Home Care In Ladora, IA

The second of two sesquicentennial celebrations in Iowa County will be taking place the weekend of Aug. 24-26.

This time, the destination of the three-day celebration is Ladora.

Events on Friday, Aug. 24 include slow-pitch softball games starting at 5 p.m., with the first game pitting players over 40 against those under 40; live music with Kurt Gillette, a Little Mr. and Miss Contest, with participants riding in the parade on Saturday; and pit barbecue from 6-7 p.m.

On Saturday, Aug. 25, there is a car show, parade at 10 a.m. and a special dedication event at noon. There will be plenty of activities for the family, including bags, family games, tug-of-war, inflatables and rolle bolle. There is a quilt show and the University of Iowa Mobile Museum will be on hand. The final Saturday event is every local Baby Boomers' wildly popular band, “The Days End,” from 8 p.m.-midnight. These Ladora and Victor “boys” are reuniting after 50 years.

Sunday, Aug. 26, will begin with an outdoor community church service, with an old-fashioned community potluck to follow. Afterward, there will be water ball fights and cow chip bingo, with events slated to end by 5 p.m.

On Aug. 24-25, there will be food trucks and a beer tent; while the vintage machine show runs all three days.

TOWN HISTORY

The history of Ladora has been published several times using this statement:

“Ladora was surveyed and platted by James A. Paine Sept. 19 and 20, 1867. The plat was officially acknowledged Oct. 25, 1867.

“At November (1879) term of court, an order was obtained to call an election to decide the question of incorporation. January (1880) it was decided to incorporate. On March 1, 1880, the following officers were elected: Mayor, J.H. Gray; recorder, O.F. Williams; assessor, O.F. Williams; marshal, F.E. Dennis; common council, F. Pike, L.W. Wilson, F.P. Starrett, M.D. Snavely and I.D. Smith. Soon after election, J.H. Gray resigned and W.S. Foster was elected mayor.”

The town celebrated its centennial in 1968, and had a 125th birthday bash in 1993.

According to information published in its centennial publication, squatters settled in what is now Ladora in the mid-1800s. By 1865, a post office was established on the Wilson farm, about a mile west of the current city limits.

The first census was taken in 1870, showing eight families in town, and 40 adult residents, with 17 women and 23 men).

According to a 1986 article that was published in the Pioneer-Republican (when RAGBRAI was a town along that year’s route), there were several stories about how the town name of Ladora came to be.

One was that a music teacher, Mrs. Glen Scofield, who lived on the old Wilson farm, combined the three notes on the minor musical scale – “La,” “Do” “Ra” – to form the name. Another suggested that the names of a vocal music teacher, L.A. Marble, and his wife, Dora, were combined to form the name, a city name that didn’t conflict with others in use around Iowa.

The town’s first church was a Presbyterian congregation that established in 1869, sitting at the site of the former Ladora school. The church was destroyed by a tornado in 1880. Today, a United Methodist church serves the town’s religious needs.

Ladora had a considerable downtown business district well into the 1960s, particularly before Interstate 80 was completed in 1964. The last of major businesses was Shuall’s Store, which still had a big local clientele until it closed in 1983.

These days, folks visiting from out of town – or perhaps the locals as well – stop at the Ladora Bank Bistro, the former Ladora Savings Bank. The building was completed in 1920 and did well for several years, but fell victim to the Great Depression and closed July 27, 1931. Brad Erickson and Colleen Klainert opened the Bistro in 2008, the last in a long line of uses for the facility since the bank closed.

Ladora had its own school, atop the bluff and overlooking the town, for many years. A gymnasium was completed in 1951 and was the home of many community activities, plays, celebrations and sporting events. This continued into the 1980s, long after Ladora became part of the HLV (for Hartwick-Ladora-Victor) school district. The elementary building and gymnasium closed in December 1985 when a classroom and gymnasium addition to the Victor school was completed.

One of rural Iowa’s most unique restaurants is losing its chef, leaving the future of theLadora Bank Bistro somewhat uncertain. The struggle to find a new owner for the restaurant shows how difficult it can be to keep historic buildings open in small town Iowa.

There’s nowhere quite like the Ladora Bank Bistro. It’s a romantic, white table cloth kind of place in a nearly 100-year-old bank building in downtown Ladora, population 274.

The classical revival style building has been preserved, but scarcely changed at all, since it was built in 1920. Original chandeliers hang from the ceiling, the marble tellers' counter is now the bar and the old bank vaults hold beer and wine.

On a recent prep day at the bistro, chef and restaurant owner Jim Vido showed off his unconventional pantry housed behind the intricate workings of the bank vault doors.

"All the wine, these are old field tiles. Very handy to hold the wine," he said. "I rearranged in here a bit, brought in a beer and wine cooler, a rack."

Another vault holds the old safety deposit boxes, and spices.

"This is fun always opening up," Vido said as the door creaked open. "Then I have a freezer in there that I keep some stuff in."

Squeezed into a galley kitchen in the back, Vido runs what’s been called the best small town restaurant in the state, pumping out gorgeous cheese boards and locally sourced charcuterie. Vido wows visitors from all over Iowa and neighboring states, working with little more than an undersized oven and a handful of induction burners (which look suspiciously like old-school hot plates).

