa Great Place 612 Crisman St. Dysart, Iowa 319-476-7345 www.dysartiowa.com/museum
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IOWA’S ORIGINAL BARN QUILT PROJECT
BARN QUILTS OF GRUNDY COUNTY
For more information, please contact: 705 F Ave/ PO Box 85 Grundy Center, IA 50638 319-825-3606 www.grundycountyia.com
Iowan Sept/Oct 2013 CLIENT: SECTION: PROOF #: 1 DATE: 07-09-2013
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319.234.4567
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Take a step back into small-town Iowa History!
The Handcrafted Escape
Visit the Historic Burkard Riegel Blacksmith Shop 210 Mill St, Clermont, IA Open Memorial Day–Labor Day for self-guided tours. Guided tours by appointment. Call (563)423-5561 TaborHomeWinery.pdf
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The Handcrafted Escape Willkommen to the Amana Colonies! Seven charming villages where you’ll experience our unique German culture, savor our cuisine, sip our locally crafted wines and beers, and marvel at our handcrafted products.
Plan your escape to the Amana Colonies.
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Willkommen to the Amana Colonies! Seven charming villages where you’ll experience our unique German culture, savor our cuisine, sip our locally crafted wines and beers, and marvel at our handcrafted products.
THE WINERY EXPERIENCE CAPTIVATING IOWANS FOR 20 YEARS
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See the Charles City from its early days. Historic displays from a pioneer’s log cabin to Legel Drug Store, the railroad and of course, tractors built in Charles City.
Floyd County MuseuM 500 Gilbert St. Charles City, IA 50616 641-228-1099 | fchs@fiai.net Open all year Monday thru Friday 9:00-4:30 with weekend hours in summer
www.floydcountymuseum.org
Stop and pick the flowers!
Miss Effie's Country Flowers & Garden Stuff A unique “U-Pick” flower farm. One full acre of heirloom flowers and herbs. Come enjoy our Grant Wood landscape and cut the perfect blossoms for your bouquet! 27387 130th Ave Donahue IA 52746 563-282-4338 Hours: Th-F 9-5 pm, Sat-9-3pm, Sun-12-3pm
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September/October 2015
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IOWAN
ICON
JACK TRICE Lineman Jack Trice was killed in his second game for Iowa State in 1923. He remains a football legend. by JOHN ROSENGREN
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PHOTOS COURTESY IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES
O
n October 5, 1923, the day before a football game against the University of Minnesota, Jack Trice sat by himself in a room at the Curtis Hotel in Minneapolis. The lineman stood 6 feet tall and weighed 200 pounds — bigger than most of his teammates and stronger, too. Trice was the only black player on the Iowa State football team, the first black varsity athlete at Iowa State College (now Iowa State University), and one of few black football players in the country playing against white opponents. He would be the only black player on Northrop Field the next day. When Trice arrived at Iowa State, only about 20 of Iowa State’s nearly 4,500 students were black. His teammates had welcomed him as best they could without knowing what it was like for him to be a marked man.
There were even schools in Iowa State’s own Missouri Valley Conference that refused to play against teams with a black player. And the Ku Klux Klan had risen to such prominence at the University of Minnesota that it entered a float in that fall’s homecoming parade. Trice sensed the pressure of being a pioneer, poised to either confirm or dispel racist notions. That night in his hotel room, he picked up his pen and wrote: To whom it may concern: My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life: The honor of my race, family + self are at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will! My whole body + soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field tomorrow. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part. On all defensive plays, I must break through the opponents line at [sic] stop the play in their territory. Beware of mass interference, fight low with your eyes open and toward the play. Roll block the interference. Watch out for cross bucks and reverse end runs. Be on your toes every minute if you expect to make good. —Jack
BIRTH OF A LEGEND
Trice was born May 12, 1902, in tiny Hiram, Ohio, about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland. His father had fought American Indians as a Buffalo soldier, a member of the all-black 10th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army, and died when Jack, an only child, was 7. His mother, Anna, washed white people’s laundry. She sent Jack to Cleveland at age 14 to live with his uncle’s family and attend East Technical High School. She wanted him to be “among people of his kind to meet the problems that a Negro boy would have to face.” Trice played football on several very good teams at East Tech under a very good coach, Sam Willaman, who had starred at Ohio State. Trice anchored the line, laying out opposing ball carriers with his signature flying tackle and blocking for the Behm brothers, Johnny and Norton, East Tech’s slippery backs. His sophomore season, the team lost only once. The next year, no one could score a point against them for the first nine games. In Trice’s senior year, they were undefeated. The big lineman with the gentle demeanor, one of only two African-Americans on the team, was named All-State and left East Tech tagged in the high school yearbook as “undoubtedly the best tackle that ever played” at the school. Knute Rockne invited Johnny and Norton Behm to play for him at Notre Dame. They were white. Trice took a job on a road construction crew.
Jack Trice, fourth from top left, with his Cleveland, Ohio, East Tech High School football team.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Willaman landed the head coach job at Iowa State. He talked the Behm brothers and two other Cleveland prep stars into playing for the Cyclones. He also invited Trice, who jumped at the chance to both continue to play football and to further his education. But leaving Ohio meant leaving his girl, Cora Mae, behind. So in late July, the two eloped. Cora Mae returned with her secret to her parents’ home in Youngstown to finish high school, and Jack headed to Ames. There Jack worked two custodial jobs to pay for tuition, books, meals, and lodging — and to buy Cora Mae a special necklace. Jack’s mother helped by mortgaging her house. Black students could not live on campus, so Jack rented an upstairs room in the Masonic Temple building downtown, two miles from campus. The East Tech curriculum had not satisfied all of Iowa State’s prerequisites. He had to make up the extra requirements; he did so, earning a 90 average. Trice was not only smart, he was determined — and idealistic. He enrolled in the animal husbandry program and hoped to work with black farmers in the South, teaching them modern methods to cultivate their crops and support their families. He planned to put his education at their service in the spirit of Iowa State’s famous black alumnus, the botanist and inventor George Washington Carver. Trice worked out with the freshman team. The line coach, All-American George Hauser, who moonlighted for the Chicago Bears on Sundays, schooled him in one-on-one workouts daily after practice. Soon Trice had become the coach’s equal, and Hauser predicted that Trice would one day become the best tackle in the country. In a scrimmage against the varsity, he hit upperclassman Harry Schmidt with
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such force that Schmidt later recalled, “I’ve never been hit harder in my life.” “Jack Trice, the big colored boy from Cleveland, looked like a mountain in the line, being in every play, no matter whether it was a pass, plunge, end run, or punt,” according to a newspaper report.
