Readlyn, 857 People and 1 Old Grump Traditional Cache
Readlyn, 857 People and 1 Old Grump
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Welcome to my hometown of Readlyn, 857 People and 1 Old Grump. Who is the grump you say? Well some will say it all depends on the day, but actaully there is an elected "Grump" each year during the towns "Grump Days". This year, 2008, Grump Days is June 20-22nd.
I got to thinking the last time I was home visiting my mother, Readlyn doesn't have a cache in it, well the times have changed. Readlyn needs to have a cache to get some people to experience a nice, very friendly community where everyone is ready to help everyone in time of need. The Early Years (Taken from the writings of William Mauer, estimated to have been written in 1949.) By 1900, much of Iowa was still a vast prairie. People had settled on farms, and towns were scattered. The land had been divided into counties and townships. Bremer County has some of Iowa's riches farm lands, and the Maxfield township is a fertile spot in this county. The Ohlendorfs were a family of German emigrant settlers who had come to the land of opportunity to find happiness. They picked a region about 1.5 miles west of the Wapsipinicon River in northeast Iowa to put up several buildings. Trains were becoming a common means of transportation in the early twentieth century.Railroads connected many of the prospering towns. Two of Iowa's early towns in these farming districts were Waverly and Oelwien.These two towns were connected by railraod, but a shorter route was desired to give enterprising citizens a closermarket for thier products. In 1903, a representative of the Townside Company came to the Ohlendorf home.He wanted to buy the Ohlendorf land in order to build a station for the Chicago Great Western railway line that was to connect Waverly and Oelwein. The Ohlendorfs sold their land to the Townside Company, and it was divided into lots. The first of these lots was sold in March, 1904. All the Ohlendorf buildings were sold and torn down, except the house, which was converted into a hotel used mainly to house the railroad builders. Other businesses were constructed in place of the original Ohlendorf farm buildings, and lots were donated for the park and school yard. What's in a Name? A name was needed to distinguish this little town. Read was the name of the representative from the Townside Company that bought the land from the Ohlendorfs. Appreciating the generous compliance with their wishes, citizens living in the vicinity of Read's Line decided on Readlyn as the name of their town. Hollywood Visits! Bremer County is the setting of "Country," the classic film of the farm crisis of the 1980s starring Jessica Lange and Sam Sheppard. Levi Knebel, a boy from a nearby town, had his film debut with his major role as the son of the starring couple."Country" was filmed largely in Readlyn in the summer of 1983, and was released for the public in October, 1984. The primary farm setting is one mile south of the Bremer County line in Black Hawk County on a farm owned by Kenneth Fettkether. Many scenes were shot in Readlyn at the Farmer's Co-op, Meyer's Welding, Readlyn City Hall, Readlyn Savings Bank, and Center Inn. Many residents of Readlyn and the surrounding area played bit parts and served as extras. I bet you didn't know a movie was filmed here. Now you have to go home and watch the movie, it was actually pretty good. Check out the website for Readlyn at: http://www.readlyn.com/index.htm The town sign by Highway 3 gets all kinds of visitors so be sure to get your picture taken as well and post it on here. Oh yeah you need to bring your own pencil and when you sign the log book only put your initials. So hope you have a great time visiting Readlyn and be to come back now, ya hear!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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