Volunteers give new life to Balltown landmark
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By Steven Martens | Sunday, May 18, 2008 |
BALLTOWN, Iowa — Balltown is a quiet, still village of 53 people, nestled in the rolling hills northwest of Dubuque that on a spring day looks like something taken straight from a Grant Wood painting.
But on this spring day, one of those 53 residents, Mike Breitbach, is neither quiet nor still.
He is simultaneously conferring with workers, greeting well-wishers, answering questions and talking on his cell phone, all while overseeing the reconstruction of his restaurant, Breitbach’s Country Dining, which was destroyed in a Christmas Eve fire.
The restaurant was opened in 1852 and has been in Breitbach’s family since 1861. Breitbach was in the restaurant having breakfast with a small group of family members the morning of Christmas Eve when a gas leak caused an explosion so strong it blew out the windows in his brother’s feed store across the street. No one was injured.
Among the inspirational messages posted on the wall of The Gathering Place, a small room on the restaurant property where locals gather is this one:
“Treasures were lost on 12-24-07, but no lives were taken. Amen.”
With the help of his insurance company and a lot of volunteers, Breitbach and his wife, Cindy, have begun to rebuild their restaurant and plan reopen next month at a date yet to be announced. Breitbach said on some days, 50 to 60 volunteers are working at the restaurant to get it ready. A friend told him you find out who your friends are when tragedy strikes.
“We’ve found out, let me tell you,” he said.
Helen Schmitt comes by every day to help make breakfast and lunch for the workers. She said Balltown is a tight-knit community and that Breitbach is one of its most generous benefactors, always ready to assist others in need.
“Mike has been so good in this community,” she said. “I feel this is our way of paying Mike back.”
Breitbach calls the outpouring of community support “unbelievable.”
“We had no idea we had such support,” Breitbach said. “A friend of mine sent me an e-mail that said, ‘You harvest what you sow.’ We must have sown the right seeds.”
In the middle of all the activity, Jerry and Carol Dunham of DeKalb, Ill., stop by to check up on the progress of the construction. Jerry Dunham said he and his wife take weekend trips through the area a few times a year and always make it a point to eat at Breitbach’s.
“If we come on Friday night, we always come back on Saturday,” he said. “It’s just a good time. It’s relaxing.”
Breitbach walks over to them and offers a handshake, asks them if they’ve been there before, and invites them into The Gathering Place to look at photos of the old restaurant, the fire and the reconstruction. The scene makes the sign in German on the restaurant’s nearby beer garden seem all the more appropriate: “Kumm als gaast, geh als freund,” or “come as a guest, go as a friend.”
Schmitt says the way community members have rallied in the wake of the fire is a testament to their character, but appropriate when you consider how much the restaurant means to Balltown.
“This is Balltown,” she said. “Breitbach’s is Balltown. And Breitbach’s will be Balltown again.”
AT A GLANCE
History: The restaurant that is now Breitbach’s County Dining opened in 1852 as a stage coach stop, and was bought by current owner Mike Breitbach’s family in 1861, making it Iowa’s oldest bar and
restaurant.
Rebuilding: The new restaurant resembles a slightly larger version of the old restaurant, a white structure designed to fit in with its rural surroundings.
Details: The restaurant will have 11 employees and seating capacity for about 200 customers.
Menu: Mike Breitbach described the menu as “Midwest dining at its finest.” The restaurant and its pies were featured on the Food Network program “Feasting on Asphalt 2 with Alton Brown.”
Opening: The restaurant expects to open the second or third weekend of June.
Location: 563 Balltown Road, Balltown, Iowa, northwest of Dubuque, Iowa. Phone: (563) 552-2220
Steven Martens can be contacted at (563) 659-2595 or smartens@qctimes.com.
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