ALONE AND APART
Aggressive on the field, Trice was submissive off it. He knew the place of the black man in white society. He was friendly but deferential. He cleaned his fellow students’ muddy boots, sharpened their pencils, and assisted them into their bulky winter coats, always wearing an endearing wide smile. As another student astutely observed later in the Iowa Agriculturist, “He sat next to us in the classrooms, strolled through the south side, attended convocation, worked out in the gym, rubbed elbows with us, but never stepped over the invisible barrier into our intimate confidences. It is only the truth to say that he lived alone and apart.” The next year, Jack returned to Ames with his wife. Cora Mae moved into his third-floor room and enrolled in Iowa State’s home economics department. She was there for the first game, a tune-up, against tiny Simpson College on the Cyclones’ home field. Cora Mae watched her No. 37 smother runners, block a kick, knock the ball loose, and recover a fumble. He helped his team win 14-6, and Sam Willaman named him a starter against Minnesota.
THE GAME
Trice was keenly aware of his place in history. “The honor of my race, family, + self are at stake,” he wrote before “the first real college game of my life.” Tragically, it was also his last.
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On game day 11,000 fans, including 400 from Ames, crowded the stands. Minnesota was one of the top squads in the Midwest. The Cyclones had previously lost 18 of the 20 games played against them. Trice and his team were underdogs. According to the Iowa State Daily, Coach Willaman told his team, “I know of two men on this team who will fight.” He mentioned Trice first. Back in Ames, Cora Mae headed to State Gym, where fans paid a quarter to watch the game’s progress on a GridGraph, an electric scoreboard that reproduced the game on a gridiron signboard. College football was dangerous in 1923: The protective equipment was inadequate. Defensive players used their hands and forearms as weapons and churned up so much carnage that in 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt had insisted football be made safer or abolished. Yet the game retained much of its raw brutality into the ’20s. In the first series, Trice injured his left shoulder — probably breaking his collarbone — on a blocking play. Rules stipulated that if he went to the bench, he would not be able to play again until the second half. He shrugged off his teammates’ concerns and resumed his position at right tackle, pain be damned.
At 6 feet and 200 pounds, Trice was big, powerful, and — more important — smart, hardworking, and determined to make a difference with his life.
The half ended with the score tied 7-7. The game was tighter than many expected. Trice had been making tackles, filling holes, breaking through the opponent’s line and stopping the play, and generally inflicting chaos on the Gophers. Minnesota stopped running the ball to his side. After trading possessions in the third quarter, the Gophers intercepted a deflected pass and ran it into the end zone: Minnesota 14, Iowa State 7.
THE DEADLY PLAY
The Gophers kicked off, and the Cyclones started driving. Norton Behm caught a pass. Trice went down. Behm was tackled after a 10-yard gain; he popped up and returned to his position. But Jack Trice lay on the ground, never to play again. According to a game summary printed that day in the Minnesota Daily, the University’s student newspaper, that is the play that killed him. The Associated Press reported that Trice “died from injuries received when most of the Minnesota line piled on top of him.” In accounts printed later that week, players said Trice had “cut back to the right side of the line to check a Gopher line attack” and “he crashed into a fast-charging Gopher forward and fell flat on his back, wincing in pain.” Decades later, his teammates and a coach recalled Trice throwing a roll block, a dangerous maneuver eventually banned, in which the defensive player throws himself
horizontally and rolls to trip up the runner. By this account, Trice ended the play on his back and the onrushing Minnesota players trampled him. Did the Gopher players target Trice because he was black? Because he was a good player? Or was the injury an accident, perhaps the result of Trice’s dangerous play? No talk of conspiracy appeared in the stories of Trice’s injury and death that ran in the African-American press at the time. Nor did his family hint at this. No one will ever know what actually happened and why. We are left with the simple fact: Jack Trice suffered serious injuries on the field. His insides crushed, Trice struggled to a sitting position. His teammates helped him to his feet. He could barely rise and stand. He walked off the field supported between two teammates. The Iowa State trainer insisted they take Trice to the University of Minnesota Medical Center, but the physicians there did not grasp the seriousness of Trice’s condition. Perhaps persuaded by Trice’s downplaying the severity so he could return to Ames with his teammates, they released him after only a few hours. Trice lay on a straw mattress on the train back to Ames in extreme pain and endured the final 12 miles to campus on a jolting bus. He was immediately admitted to the Iowa State campus hospital, where three doctors, including Dr. James
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Classes were suspended and thousands of students, faculty, and fans gathered on Iowa State’s campus for Trice’s memorial. His teammates wore black arm bands for the rest of the 1923 season in his memory.
Edwards of the Iowa State faculty, looked after him. Sunday he seemed somewhat better. Cora Mae visited. But late that afternoon, Trice’s breath shallowed and came in fits. His abdomen ached like he had been gutted. A fever raged. The attending physicians became alarmed. Someone wired his mother back in Ohio. Edwards summoned Dr. Oliver Fay, one of the country’s leading abdominal specialists, from Des Moines. He arrived at 1 a.m. and confirmed Trice was gravely ill with peritonitis — an infection that could spread to his vital organs and kill him. An operation might help or prove deadly. Dr. Fay decided to wait and hoped that Trice’s athletic body could fight off the infection. Instead, his condition worsened. Early Monday afternoon, one of his friends, a fellow black student, left his bedside to find Cora Mae. As she later recalled in a letter, she rushed from the cafeteria to his room. “Hello, darling,” she said. He turned his gaze to her but could not speak. And then his breath stopped. Cora Mae heard the bells of the campanile, the campus bell tower, chime three times. It was 3 p.m., Monday, October 8, 1923, and her husband was dead.
