Snapshots of History by Mike Avitt

By Editor | June 17, 2026 |

I will continue my series of how I viewed Mount Ayr from 1970 to 1973 and the experiences I had.
Mount Ayr’s first teen center was in the basement of the United Presbyterian Church and opened in 1970. I remember my step-sister Lesa Perry painted the sign, “The Cellar,” that was placed at the entrance of the basement. In a way, the teen center had its own house band — The Era of Good Feeling. Members of the band included Bob and Bruce Ricker, Brent Smith, Steve Duros, Randy Smith and Joe Carr. Dances were held regularly. Live music was more common then than it is now.
My first driver’s license was a green piece of paper with typed information on it. No lamination; no photograph. My step-father Merrill Perry bought the family a second car, a 1954 Dodge Royal I called Manfred.
I know now why he bought a second car; so I wouldn’t wreck the family car, a 1968 Oldsmobile 98. I had several single-vehicle accidents with the Dodge. I was small for my age and most of my friends were younger than me, so we could easily fit 10 kids into Manfred.
The state highways were narrow and had rounded curbs on them in those days. These were extremely dangerous. The curbs increased hydroplaning and made control difficult if the driver got the tires on the curb. Driver’s Education instructor Jim McIntosh taught us students to stay on the curb when meeting oncoming traffic. The curb had a tendency to direct the vehicle to the center of the road when coming down from the curb. Ed Reasoner, Kirk Elliott, Sherry Olney and I made up our driver’s ed class. And, yes, I had to sit on a cushion.
I remember the highway speed limit being 65 mph. The signs showed 65 during the day but when headlights shined on them at night, they said 60. I have never met anyone who remembers this. Also, there are twice as many stop signs in Mount Ayr now than there were in 1972.
The hospital had a sign in front that said, “Quiet – Hospital Zone.” My McFall cousins and I went to the hospital to get Pepsi from the pop machine. They lived at 116 Shellway Drive. Indoor pop machines were common 55 years ago. Outdoor soda pop machines were scarce. Maybe the Clinton Motel had one and Warin Oil Company.
My brother Mark, my step-brother Dave Perry and I mowed yards in the summer. The biggest yard we had was George Irving’s and there were many bushes and trees. We had a riding mower Merrill bought from his brother Jay Perry who ran the John Deere dealership in Creston. We picked up sticks, trimmed bushes and trimmed around lawn ornaments with hand-snips. It took a few hours but the payday was $7. Big money in those days. We also mowed Don Friday’s yard. Don had a shed in his backyard where he did part time shoe repair. The house and shed are still there today.
Before I went to the Princess Theatre to watch Dracula meet his bloody end, I loaded up on candy at Place’s dime store. My favorite was red licorice sticks and I could buy one or 20 at one cent per stick. The sticks were unwrapped, lying in a plastic compartment. I grabbed a handful and laid them on the unsanitized counter. The clerk counted them and put them in a sack with her bare hands. I put the sack in my coat and snuck them in to see Dracula.
Radio music stations were on the AM dial 56 years ago. I had a Panasonic transistor radio I had gotten in 1968. I listened to WHB out of Kansas City, WOW from Omaha and, of course, KIOA – Des Moines. All these stations were “Top 40” but WOW played oldies on Sunday night. One of my favorite oldies was “Runaway” by Del Shannon. The swimming pool played KIOA on their public address system. My favorite song to hear at the pool was “School’s Out” by Alice Cooper.
Mount Ayr’s pool hall, the Q Club, was a bizarre phenomenon for me at first. I got used to it but not quickly. It was a world within a world with its own language and culture. It was truly a study in sociology. The restroom facilities were primitive. There was a single urinal on the east wall behind a small partition. No door, no mirror, no sink, no stool. The pool hall was not female friendly for this and other reasons. Besides five snooker tables, there were two pinball machines and some of us were better at pinball than we were at pool. The player with the week’s highest score was awarded $1 on Monday morning. Therefore, when I had the highest score, there was no need to attend school. More on the pool hall later.
I have very clear memories of Mount Ayr in the early 1970s and I want to get those memories in print before I start slipping. Next week, I’ll recall Ezra Rice and the “board of education!”

Posted in Snapshot of History by Mike Avitt