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"LADORA - This is a place where everyone could know your name. It's Saturday on the town in Ladora - where else but at the Ladora Bank Bistro. The Ladora Savings Bank is the signature building in the small community. It was built in a different time, by people with different dreams - there is elegance and opulence throughout. It's life as a bank was short - just over a decade after opening in 1920, the bank closed forever as the nation was pulled into the Great Depression. The people in town were shocked to realize their money was gone and the building never again served as a bank. On this Saturday night, a steady stream of customers come in. Almost everyone wants to explore the bank - something the hosts, Brad Erickson and Colleen Klainert, graciously encourage. At first glance, it would seem amazing that despite nearly nine decades and serving multiple purposes so much of the original bank remains intact. The reason for that, of course, is the building was built to last. The brick, marble and brass were made to withstand anything and everything - it will remain long after all of us are gone. It helps, too, that Erickson and Klainert purchased the building and approached the project of renovating it with love and dedication. Much of what is seen is the direct result of four years of hard work by the Grinnell couple. Today, the jewel box bank has been largely restored to its former glory - and the past remains alive in the building. There are ghosts here - no, not the real kind (is there a real kind?) but the aura and energy of the place harkens back to a time when life was more simple - a time when people understood the meaning of the words embossed high up on the walls: Frugality is the Parent of Fortune; Diligence is the Mother of Virtue; Wealth is the Achievement of Thrift; and Integrity is the Companion of Success. With the advent of email and text messaging, the art of conversation is rapidly disappearing in America. Yet somehow, the environ in the Ladora Bank Bistro still encourages it. In this place, friends meet friends and strangers share conversations across the tables. People laugh and share stories over a good glass of wine or a tall, cold beer. The appetizers are light and delicious - thus the focus isn?t the food but rather it is on the patrons themselves. The food and beverages only serve to enhance the laughter and stories. By the time the sun set, the miniature yet cavernous old building was nearly full. A group of young men pulled up to the bar, occasionally sharing stories or a joke with a group of older people sitting at a table on the other side of a marble counter. Eighty years ago, tellers served their customers on that counter - the brass security bars remain - at each window is an ebossed brass enscription: Teller, Information and Deposit Boxes. With a little imagination, you can still see them there - our grandparents and great-grandparents hoping indeed that "Frugality was the Parent of Fortune" or that "Wealth was the Achievement of Thrift." Clearly they understood both concepts well - but they also understood that without conversation and friendship, there was no life at all. The lobby was full but those desiring a bit of privacy could choose the bank vault, which has been converted with chairs and a small table, or what was once an office or, perhaps, the board room upstairs. In the board room, as would be expected, jackets and ties are required - fortunately, the chairs are already adorned with them so patrons wearing shorts and t-shirts are welcome. As the bistro filled up, the mingled conversations became indecipherable - save for the odd word and the frequent strains of laughter. Somehow, someway, the style of our forebears lives on here - the art of conversation is still very much in good form. The writer in me thought this would be the place to set up an old Underwood typewriter and write the next great American novel all the while being fueled with a steady stream of appetizers and fine wine. Certainly, an entire book could be written simply through eavesdropping to the stories being told. The Bistro serves as a reminder of what was in America - of dreams that failed yet re-emerged as something different and better. For the first time in many years, parked cars line U.S. Highway 6 in the small town - the heart of the community is still beating and with the opening of the bistro, the life of the past has returned. In the summer, it is an event, in autumn It could be a respite and in the winter it could be an escape with the cozy interior framed by dozens of panes of frosted glass. This is a place where we can rediscover our spouses and friends - a place that we can rediscover ourselves through simple conversation. Visit the bistro and rediscover for yourself the simple pleasures of the past - just pull up a barstool and tell them your name."
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