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THE REMEMBRANCE
The school suspended classes the following afternoon for his memorial. His teammates carried him in a simple gray casket to the field fronting the campanile and draped it with a cardinal and gold blanket. Three or four thousand students, faculty, and football fans from the town spread across the lawn. Jack’s mother, Anna, had arrived at 6:45 p.m. the previous day, too late to say good-bye. A faculty member sang “Abide with Me”; the college chaplain delivered the invocation. Iowa State President Pearson read aloud the letter that Jack had written the night before the game. After his death, it had been found in his coat pocket. The Iowa State community presented Anna and Cora Mae $2,259 raised in a spontaneous collection “to express in a material way the sympathy of the college.” It covered funeral expenses, paid off Anna’s mortgage, and provided both Anna and Cora Mae with a little nest egg. They returned to Ohio and buried Jack alongside his father in the Hiram cemetery. The Cyclones wore black armbands the rest of the 1923 football season, and Coach Willaman posthumously awarded Trice a varsity letter, which he mailed to Jack’s mother. The Varsity Club hung a bronze plaque in State Gym embossed
PHOTO BY DAN WEEKS
A cast-bronze statue of Trice reading his famous letter now greets fans at the football stadium that bears his name.
with the words from the Curtis Hotel letter. Cora Mae returned from her parents’ house in Youngstown, Ohio, to campus for the official dedication in February.
THE STADIUM CONTROVERSY
Then Jack Trice was largely forgotten until 1973, when a student suggested the new Iowa State football stadium should be named after the fallen athlete. Students formed the Jack Trice Memorial Stadium Committee; student government and the student newspaper backed the idea with a 4,000-signature petition. But when the stadium was completed in 1975, the Board of Regents voted to delay naming the stadium until stadium debts were paid. The Trice constituency viewed this as a way for the administration to wait for a donor to step forward to purchase naming rights and for the popularity of the Trice idea to cool. It didn’t. Iowa State faculty members Charles Sohn and Tom Emmerson kept the issue alive through the student government and newspaper. Des Moines Register columnist Donald Kaul criticized the University administration for its position. The student government raised money to run
radio advertisements. Several Iowa State students paid for a billboard that proclaimed, “Welcome to Ames, Home of Jack Trice Memorial Stadium.” Others paid for an airplane to fly a “Welcome to Trice Stadium” banner over the unnamed stadium during a game. Iowa Governor Robert D. Ray; Minnesota Senator Hubert H. Humphrey; the actors Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Ed Asner; poet Nikki Giovanni; and Olympian Rafer Johnson spoke in favor of the naming. Trice was cast as a martyr. Des Moines Register columnist Chuck Offenburger wrote Trice was “beaten to death … because of his skin color.” In 1983 the stadium debt had been paid without a single donation large enough to claim naming rights. Iowa State President Robert Parks proposed the name Cyclone Stadium/Jack Trice Field. Because that name was regularly shortened to Cyclone Stadium, the movement persisted and also raised funds for a $22,000, 6-foot 5-inch bronze statue of Trice depicted as a student reading his famous letter. It was dedicated May 7, 1988, in a ceremony attended by several Trice relatives.
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EULOGIES FOR JACK “He fought harder than the rest of us; he gave his life for Ames.” — the captain of the football team “He was a man of fine standards, a good student, and one of the best athletes I have known.” — Coach Willaman Jack Trice’s statue portrays him reading his extraordinary letter, found folded in his coat pocket after his death. It offers insight into his character and his thoughts on the eve of his final game.
“Jack Trice was an honor to his race, to Iowa State College, and a conspicuous honor to those activities which he participated in. His characteristic manhood and his sportsmanship we admired.” —President Raymond Pearson
THE LEGACY
Finally, on August 30, 1997, Iowa State President Martin Jischke formally dedicated Jack Trice Stadium. Referring to Trice as a “role model” and “inspiration” who symbolized the ideals of “devotion to the team, giving one’s all,” Jischke declared, “He has become a hero — not so much for what he accomplished, because his life was cut short — but for what he represented.” With that, Iowa State became the first Division I school in the country to name a stadium after an African-American athlete — and remains the only one. Trice remains largely anonymous outside Iowa. But he has risen to mythical proportions in Ames, and for good reason. (In addition to the stadium name and statue, two life-size bas relief images, four panels recounting his virtues, a mural, and multiple reproductions of his image and his letter are displayed on the university’s campus.) Jack Trice did not win a Heisman. He did not captain a national championship. He played only one real college game and didn’t even get to finish that. But something to admire remains. That something has made him the face, the name, and the spirit of Iowa State.
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A “fallen warrior.” — The Ames Daily Tribune “Tribute to him, who, in the first fair flush / Of Glory, won upon a fatal field / Fell, hurt, before the fierce contested rush / And joy of worthy battle; fell to yield.” —The Minnesota Daily “A hero with all the blaze of glory and spectacular accomplishment which is due heroic martyrdom.” — The Minnesota Alumni Weekly “While I am proud of his honors, he was all I had and I am old and alone, the future is dreary and lonesome.” — Anna Trice
John Rosengren (johnrosengren.net) is the award-winning author of eight books, most recently The Fight of Their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball’s Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption. This piece is an adaptation of “A Football Martyr” published by sbnation.com on November 25, 2014. Used by permission.
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The Dollies
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This unique display is now open near the 1905 Study Hall. Anatomically correct, these 81 hand-carved “Dollies,” also known as the “Firewood Floozies,” are 5/8ths human size and complete with handmade clothing, jewelry, and furniture. The artist, Robert Smith, farmed near Battle Creek and created the collection over 20 years. Visit one of the Midwest’s largest county heritage museums to see these treasures and more!
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335 First Avenue SW, LeMars, Iowa pchmuseum@gmail.com
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Proudly telling the town’s story of becoming the Pearl Button Capital of the World 68th Tri-State Rodeo
Discover the History
September 9–12 Rodeo Park Arena
Discover Discover thethe History History & Industry & Industry Center Center in in www.muscatinehistory.org Muscatine, Muscatine, Iowa. Iowa.
Open Tuesday–Saturday 10am–4pm & Industry Center in 117 W. 2nd Street, Muscatine, IA 52761 Muscatine, Iowa. 563.263.1052
641-842-6176
www.sprintcarhof.com
NatlSprintCarMuseum_JAIowan_2015.indd 1
Vesterheim
Named one of 15 best small-town museums in the U.S. by Fodors, the world-respected travel guide.