A few months ago, the chef and sole proprietor announced it’s time for him to move on.

"One of the main factors is the limitations in the kitchen. Just kinda running out of ideas of what I can do here," Vido said. "Ready for a change."

Vido will be taking over the kitchen at Millstream Brau Haus in the Amana Colonies in March.

That leaves the owner of the building itself, Dimitri Makedonsky, trying to figure out what comes next. He first fell in love with the bank while passing through town on his motorcycle in 2004.

"I happened to notice this beautiful structure on the north side of the highway, right on the highway. And I was drawn to it," Makedonsky said. "So I just pulled the bike over, walked up and started putting my nose in the windows and looking around.

He poured thousands of dollars and years of his life into the place, patching leaks and preserving marble, the old wood, and the walls that still bear carved maxims about wealth and frugality.

"I was just completely blown away by all the antiquity that was still inside. All the chandeliers were hanging in perfect condition, the teller cages, all the marble and glass was still perfectly in place," he said. "It was kind of just…like walking back in time."

But across the state many of these signature civic buildings are crumbling. Schools, banks and historic homes are abandoned or demolished, and sometimes just replaced. Bruce Perry is the president of Preservation Iowa, which tries to help protect and save these buildings.

"If the average home value in a small town is $100,000 and you put $400,000 into restoring a Victorian home, it’s gonna be tough to get that money out of it," Perry said. "So it does pose unique challenges for rural communities, small towns."

Putting on a new roof could cost more than the building itself. Combined with the risk of starting any business in a shrinking community, the numbers don’t always add up. But it’s worth trying, Perry says, "so that they can remain economically viable. And that people can maintain this feeling of place, connection to the past, and have some of these structures serve as a bridge between the past and the future."

And there are ways to make it work. There are state and federal tax credits and grant programs. State and local historic preservation offices and the Iowa Economic Development Authority can help as well, with facade rehabilitation and technical assistance programs. Local non-profits may already be working to preserve particular buildings.

But it’s also important to find the right use for the right building, according to Josh Moe, a preservation architect with the firm OPN.

"Historic preservation that isn’t connected to a community and isn’t connected to any economic drivers might not be a good idea," Moe said.

He says the Bank Bistro strikes this balance really well.

"It’s this perfect confluence of a really cool space and a really good restaurant," he said. "This is an example of how small towns in Iowa can use preservation and conservation as a catalyst."

Back at the bistro, Vido is strategizing how to sell down his beer and wine collection before he leaves. He’s closing up shop after Valentine’s Day Weekend. But he thinks someone will fall in love with the place like he did.

"Yeah I hope…I hope that works out," he said. "It would be a shame for this building to not be used for something."

Makedonsky is still looking for that next chef. But he plans to keep a restaurant running in the old bank, and to reopen for business this April.

It seems like businesses in Eastern Iowa are closing left and right!

This past weekend, Ladora Bank Bistro in Ladora, Iowa officially closed its doors. This wasn't a surprise to patrons, though. The restaurant's owner and chef Jim Vido announced the news on Facebook back in November of 2018. The post reads:

?"It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing that we will be closing our doors as of February 18, 2019. My wife, Holly, and I are very grateful to everyone whom we have met and has supported us. In the past four plus years, we have had the privilege to host our guests in the beautiful Ladora Savings Bank. For that, we are grateful and hope to see you in the next few months. Thank you again for your support."

I never had to opportunity to visit the restaurant myself, but I heard nothing but great things about it. It was even named the 'Best Small Town Restaurant in Iowa' by Thrillist last year! The menu was unique, featuring fancy wine and small dishes that were meant to be shared, but the location was also a reason to visit. Ladora Bank Bistro was named after the building it sat in, which is the former Ladora Savings Bank building. According to the Des Moines Register, the bank was opened in the 1920s, but closed in 1931 due to the Great Depression. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the year 1990.

Although the restaurant is now closed, if you enjoyed the food of Chef Jim Vido, he announced back in December that he will transition to Millstream Brau Haus in the Amana Colonies starting March 1, 2019. That's only a couple of weeks away!

I would also like to note that I saw some comments on Facebook from people saying the restaurant is set to reopen in the spring, but I haven't seen any official confirmation of that, so we will let you know as soon as we hear something!

Did you ever visit Ladora Bank Bistro? What did you think of the place? Share your memories in the comments!

The character Nancy Drew has been a global phenomenon thrilling readers for the past 90 years, yet a good portion of those readers don't know the real Nancy Drew, the author behind the pseudonym 'Carolyn Keene.” Iowa Wesleyan University alum Patricia Essick spoke about the first author of the Nancy Drew series, Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson, at the last lecture in the Brown Bag Series.

'I've been fascinated with Nancy Drew since the fourth grade,” Essick said. 'She was smart, she was capable, and she could get herself out of any predicament she found herself without any boy coming to her rescue. How did Nancy Drew come to be the way she was? ”

The first seven Nancy Drew books were ghostwritten by Mildred Benson, who was born and raised in Ladora, Iowa. Though Benson did not create the character herself, Essick believes Benson's own character and upbringing were sources of inspiration for Nancy Drew.

