Plantation Ballroom, Whittemore, IA - Iowa Ballroom Project

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from Jon Blanchard (formerly of Lone Rock, IA) - Jan 15, 2003 - I found this article about the ballroom on our family website and thought you would like to add it to your list.

By Cathy Carlyle
For the Upper Des Moines (September 1, 1989)

There it sat, two miles north and a mile west of Whittemore, in farm country. It could seat 750 people, but was reported to accommodate as many as 1,500. It drew such name bands as Lawrence Welk, Russ Morgan and the Six Fat Dutchmen. The dance floor was a roomy, smooth 60 by 120 feet.

An unlikely success story. The Plantation went up in smoke, but its memory lingers.

It was a family spot every Friday night, when old-time polkas and waltzes were danced. It was a hot spot for teens and anyone who wanted to step out on Sundays. It was a restaurant with top-notch home cooking. It was host to countless wedding dances and saw its share of political rallies, women's groups, banquets and showers.

THE PLANTATION opened on the birthday of its owner and builder, H. R. "Hitchy" Pettit, on September 19, 1948. Called "Pettit's Folly" by some, (according to old newspaper accounts), it quickly proved its doubters wrong, and enjoyed booming business until it burned to the ground in December of 1961.

"You were a big dreamer, right?" Hitchy's daughter, Lael Kahler, asked her dad. "They both loved to dance. I think they went to dances all over the country and just wanted to have their own place," she said.

There were florescent lights along the sides of the dance floor and booths along the outer walls, which could be reserved in advance. A doorway connected the ballroom to the dining room adjoining it. Since liquor could not be served by the drink then, there was no bar and anyone wanting booze had to bring his own bottle.

"EVERYBODY HAD a good time. We hardly ever had any fights," recalled the Plantation's part time manager, Bill "Peanuts" Kollasch. "People just went and had a good time. Just like you go to a house party, yo let your hair down, and you know what that does."

The ticket office would open at 8:30, music would start at nine and last until one a.m., with an intermission from 11:30 until midnight. "That's when the kids all went out and got in trouble," Peanuts chuckled.

"Not all of us!" Lael countered. "Then everybody went to the dining room and had plenty to eat, after the dance. If they didn't do it during intermission."

ALL THE COOKING was done by Hitchy's wife, Elvira, with help from her mom and Peanuts. "The food was terrific. My mom made ten pies every time there was a dance and I think she was pretty famous for those," Lael said.

That meshes with the memory of Earl Ludwig of Algona, who worked at the Plantation for a decade. "She had one of the best homemade pies you could get- it didn't matter what kind of pie. A lot of people who never even came to the dance, came out there to eat pie," he said. "There were people who came from all over just to have lunch out there."

EARL JOINED the staff at age 13, setting up and carrying pop on Sunday afternoons. He said a lot of kids in his class at St. Michael's in Whittemore, and those a year ahead and behind, had part-time jobs there."

"Mom liked to hire young people to work, more than older people because she said they were just good help and hard workers - and more fun," Lael said. "I have one sister and three brothers and we all worked there. We had more fun than most teenagers, I think."

CUSTOMERS came from towns all around, as far away as Estherville, Ft. Dodge and Spencer. "A lot of them went out as a family (on old-time music nights)," Earl reported. "They took all their kids out there - some of them, 6, 7, 8 years old and on up - and the whole family went out and they polkaed, schottisched and square-danced, whatever."

"The Plantation was originally going to be in the town of Whittemore," Earl said. "Some of the church-goers didn't think it was quite right to have an 'evil dance hall' in the city limits, so Hitch owned that land - see, that's in the other county, where the Plantation was set - so he built it out there."

Cost of admission was a dollar, for an evening of dance.

"It was cheap entertainment, compared to what it'd cost you now," Peanuts said. "When they first started, a seven ounce bottle of pop cost ten cents." Other prices bandied about - hamburgers for a quarter each, a big box of popcorn for a dime, a slice of pie for 15 cents.

THE WORST THING would be if you had a dance and then the band didn't show up," Peanuts said. "Either a make-up band from Algona would come out or we'd give them their money back."

Wedding dances were often scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday and Peanuts said those would always be the most crowded, since admission was free.

"One time, we had two of them back-to-back like that," Lael recalled. "We just didn't go to bed. We cleaned up from the dance and started making food for the next one."

Peanuts added, "You oughta' try that some time. You're on your feet and it's go, go, go."

NO ONE ever determined what caused the fire that destroyed the Plantation.

A company Christmas party had been held there the night before, as heavy snow fell. Around 4 a.m., the blaze was spotted by a passing truck driver. Although there was insurance coverage, reports at the time said it was not enough to cover the full loss.

"By then, they were getting old enough that they didn't want to rebuild," Peanuts said.

"It would have been too hard to do," Lael agreed. But it left its mark. "You should invite people to write in about their experiences. A lot of people met their spouses there - many, many, I'm sure. It was friendly - just a happy atmosphere."