Open all year in scenic Decorah, Iowa. 563-382-9681 • vesterheim.org Special Advertising Section
September 12 & 13 Riverview Park
GERMAN AMERICAN 5/12/15 4:35 PM HERITAGE CENTER
Fort Madison’s 93rd Mexican Fiesta
We host family reunions!
NLCHS Haunted Jail Tours
MuscatineHistory_JAIowan_2015.indd 1 5/7/15 4:11 PM
The National Norwegian-American Museum & Heritage Center
War of 1812 Siege of Old Fort Madison
Group Tours Welcome! 712 W. 2nd Davenport, IA gahc.org • 563.322.8844
September 17–19 Old Santa Fe Town
October 31 Old Lee County Jail (Corner of 7th Street & Avenue F)
visitfortmadison.com 1-800-210-TOUR 9:52 AM THE IOWANwww.IowaMuseums.org July/August 20117/17/1559
FortMadison_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
Now featuring Ford and New Holland
We are an innovative visual art museum dedicated to imagination and learning opportunities. 920 3rd Ave S Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501
www.blanden.org 515-573-2316
Blanden_MJIowan_2015.indd 1
2/26/15 10:18 AM
Open everyday 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Dyersville, IA • 1-877-475-2727 www.nationalfarmtoymuseum.com
Delaware County Historical Society Nine Buildings on Restored Lenox College Campus: Civil War Memorabilia. Local, School, Farm, Railroad, Pharmacy and Natural History. Radio/ Dinner Theater 10/17 Listed on Iowa Scenic Byway and National Register Historic Places 563.926.2639 www.delcoiowahistory.org
2300 Grand Avenue Des Moines, Iowa 50312 515-281-7205 terracehilliowa.org
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5/8/15 Prairie Trails Museum of Wayne County
3/12/15 3:24 PM DelawareCoHist_JAIowan_2015.indd 1
Playing is learning! Family attraction for hands-on, active learning fun, inspires every child to imagine, create, discover, and explore though the power of play.
1451 Coral Ridge Avenue Coralville, IA 52241 319.625.6255 www.theicm.org
Highway 2 East, P.O. Box 104 Corydon, Iowa 50060 641-872-2211 | ptmuseum@grm.net
www.prairietrailsmuseum.org
HUMBOLDT COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION Preserving the past for future generations.
OPEN June 1–September 30 Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri, Sat 10 am–4 pm Sun 1:30 pm–4:30 pm FortMuseum_JAIowan_2015.pdf 1 6/29/15 905 1st Ave N, Dakota City, IA 50529 515-332-5280
www.humboldtiowahistory.org
3/17/15 11:10 AM EXPERIENCE LIFE ON THE FRONTIER
HumboldtCo_MJIowan_2015.indd 1 4:36 PM
at the Fort Museum!
Visit an 1855 log home, 1857 Sutler store & country school, general store, cabinet shop, blacksmith shop, livery stable, and more. 20 buildings in all. OPEN DAILY THROUGH OCT. 11, Mon.–Sat. 9–5, Sun. 11–5
Fort Museum & Frontier Village Located on Business Hwy. 20, Fort Dodge, IA 515.573.4231| www.fortmuseum.com FortMuseum_MJIowan_2014.indd 1
3/18/14 Visit Heritage Square Park in Odebolt
3:25 PM
�
Amana Heritage Museum Exhibits in three 19th century communal buildings tell the story of the Amana Colonies National Historic Landmark. Introductory video. Museum Store.
319-622-3567 www.amanaheritage.org
Iowa Association 60 Museum Iowan.com
12:00 PM
You still have time to visit our museums. Come check out our new statue. We will be open through the last Sunday in October. Thanks to those that stopped to visit. Find us at: www.iowaruralschoolsmuseum.net www.odebolt.net 712-668-2231
SPECIAL ADVERTISING Special AdvertisingSECTION Section
—38th Annual—
NATIONAL Farm Toy Show
Buffalo Bill Museum and River Pilot's Pier Exhibits on Buffalo Bill Cody, river history, regional history and the Lone Star, the last wooden hulled steamboat in the U.S. 199 N. Front St., LeClaire, IA open year round Mon–Sat 9am–5pm Sun Noon–5pm
buffalobillmuseumleclaire.com 563-289-5580
Shelby County 1/29/15 Historical Museum
BuffaloBillMuseum_MAIowan_2015.indd 1
NOVEMBER 6, 7 & 8, 2015
11:13 AM
held at Beckman High School, the National Farm Toy Museum and the Commercial Club Park in Dyersville, Iowa
1850s log cabins, horse-drawn farm equipment, military exhibit, pioneer artifacts, Native American artifacts, new modern storage & preservation facility and genealogy & research center
Sponsored by
TOY FARMER LTD.
For more information call:
1805 Morse Avenue Harlan, Iowa 51537 (712) 755-2437 www.shelbycoiamuseum.org Open M–F 8–4
ShelbyCoHistorical_MAIowan_2014.indd 1
1-800-533-8293 or visit our web site:
www.toyfarmer.com
The AM Iowan ad 2015.indd 1 1/24/14 9:02
6/11/15 12:12 PM
39th Annual
Fort Atkinson, Iowa
September 26 SEPTEMBER 26&&27, 27,2015 2015
Saturday, September 26 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Belle Plaine Area Museum & Henry B. Tippie Annex Come experience Belle Plaine’s history along the Lincoln Highway. Visit the Belle Plaine area museum and Henry B. Tippie Annex. 901 12th Street, Belle Plaine, IA 52208 319.434.6093 info@bpiowahistory.com www.bpiowahistory.com
Camp Algona POW Museum Come experience the story of World War II German prisoners of war held in a prison labor camp in Algona. OPEN weekends 1–4pm April–December OPEN weekdays 10am–4pm in June–August Admission $3.00 for adults Located at 114 S. Thorington St., Algona, IA
Sunday, September 27 9:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Saturday Sept 26 9:30am–4:30pm
9:30 a.m. Fort Opens to the Public With Cannon Drill 9:30 - 10:15 a.m. Open Shooting (Quarry) (Registered Campers Only) 9:45 a.m. Flint & Ste el Contest 10:15 a.m. Tomahawk Thr owing Contest 11:00 a.m. Primitive Bow Shoot 12:00 p.m. Cannon Drill 1:00 p.m. Shooting Contest (Quarry Area) 1:15 p.m. 1840s Kid’s Games 2:00 p.m. Cannon Dr ill 2:15 p.m. Anvil Shoot 2:30 p.m. Judging of the Cooking Contes t 2:30 p.m. Melodrama 3:00 p.m. Bullwhip Contes t 4:15 p.m. Evening Color s with Cannon Drill 4:30 p.m. Fort Closes to Public Las t Bus Departs
9:00 a.m. Fort Opens to the Public With Cannon Drill 9:10 a.m. Old Time Church Service 9:30 - 10:00 a.m. Open Shooting (Quarry) (Registered Campers Only) 10:00 a.m. Skillet Throw 10:30 a.m. Kid’s Tomahawk Throw 11:00 a.m. Cannon Dr ill 11:30 a.m. Me lodrama 1:00 p.m. Cannon Dr ill 1:15 p.m. 1840s Kid’s Games 2:15 p.m. Anvil Shoot 2:30 p.m. Me lodrama 3:30 p.m. Eve ning Color s with Cannon Drill For t Closes to Public 3:45 p.m. Last Bus Departs
Sunday Sept 27 9:00am–3:30pm
FREE Admission! FREE parking Bring the entire family!
