West Des Moines Methodist Church Stand: A Fair Tradition Since 1949

[Jerry Slagter] We're kind of famous for our seats, our little bar here. So it's like, “Oh, that's stand with the red seats out front.” I think it's special for us. And I think people like just coming here. I don't know if it's an old-fashioned kind of feel.

[Mike Plymale] This is our 77th year of serving the public at the Iowa State Fair. A group of women from the church decided there needed to be a United Methodist Church presence on the State Fairgrounds. It was a very small wooden stand with a sawdust floor.

[Jerry] It used to be open 24 hours, so we would have someone actually sitting in a cot. Kind of sleep a little bit and just doing coffee and doughnuts.

[Mike] We're on Rock Island road. This used to be known as Church Row, and we are the last church on Church Row. Breakfast is the busiest time. Last year, we sold one ton of gravy. It's good down-home food, and people come back year after year, and we see that every day. Customers that have been there for years, or they came with their parents to eat here, and they're coming back and bringing their kids.

[Skylar Kirby] We come here every year for breakfast. It's just like a fan favorite. I don't know, the food's great, the people are super sweet and attentive, and prices are great, and we just like it.

[Camren Madden] Constantly got to be watering the pigs, you know, especially when it gets hot out. So, you know, just being close enough where maybe at the show in 15 minutes and I'm hungry, I can sneak away, you know, probably 20 steps across the street and come. And the food's great here. It's never let me down. I always go for the biscuits and gravy, so you might as well give it a shot.

[Jerry] It's got to be unique to have 300 people say, “Yeah, I'll take an 8-hour shift because we think it's the right thing and it's a fun thing to do.” That's really special, I think, that it's all volunteers.

[Mike] They want to serve the public. They want to have a church presence here at the state fair, and they really have fun doing it.

[Jerry] We have volunteers from our church, but from the community-wide, other churches. I think once someone does the stand, they enjoy it. We try to have a lot of fun. Everything comes on a stick, so we said, “Well, why not a prayer?” So we hand these out, something that you can take with you, put in your pocket, just kind of a fun little fair thing.

We're busy all the time, and the fair is busy too, but once you sit down, it seems like it slows down a little bit, and, and you can talk to people.

[Mike] I love to meet new people and make new friends, and I've made friends here from all over the world.

[Jerry] Mom and Dad did it, or Grandpa and Grandma did it, so I want to do it. So I think as long as we keep that going and, you know, run a good stand, have fun while we're doing it, maybe we can get to 100.