'She was responsible for breathing life and spirit into Nancy Drew,” Essick said. 'You'll find lots of things from Millie's life reflected in the character of Nancy Drew that she developed.”

Much like Nancy Drew, Benson was known for her sense of adventure and independence.

'She wasn't a girlie type girl, and she always thought girls should be able to do things boys can do,” Essick said.

Benson had a passion for reading, and when she was only 13 years old, she had her first piece of writing published in the St. Nicholas magazine. The story was called 'The Courtesy.”

In 1925, Mildred earned her bachelor's in English from the University of Iowa, and shortly after she entered the master's program for journalism at Iowa, to which she was the first student, she was tasked with her first ghostwriting books, the Ruth Fielding series.

Edward Stratemeyer, the editor and creator of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, saw the popularity of the Hardy Boys and wanted to introduce a teen female detective, Nancy Drew. Stratemeyer chose Benson as the author for the series, and in October 1929, he sent her a three-page outline for the first book.

'Years later in an interview, Mildred said ‘I didn't really analyze that outline Mr. Stratemeyer sent me. I just put a piece of paper in my typewriter and let it roll,' and she did.” Essick said. 'She let it roll and roll, and it's still rolling to this day.”

Mildred was paid $125 for a 250-page, 25 chapter book, and out of the 30 original Nancy Drew books, she wrote 20. Mildred had to sign away her rights to the books and couldn't get recognition or other royalties other than the initial $125 per book.

'Her family knew that she wrote these books, but hardly anybody else did,” Essick said. 'She didn't get acknowledged for writing the Nancy Drew books until the 1990s.”

Essick ended the lecture by praising Benson for her writing and depictions of the Nancy Drew character.

'The impact of Nancy Drew was remarkable, and I think we can all say thank you to Mildred for creating her,” she said. 'Thank you as well for the Iowa girl, because without her, there would be no Nancy Drew.”

Patricia Essick, an Iowa Wesleyan University alum, spoke about the connections of Nancy Drew and Iowa as the last lecture in the Brown Bag Series. (Mariah Giberson/The Union)

The first ghostwriter of Nancy Drew, Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson, was born and grew up in Ladora, Iowa. Many of Nancy's characteristics and backdrops of the books were based on Benson's life. (Mariah Giberson/The Union)

Lecture goers could enjoy the Essick's vast collection of all things Nancy Drew. (Mariah Giberson/The Union)

LADORA, Iowa (KWWL) -- There is no debate that 2020 has been a scary year. An annual October attraction, 2020 is a great theme to bring in visitors so they can continue to support local organizations.

The "Haunted Barn" in Ladora has a new location this year while adapting to COVID-19.

"We actually extended when we would have our alarm, to let us know when to let people in so that it allows 5 to 6 minutes in between different groups so that there's not going to be a bottle neck effect," said Jenni Olson, one of the barn's organizers.

They've added masks and restrict visitors from combining groups.

Although this group describes themselves as a family of "spooks" who are passionate about their "spooking."

"'Spooking' is a term for individuals who want to come here, don a mask, and scare other people," said Olson, who dresses up as a character in the Haunted Barn with her family.

While their rooms and haunts may be scary, they come from a place of compassion.

"There's no greed, it's all about giving back, something i think needs to happen a lot more," said volunteer Dan Gingerich.

"We don't do this to turn a profit we do this to help the community," Olson said.

Every night they spook, they spook with a cause as every Friday and Saturday they're open they fundraise for a local charity.

Causes range from local firefighters to small charities to LZ Phoenix, the only homeless shelter that caters solely to veterans in Iowa.

"Most individuals who are spooking are veterans, they're veterans spouses, they're veteran fans. It's like a family," Olson said.

Once they pay for advertising and the insurance, costing about 25% of what they make every year, the rest goes to those groups they support.

Olson says they often try to pick two charities for the first weekend to receive a larger cut.

"The rest of the profits throughout the year will be divided between scholarships and other organizations in Iowa County," Olson said.

The first weekend is the REA, Rural Employment Alternatives, in Iowa County and LZ Phoenix.

The shelter's program lasts for 90 days, hoping to give struggling veterans and their families the resources to get back on their feet. LZ Phoenix is completely funded by the community through private donations and organization sponsorships.

"Due to COVID-19, fundraising and donations have taken a significant hit but our board members and volunteers have given their heart and soul to our programs," said the shelter's executive director Neal Jarnagin.

Jarnagin says he took part in last year's "Veterans Night" at the Haunted Barn, meeting dozens of community members eager to support veterans.

"The community has been a tremendous support with items needed on a daily basis but fundraisers like the Haunted Barn help with our most basic financial needs like our mortgage, utilities, and the like," Jarnagin said.

READ THE STORY OF LZ PHOENIX HERE.

It's a little odd, but not really if you think about it, that a place so scary can bring so much joy.

"It's something thats fun, it's something where you have a team, and its team oriented and its something where we give back to the community and make the community a better place," Olson said.