• Cannon Drills • Shooting Contests • 1840s Kids Games Rendezvous Days 2015 – The Military Trail • Flint & Steel Contest • Tomahawk Throwing Contests • Primitive Bow Shoot • Melodramas • Anvil Shoots • Cooking Contest • Bullwhip Contest • Skillet Throw
Sponsored by the Friends of Fort Atkinson and the Iowa DNR. • Held with permission of the Iowa State Preserves Advisory Board.
For more information email:
fortatkinsoniowarendezvous@gmail.com Sponsored by the Friends of Fort Atkinson and the Iowa DNR. Held with permission of the Iowa State Preserves Advisory Board.
Listed on The National Registry of Historic Places
Call 515-295-3719 for an appointment
CampAlgonaPOW_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
7/20/15 12:59 PM FriendsFortAtkinson_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
7/6/15 9:07 AM
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
61
from thearchives
Capital City News
COURTESY DES MOINES PUBLIC LIBRARY
Real accounts of Iowa life in the 1800s taken from newspapers of the time
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MAD SPEED
These adders with their additions
RIVER TRAFFIC
(Des Moines) — Some exemplary
and subdivisions have made a pretty
(Des Moines) — The Des Moines City
stage-drivers ought to be taught the
mess of it so that today it can be said
came into port of Saturday evening with
impropriety of driving through the
that Des Moines is laid out with the least
colors flying. This is the first boat of the
streets at a mad speed. Within a few
regularity of any town in the Union.
season and is entitled to the Elk Horns
weeks, two or three children have been
Court Street, at present the
at least. She left Keokuk on the 5th, and
in imminent peril from fast driving.
principal business street, runs plumb
found locks at Croton and Bonaparte
Last evening, a little boy, three years
against the Court House and of course
in good order. Had some trouble at
old, for whom we entertain a profound
ends there; otherwise it might remain
Bentonsport locks, the upper gates of
affection, was saved as by a miracle
the principal business street to the
which are now removed, and no further
from being crushed beneath the heels
end of time. Third Street goes crooking
trouble anticipated at present. She
of the horses. We have had enough of
and curving northward till it encounters
met the Des Moines Belle at Ottumwa.
that fast driving. Let it be stopped.
a fence which some gentleman is
The City brought up about 150 tons of
building across it.
freight, mostly consigned to business
We could mention some dozens
houses of this place.
of other thoroughfares which start out
A PRETTY MESS (Des Moines) — Everything in Des Moines is lovely with one single exception. We refer to the ground plan of the burgh, the thoroughfares, streets and alleys. There are perhaps one or two straight avenues of a reasonable length laid out (on paper)
A. Hine and J. Martin for a daily line of
foot alley before going far or form a
Steamboats to ply between Des Moines
cul-de-sac by being cut off in mid career
and Ottumwa as soon as navigation
by some kitchen garden or residence.
opens. The steamers Clara Hine, Add
Others widen out to twice the usual
Hine, and Des Moines City compose
breadth and then narrow gradually till
the line, three boats well-adapted for
there is scarcely room for a cart to pass.
navigation on the Des Moines River and
We cannot say whether there is
under the management of careful and
any remedy for these irregularities
accommodating officers. The locks will
but can easily fancy a much better
be placed in such condition as to insure
state of things. If anything is done to
prompt trips. Merchants and
correct these reeling lines, it should
business men generally will
be done before the city becomes more
find it to their interest
densely populated.
to bestow a liberal
while all the rest are subject to the eccentric curves and corners given to them by erratic speculators.
Additions … have grown on [Des Moines] like the warts on a gigantic potato.
Arrangements have been made by
bravely but either collapse to a twenty-
patronage
COURT AVE. BRIDGE
on this
(Des Moines) — This splendid structure
enterprise.
is now nearly finished, and stands out in its beautiful proportions to attract the eyes and accommodate the necessities
NO LONGER A DRAG
of the people. It is an honor to the
(Des Moines) — We notice a movement
builder, the Company, and our city.
in real estate, which has heretofore
The following are some of the figures.
been a drag. A. S. Vorse sold to J. Tuttle
The extreme length of the bridge is 642
a house and lot on Fifth street, near
feet. There are four spans of 135 feet
Sycamore, for $1,000 cash. D. O. Finch
town in comparison to the surrounding
each, with 2 double trusses, upon the
sold two lots in Hoxie’s addition on
scores of additions that have grown on
Burr principle, with double arches of
time, at $400 each. John L. Smith sold
it like the warts on a gigantic potato.
21 feet springbolted to each truss. The
22 feet by 66 feet on south side of
Every man who has laid out his little
width of the bridge is 31 feet, forming
Walnut Street between 5th and 6th
patch of ground in streets and lots
a double wagon track. There are also
for $500 cash. Other transactions are
has consulted his own taste alone and
side-walks, five feet wide, outside of
afoot which have not yet been reported.
proceeded without regard to symmetry
the trusses, and protected by hand-rail
We will be obliged to our real estate
or the demands of the portions of the
and lattice.
men for particulars on these matters as
Des Moines proper was a very small
city adjoining.
they transpire.
