Spring: Country ways and a 10-cent supper
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By Bill Wundram | Friday, May 16, 2008 |
At this time of year I think of country, and that means small towns. It is good to know that “country” survives — though so many of the folks work in the “cities.” That’s what they call the Quad-Cities, if they live in Alexis or Aledo, Ill., or Calamus or Clarence, Iowa. “We’re going to the cities to shop,” say the folks out there.
There is a peaceful rhythm in small towns that thrive on friendly people. The country spirit survives in places like Wilton, Iowa, where they’ll be having their annual 10-cent smorgasbord next Tuesday, May 20. You better get there on time, 6 p.m. sharp, or they’ll run out of baked beans.
People sit on the curb, eating off paper plates, or bring their lawn chairs. All you want for a dime, served from long tables right on the street. It’s named for Jake Davies, who ran the supermarket in town. Forty-six years ago, he began dishing out a 10-cent smorgasbord in thanks for the local patronage. Local merchants have kept this bargain meal going.
“Gas and food prices go up,” says Kent Denison, chairman of the bargain meal, “but our dime price stays the same.” He is the Wilton postmaster and wryly adds that the postal prices have gone up, too.
Boiled ham and turkey sandwiches and all the fixings are served. If you go, Wilton (not Welton) is about 35 miles west of the Quad-Cities just off Interstate 80.
Country ways stay alive beyond such pleasures as the dime supper. Small town newspapers — usually the work of volunteer women — patiently keep us in touch with card parties and how Aunt Clara was taken to Amana by her family for Mother’s Day last Sunday.
Mostly, these papers are monthly. One of those of journalistic eminence is Charlotte’s Web at Charlotte, Iowa. Pronounce that “Shar-lott.” Another is the Lost Nation Scoop at Lost Nation, Iowa. The Scoop, a weekly, is assembled in the backroom of a beauty shop. It made the CBS “Nightly News” and a 20-minute segment on National Public Radio when it printed its 1,000th issue. The CBS program included a cat crossing Lost Nation’s main street without a car in sight.
Mostly, these small town papers were born when the regular weekly went out of business because of high costs. One of those volunteer papers, the Wheatland Wire, of Wheatland, Iowa, came to be when the Wheatland Gazette folded. “We just try to make ends meet on local advertisements,” says Janice Buchanan, who adds, “I guess that I’m one of the editors.”
The Wire runs off 700 papers each month. Like the other small town volunteer papers, it has only local news — city council decisions, euchre tournaments and birthdays. No bad news. Only good news. One popular page is reminiscences of long-lost days, written by the old Gazette’s editor. The current issue tells his thoughts on the end of Prohibition:
“Beer came around the corner last Friday after an absence of 13 years. Lots of folks were waiting on the corner. Some came around the corner to meet it.”
There couldn’t be country ways without local weather prophets like Steve Gottschalk of Lowden, Iowa.
“Robins have built their nests close to the trunk of the tree and lower in the limbs. This means a windier and wetter normal season,” Steve says.
Steve has been keeping his eye on ants. “If you notice, ants build their nests higher just before a heavy rain. They’re good forecasters; they built their nests high just before the last two heavy rains. I will continue to monitor them over the summer.”
Spring is the season of country ways, when all the world arrives with a rush. I like to think of places like Stone’s orchards at Hampton and the words of Marilyn Kluger in “Country Kitchens Remembered” …
“Then suddenly, overnight, the orchard would burst into glorious bloom, filling the air with a sweet, tart, innocent fragrance.”
Bill Wundram can be contacted at (563) 383-2249 or bwundram@qctimes.com.
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