Snapshot of History
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Tingley Cafe in the early 1960s.
BY MIKE AVITT
This week’s photo comes from the Clair Heyer collection. The restaurant was called Tingley Cafe in the early 1960s but would have a different name in 1977 when an unexpected guest dined here.
The September 22, 1977 Record-News reports Iowa Governor Robert Ray and his financial assistant, a Mr. Sharp, showed up last Friday night to confirm the praise the Des Moines Tribune dished out to Badah’s Kitchen.
On departing, the governor expressed his agreement with the Tribune. Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Jackson owned Badah’s Kitchen at this time.
Another big event in Tingley about this time was the formation of the Tingley Kitchen Band. The December 21, 1978 Record-News states the band made its debut at the Tingley Meal Site in celebration of December birthdays. Members of the band were: Mildred Johnston, Edith Wood, Ruth Buck, Cleo Clough, Arlene Overhotzer, Fern Pyle, Florence Shields, Dorothy Saltzman, Donna Bear, Merzilla and J. E. Hillebran, Opal and Orville Green, Violet and John Grose, and Beulah and Roy Perkins. Ruth Buck served as the director. The band, originally called The Happy Kitchen Band, played the Iowa State Fair in 1983 and probably some other years. They were still performing past 2006.
In September 1979, Lloyd and Suzanne Miller, with their children, moved to Tingley from Fort Wayne, Indiana and opened the Old Fort Cafe in early November 1979. They would have the cafe until 1992.
On January 14, 1974, twenty-seven senior citizens broke bread at Tingley’s first meal site in the Community Building. This was the first meal site in Ringgold County. Randy Petersohn was the director and Mrs. Harry Werner was the cook. Nancy Jarred wasn’t mentioned in the article but I believe she has been involved from the start.
In April 1976, Mack Sickels began operating his veterinary practice out of the old Harley Been Barber Shop building. One and a half years later, veterinarians Dr. Mekus and Dr. Peters operated out of here for about a year.
August 11, 1970 was the robbery of the Tingley State Savings Bank. Either the alarm was disabled or it didn’t activate and the thieves used a complicated method to enter the vault. About $20,000 in cash was taken and I don’t know if the robbers were caught.
I often get asked to write an article on a topic I’ve already covered. I guess there is no harm in revisiting a previously discussed subject.
This week’s “Snapshots of History” is number 574.