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
63
CANTINA, WINERY AND GUEST SUITES Seasonal menu, Iowa made Wine & Craft Beer 119 North Washington St. Edgewood, Iowa 563-928-6908
www.caferoseiowa.com
AND .COM
CafeRose_MJIowan_2015.indd 1
SAVOR UNEXPECTED FLAVORS
Hand-crafted beers since 2007
worthbrewing.com
WorthBrew_JAIowan_2015.indd 1
Soldier Creek Winery
®
TAP ROOM HOURS: Wed & Thurs: 5–9 pm Fri: 5–11 pm Sat: noon–11 pm Central Ave. Historic District Northwood, Iowa
3/23/15 11:52 AM
Award-winning Wines from Iowa’s Prairie
Tastings | Vineyards | Tours | Events
1584 Paragon Ave. Fort Dodge, IA 515-216-0987 www.soldiercreekwinery.com 3/19/15 9:39 AM ANNUAL WINE RELEASE & FESTIVAL
5/11/15 9:16 AM SoldierCreek_MJIowan_2015.indd 1
September 5 & 6 1 - 6 p.m.
Enjoy a taste of rural Iowa with handcrafted grape, berry and fruit wines. Free wine tasting. Spacious tasting room. Gift Shop. Outside patio seating. Open-air stage. Vineyard tours availableguided or self-guided. Groups or private tastings welcome by appointment. Call 641-456-2836 Hours: We are open May - December, Saturday & Sunday, 1-6 p.m. ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– 2138 160th St. - Hansell, IA 50441
641-456-2836
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– townsendwinery@wbfrec.com
Special events on web site: www.townsendwinery.com
64 IOWAWINEANDBEER.COM iowan.com
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Complimentary Wine Tasting & Tours Wednesday Wood-Fired Pizza Specials Friday Live Music
OPENING LATE AUGUST 2015!
Sunday Celebration Brunch Swisher, IA (319)857-4300 | crwine.com
SATURDAY TOURS
Empty Nest Winery
PROUD TO BE IOWAN.
Enjoy our fine beers at the taproom in Knoxville or look for them at you favorite store or restaurant. 641-842-2739
1352 Apple Rd Waukon, IA (563) 568-2758
We use locally grown berries & ferment whole fruit for the best tasting “TRUE TO THE FRUIT” unfiltered wines! Come and taste the difference! Sat: 10–5 pm / Sun: 1–5 pm
www.emptynestwinery.com
Get our latest updates: facebook.com/pulpitrockbrewing Twitter: @PRBrewing 207 College Drive, Decorah, IA 563-380-3610
www.pulpitrockbrewing.com
peacetreebrewing.com
PeaceTree_MJIowan_2015.indd 1 3/6/15 1:25 PM
EmptyNest_MJIowan_2015.indd 1
Tap Room Hours: Wed & Thurs 3pm–10pm Fri & Sat 12pm–11pm Sun 12pm–10pm
AVAILABLE NOW Linda Betsinger McCann’s
3/12/15 PulpitRock_SOIowan_2015.indd 4:23 PM 1
7/22/15 10:55 AM
NEW SE! EA REL
AWARD WINNING WINES Wed & Thurs: 3–9pm Fri: 3–10pm, Sat: 1–10pm CLOSED Sun–Tues 17 North Vine Street Glenwood, Iowa 51534 (712) 525-WINE (9463)
R ···
Firetrucker Brewery Ad.pdf 1 3/24/15 albiabrewingcompany.blogspot.com
3/30/15 1:32 PM AlbiaBrew_JAIowan_2015.indd 1
It’s always
A Party
at Summerset! OPEN: Tues–Sun 10am–5pm
Sunday tunes, weddings, tasting room, The Inn, group tours, special events 15101 Fairfax, Indianola, IA 515-961-3545 www.summersetwine.com Summerset_JAIowan_2015.indd 1
EASTERN IOWA
11 Benton Ave. E Albia, IA 52531 641-932-4085
www.vinestreetcellars.com VineStCellars_MJIowan_2015.indd 1
B PROHIin ITION
OPEN: Lunch Wed–Fri 11–2 Wed–Thurs 5–9pm Fri 5–close & Sat noon–close
5/8/15 9:41 AM
L INDA B ETSINGER M CC ANN
···
3:17 PM
5/8/15 11:14 AM
This book looks at the 13 year span of time known popularly as “Prohibition” through the lens of Eastern Iowa townspeople and others. From the farmers who grew the corn used in making illegal liquor, to the bootleggers who trafficked it and the gangsters who sold it, Eastern Iowa saw its fair share! Read excerpts of interviews with regular people who were swept up in the craziness, and about gun battles on two lane highways. Even if you know something about Prohibition, you will be surprised to read how this period in our national history transpired in, and impacted, Iowa.
books
®
Order all Linda McCann’s books at www.iowan.com
65 IOWAWINEANDBEER.COM May/June 2015 THE IOWAN Prohibition Book ad 1-6V.indd 1
3/27/15 2:06 PM
Iowa’s Country Schoolhouses Why do we love them so? by Dan Weeks
The-one room school: pump in front, outhouse in back, bell atop. It is an American icon, a symbol of something great: the democratic ideal of a free education. Of broad exposure to history, literature, and culture for all — even on the hardworking prairie. These schools shouldn’t have succeeded. One teacher — often in her teens — taught every student in every grade every subject. She was also janitor, cook, principal, and lone almostadult in residence. Students often arrived already tired from chores and cold from walking in from far-flung farms. Yet teachers, parents, and students willed the schools to work. “My first year, I taught 12 children in five grades” in rural Harlan, wrote Louree Clem. “1930s country kids were cooperative and unspoiled. They relished singing at Opening Exercise while I pedaled the tunes on the organ. On winter days everyone brought a potato to bake on the heating stove. At noon we scurried for our lunch pails and sat like a big family eating and talking. This simple setting kept Iowa first in the nation for literacy.” Perhaps that’s why these schoolhouses are so compelling: They served great ends with modest means — and they served them well. Iowa is one of few states where you can still find them by the hundreds, standing at county crossroads with one last lesson to teach about what matters most.
