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 Members of The Red Cedar Regulators and The Hole In The Sock Gang, along with a
number of Civil War reenactors will come to Steamboat Rock to help tell the story of four
nearby Hardin County ghost towns. The Steamboat Rock Historical Society is offering a
bus tour of Hardin City, Berlin, Eagle City and Abbott as part of the towns' Rainsbarger
Days Celebration on July 18.
The Red Cedar Regulators are a cowboy or old west reenactment group from the Cedar
Rapids area, and the Hole In The Sock Gang hails from the McGregor area. There will also
be members of the 32nd Iowa Civil War reenactment group of Mason City and the 24th
Iowa group from Cedar Rapids. These as well as others will be coming to help the
Steamboat Rock Historical Society tell the history of the four ghost towns to be visited on
their upcoming bus tour.
The above groups have been working with Terry Folkerts, formerly of Steamboat Rock, on
a series of videos on the ghost towns of Iowa. Folkerts got the idea for his project from the
stories he had heard as a boy of the nearby Hardin County ghost towns.
The ghost town bus tour is being done as a fundraiser for the Steamboat Rock Historical
Society with the funds raised to make repairs to the former F&M Bank building in
Steamboat, which is being converted into a local history museum.
The reenactment groups will be providing color to the already exciting stories with their
reenactments while the stories are told by narrators at each location. The reenactors are
donating their time and talent but will also be asking for donations to cover their travel and
expenses for the day.
The reenactors will be participating in the Rainsbarger Days parade in Steamboat at 5:00 pm
and presenting a Wild West Show from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the evening in conjunction with an
outdoor dinner being arranged by the Schoolhouse Committee.
Tickets for the Ghost Town Bus Tour are now available at the Steamboat Rock Library,
Green Belt Bank & Trust in Iowa Falls and Ackley, Hardin County Savings Bank in
Eldora, and Peoples Savings Bank in Wellsburg. The price of the tickets is $12 per
person.
Tickets are available for the dinner and wild west show from members of the
Schoolhouse Committee or Cowboy Way or Travel Now for $5 in advance or $6 at the dinner. Plan to come and spend the day at Steamboat Rock as many other activities are
planned including a fireworks display at dusk.
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| Toll Free 877-337-7070 Tues thru Sat, Home After Hours 641-648-3793, Cell 641-373-3794 |
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