Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Rising from the ashes, more from the Iowa-Almanac in a moment. It wouldn't be Christmas without Camp Courageous Fruit Cakes, and they're now available in stores across Iowa and at Camp Courageous.org/fruitcakes. Camp Courageous Fruit Cakes are generously filled with cherries, nuts, pineapple, coconut, and just the right amount of cake batter to hold it all together. Best of all, proceeds go to support Camp Courageous near Monticello, Iowa. For a list of stores or to order online, go to Camp Courageous.org/fruitcakes. When a venerable structure like the Turner Opera House in El Cator burns to the ground, as happened in 1902, the community can either spend a lot of time mourning the loss or else focus on recovery. Within four days of that fire, the community raised $10,000 for construction of a new opera house there. That would be $367,000 today. And less than a year later, on November 26, 1903, the new El Cator Opera House opened, featuring a musical by the great George M. Cohen, called The Governor's Son. Special trains ran from McGregor and other towns along the Milwaukee Rail Line to bring audience members to the first show in the new facility. Those first audience members were struck by the three-story structure square front design with decorative brick detailing. Once inside, they marveled at the Horseshoe balcony, a ruby glass chandelier, and a period stage curtain advertising shops from the town's past. The El Cator Opera House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. More than a quarter million dollars was raised in recent times to restore the building and modernize access and facilities. Volunteers logged more than $22,000 to make the project happen. In November, 2003, the Opera House players celebrated the centennial of the building's opening. Appropriately, with the production of The Governor's Son, the musical which opened the El Cator Opera House only a year after fire destroyed the original one, rising from the ashes on this date in 1903. And that's Iowa Almanac for November 26. There's more online at iowaholmanac.com. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.