MORE ABOUT IOWA SCHOOLHOUSES A TOUR of 160 of Iowa’s country schools: preservationiowa.org
A DOCUMENTARY Country Schools: One Room — One Nation: countryschoolmovie.com
A BLOG Iowa One Room Schools, Keeping History Alive: schoolhouses blogspot.com
A CONFERENCE “Country School Preservation Conference,” page 9
A CONVERSION “Buckingham Palace,” page 18
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Merry Brook School was built in the 1880s near the current Woodbine airport. It’s been relocated twice since then and is restored and furnished with period school memorabilia. Location: 212 Lincoln Way in Kiwanis Park, Woodbine Open: By appointment: 712-647-2593
PHOTO BY JEAN MARTIN
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
67
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September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
PHOTO BY GERALD L. ROWLES
Township residents built Bennington Township Schoolhouse #5 in 1909 for their children to attend. In 1988 it was moved to Cedar Falls’ Sturgis Park. It’s now known as the Little Red School House Museum and is furnished with period desks, books, a pot-bellied stove, and other authentic details. Location: 1st and Clay Streets, Cedar Falls Open: May 1–October 15, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday 2–4:30 p.m. For more information: 319-266-5149
69
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September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
PHOTO BY DANI LISK
Tusha Country School taught children from 1878 until 1939. It is now part of the Madison County Historical Society. The furnishings and books inside offer a taste of a country school education circa 1900. Location: 815 South 2nd Avenue, Winterset Open: May–October, Monday–Saturday 11–4 p.m. & Sunday 1–5 p.m. or by appointment: 515-462-2134
71
Framed by flaming sumac on a misty fall morning, the Brandon Township School in Jackson County near Emeline is still used as a community center. Location: Corner of County 17 and SW 50th Avenue, Emeline Open: By appointment. Jerry Schau, 563-652-5268 Dan Weeks is editor of The Iowan.
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THE IOWAN
PHOTO BY GARY HAMER
September/October 2015
73
EXPERIENCE Greater Des Moines
Botanical Garden Exploring, explaining and celebrating the world of plants
EXPERIENCE!
Delicious cuisine and local wine tastings! Annual Band Day & Fall Festivals
SHOP!
Small town atmosphere with big city selection and savings! Gardens and Garden Shop Open Daily 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Trellis Café Open Tuesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. For more details, call 515.323.6290 or visit dmbotanicalgarden.com
OUTDOOR EXCITEMENT!
33-mile paved trail, fishing and camping, Swan Lake State Park Check the Chamber website for Calendar of Events & Businesses! Carroll Chamber of Commerce 712-792-4383
www.carrolliowa.com CarrollChamber_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
claycountyfair.com 74
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7/7/15 1:41 PM
ARTBOUND
Experience live theatre in Ames with ISU Theatre!
Treasure Island, The Magic Flute, Love and Information, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Secret Garden, and The Birds.
www.theatre.iastate.edu
ISUTheatre_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
7/14/15 9:57 AM
18TH ANNUAL NORTHEAST IOWA ARTISTS ’
• 55 ARTISTS at • 42 LOCATIONS find us on facebook
October 2, 3, & 4, 2015 Free • Open Daily 10-5
7th A N N UA L
Southwest Iowa
Art Tour
Saturday, Oct 17 9am–4pm Sunday, Oct 18 12pm–4pm ©Zack Jones
Connecting Southwest Iowa communities through Art
Saturday Sept 19,10am–5pm Sunday Sept 20,12pm–4pm Gathering Places in: Malvern Macedonia Red Oak Stanton Clarinda Shenandoah
319-653-3782 or 319-653-7547
www.iowastudiotour.org SEIAStudioTour_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
7/13/15 2:58 PM
Glenwood Winterset Greenfield Corning Council Bluffs and many more!
Like us on Facebook @ SWI Art Tour
www.swiat.com
SWIAArtTour_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
7/7/15 1:39 PM
75
flashback
60 Years Ago in The Iowan
Inside a cover depicting a historic home in Bentonsport, the last issue of 1955 featured a surprising number of references to automobiles.
Bentonsport’s James A. Brown home.
Radar speed checking appeared for the first time in seven Iowa cities in the early 1950s in the form of large boxes strapped to the trunks of police cars. Concealing the units inside the cars was considered unsportsmanlike.
76
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Conrad maintained its summer outdoor musical events by adopting an auto-friendly venue, according to a photoessay.
Whitewall tires, dual exhausts, and a hint of tailfins display the 1950s preoccupation with speed — and the dangers of unsafe passing in the pre-interstate era.
A life-insuranceless widow in a black dress pleads with a man to buy her family’s streamlined car.
A lone gas pump in Bentonsport provides a focal point for the magazine’s center-spread photograph.
September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
77
WINTERSET
It’s all about That BRIDGE
Which bridge do YOU love the most?
www.madisoncounty.com October 10–11 Winterset, Iowa Courthouse Square 9am–5pm daily
Join us this summer for Music at the Winery. See our web site for a complete schedule of events. 515-729-9463 | coveredbridgeswinery.com | Winterset, IA CoveredBridge_MJIowan_2015.indd 1
3/13/15 9:45 AM
POWPOURRI
46th Annual Madison County
A specialty boutique offering original, handcrafted paper goods & gifts made in Winterset, Iowa. 207 N. 1st Avenue, Winterset, Iowa OPEN: THURS & FRI 11am–3:30pm SAT 10am–2pm 515-462-4744 ✺ www.powpourri.com
COVERED BRIDGE
FESTIVAL www.madisoncounty.com 515-462-1185
Bed & Breakfast
Powpourri_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
Discover Something Special
7/30/15 10:10 AM
by Jass
Please join us for a relaxing experience. We offer private accommodations with a sitting room, fireplace, king size bed, bathroom and kitchenette. Wi Fi and Direct TV are available. Breakfast is served in the privacy of your room.
