I live in Central Iowa, and I travel a lot, but seldom to Northwest Iowa. Last week I was in Sac County – Odebolt – to speak about Iowa wines. They claim that Odebolt used to be the Popcorn Center of the World www.odebolt.net and at one time also grew more grapes than any other county in Iowa. (Can anyone verify this?)
As I entered the county, I noticed the beautiful, colorful quilt blocks on some of the barns. The 8’ square Barn Quilts (www.barnquilts.com/) grace historic barns and corncribs in Sac County. A tour route brochure maps out the trail and describes each designated building. A 4-H project of Kevin Peyton of Sac City, the quilt patterns carry agricultural or heritage-related names.
I enjoyed the Barn Quilts –even without the descriptions from the tour route brochure. I can imagine each farm family is proud to have their 50 + year old building on the tour.
Kevin Peyton had an idea and carried through to create something special in his county.
It reminds me of the members of Iowa’s grape and wine industry – folks who have a vision, figure out the details, put in the work and make it happen. When we buy
Iowa wine, we give them the support they need to make a living and contribute to the interesting happenings in the state.
Timber Ridge Vineyard is up the road from Odebolt, but there are not any wineries in Sac County. The closest is Danish Countryside Wine and Vines in Elk Horn (Elk Horn is the largest rural Danish settlement in the U.S.) in Shelby County.
The folks I visited with were familiar with both … and had been to other Iowa wineries.
When I got home, I saw a newsletter from the Sac Economic & Tourism Department and the front page story announced that The Progressive Farmer magazine had just named Sac County #7 in Best Places to Live in Rural America (not just Iowa!) They site a picturesque landscape, great education and a wonderful sense of community.
Makes me think vineyards and wineries could only make it better!
Cheers!Barb
I grew up in Odebolt and am editor of http://www.odebolt.net and also of the Odebolt History Pages located at http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaohms/
Odebolt was once known as the “Popcorn Center of the World” – read more at http://www.rootsweb.com/~iaohms/popcorn.html
As for verification of Sac County at one time growing more grapes than any other county in Iowa – I personally have never heard that, although it could have been in the early days when they tended to boast about every small accomplishment!
- Barb