515-201-7720
Pine Creek, Ltd
715 N. John Wayne Drive Winterset, IA jass4llc@gmail.com
110 N 1st Ave, Winterset, IA 50273 515-468-4736 OPEN: Mon–Fri 10am–5pm, Sat 10am–4pm
B&BJass_SoIowan_2015.indd 1
7/27/15 3:43 PM
Honey, flavored honey, lotion bars, lip balm, goat milk and honey soaps, dip mixes, cheesecake mixes, beer bread mixes, & wine mixes. Call us at 515-210-7445 for all your gift giving needs.
www.randolhoney.com
RandolHoney_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
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7/24/15 12:15 PM
Visit the new Museum! 10am–5pm daily 205 S. John Wayne Dr., Winterset
TOLL-FREE (877) 462-1044
www.johnwaynebirthplace.museum
Photo Courtesy of Maggie Ripperger
Enriching the Community for Over 50 Years
2 Blocks South of Square
KIDS CRAFTS • SPIN ART • ART CAFE Open 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (during the Covered Bridge Festival) 224 South John Wayne Dr. • Winterset, IA 50273 (515) 975-5444 Like us on Facebook
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
IOWACITYBOOKFESTIVAL.ORG
OCTOBER 1-4, 2015
EXPERIENCE LINN COUNTY PARKS AND NATURAL AREAS
The Iowa City Book Festival is a four-day celebration of books, reading and writing. The festival includes readings, discussions, and demonstrations from a variety of authors. This year’s authors include: Bryan
STEVENSON Robert REICH Sara PARETSKY Tim JOHNSTON
Bonnie Jo
CAMPBELL Rebecca MAKKAI Brian DUFFY J. Ryan STRADAL
& MANY more...
Explore · Relax · Camp
PRESENTED BY
IOWA CITY UNESCO CITY OF LITERATURE
Iowa’s Largest Quality Arts & Crafts Shows
LinnCo_SOIowan_2015.indd 1
7/8/15 11:44 AM
Des Moines, IA – Iowa State Fairgrounds
September 25-27, November 20-22 Sept. 25-27, 300 Exhibitors. Nov. 20-22, 325 Exhibitors. Fri. 5-9, Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4, Sept. Adm. $6, Nov. Adm. $7
Coralville, IA – Marriott Conference Center
Sept. 13, 100 Exhibitors. Nov. 7-8,150 Exhibitors. Sept. Show 9-4, Nov. Show Sat. 9-5, Sun. 10-4, Adm. $5
Council Bluffs, IA – Mid-America Center October 10-11, December 5-6 Sat. 9-5, Sun. 9-4, 200 Exhibitors, Adm. $5
Dubuque, IA – Grand River Center
October 31, Sat. 9-4, 125 Exhibitors, Adm. $5
Cedar Falls, IA - UNI Dome
No show due to scheduling conflict. Hopefully back in 2016.
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September/October 2015
THE IOWAN
79
escapades
The Haunting of Ham House Finally, the shocking truth
by LAWRENCE TABAK | illustration by DAVE TOHT
Dubuque’s Italianate Ham House was built in 1856 for Mathias Ham, a wealthy businessman and lead miner. Evidence of haunting, including a mysterious blood-curdling scream, peaked in the late 1960s. I know because I was there, and so was Carol, my girlfriend. The statute of limitations for trespassing has long expired, so I might as well come clean. In 1964 the Dubuque County Historical Society acquired the house for use as a museum. It had both the reputation and
grand staircase toward a murky bedroom. Inside, a woman in
the decaying look of a haunted mansion. Back then, its large,
a hoop skirt held a parasol. Next to her stood a man gesturing
double-door entry was secured by a single-bolt lock. During a
with a top hat. Carol confidently released my hand and
volunteer work weekend, my best friend Howard surreptitiously
stepped up to the velvet rope in the doorway and leaned in.
obtained a key (his father was the historical society’s president).
“Look,” she called back. “These seem almost real!”
Our late-night excursions into the mansion soon became
Suddenly the parasol popped open in Carol’s face and
regular entertainment. Climbing to the cupola was a rite of
the man with the top hat leapt forward and grabbed her
passage for initiates into our Ham House club. Surmounting
arm. Carol let out a scream that would have satisfied Alfred
the creaking steps while a hidden club member produced
Hitchcock. It lasted well into the hysterical laughter of my
nerve-wrenching groans or sent a clattering broomstick falling
dressed-up friends. I had nearly dropped to the floor in shock
past the initiate tested their will.
myself. Even after she stopped screaming, Carol was shaking
Floodlights illuminating the exterior made access without
and laughing at the same time. Her fright quickly shifted to
discovery dodgy. But once inside, they allowed us to navigate
anger. At me. I lamely insisted I had no idea the guys would go
the ornate furnishings and mannequins in period dress without
so far, but she didn’t buy it. We quickly put the place back in
a flashlight, although occasionally someone would panic and
order and scooted, sure that a neighbor had heard the scream.
hit a light switch. One foggy night we even held a séance while circled around a skull retrieved from the Society’s collection in the basement. We were disappointed to raise no spirits. When one of my friends suggested I visit Ham House with
We were right. Years later the Dubuque Telegraph Herald ran a feature on the “haunted” Ham House. Neighbors reported mysterious lights flashing inside at night, and one described a chilling
Carol, it seemed a capital idea. He even promised a special
scream. Today you can find the Ham House on such websites as
reception. That Saturday night, after a seemingly aimless
prairieghosts.com and hauntedhouses.com. Dreadcentral.com
drive that ended at Ham House, I convinced Carol to take an
calls the house a “textbook haunting.”
exploratory stroll. When we got to the front door, I gave it a tentative push. It opened. She gasped.
Well, now you know the truth. The only thing I learned about ghosts there was that introducing your girlfriend to
“Hey, someone forgot to lock up,” I said. “Let’s go in!”
them under rigged circumstances is no key to a long-lasting
It took some cajoling, but Carol had an adventurous
relationship.
streak. We tiptoed in, mannequins casting monstrous shadows.
Sorry about that, Carol, wherever you are.
“This is amazing,” Carol whispered. She became increasingly curious while I grew ever more tense. My friends and I typically ambushed one another just inside the front
Writer Lawrence Tabak grew up in Dubuque.
door, but there was no sign of them. I was jittery as we
Dave Toht is an illustrator, writer, book publisher, and blogger (davetoht.tumblr.com).
checked out the main floor. Then I cautiously led Carol up the
80
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M O C . Y A W E C A R E L L I V KNOX November/December 2013 | THE IOWAN
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