Noah’s Ark Ristorante was the first place I tasted pizza, because of a band director, Jack Oatts, and the Bill Riley State Fair Talent Search.
In the early 1960s, this farmer’s daughter watched the Iowa State Fair Talent Search on KRNT-TV nearly every Sunday evening with my parents and sister. Each week a winner was chosen to compete at the Iowa State Fair, where the top prize included money for college.
Bill Riley’s State Fair Talent Search began during my high school years. Because our farm was in Madison County, when the Dexter school underwent reorganization, my sister and I began climbing on an Earlham school bus every morning, along with other former Dexter students.
Jazz saxophonist Jack Oatts was Earlham’s energetic band director who immediately recruited us Dexter kids for the band. In no time he had us playing in the marching band, concert band, stage band, Dixieland bands, and combos.
It wasn’t long before Mr. Oatts also had the school involved in Bill Riley’s statewide talent sweep, which began in 1959.
1960s
He even talked some of us into trying out for a Talent Search, to be held in the auditorium of the Earlham school on January 29, 1962. Three of the acts were chosen for the next level of competition–to be on Bill Riley’s TV show. I played for a Dixieland band that was chosen. That meant getting to go to Des Moines at night. At the KRNT-TV studio we got to watch what happened behind the scenes where Channel 8’s famous locals did their shows. Encouraged even more directly by Bill Riley’s optimism, we nervously taped each program straight through in front of the hot lights and camera.
At the end of the evening, we learned whether or not the judges had chosen us to go on to the next level–the Iowa State Fair.
Either way, afterwards we stopped at Noah’s Ark for the new fad food we’d heard about–pizza. To us rural high schoolers, pizza looked and smelled so exotic. And eating its oddly stringy cheese gracefully was a challenge. Our parents, who did the driving, weren’t as excited about the pizza, but we teenagers were hooked.
1990s
Dad never did like pizza, but Mom certainly did. During the 1990s, using Grandma Leora’s memoir (which I’d transcribed for family members), Mom and I wandered the gravel roads of Guthrie County, hunting places Grandma had written about. We also looked up old newspaper articles at the Iowa Historical Library in Des Moines. (I discovered that Grandma was correct about Grandpa Clabe’s father’s hog that sold for $2000 in the early 1900s! I thought she had added an extra “0”, but she was right!)
After finishing up, we’d drive down the hill from the library, swing over to Ingersoll Avenue, and enjoy pizza (sausage and onion) at Noah’s Ark.
The restaurant has suffered fires twice that I can remember, but thankfully returned as good as ever. It’s named after its founder and long-time owner, Noah Lacona, and features a mural of the biblical Noah’s Ark on one wall.
2000s
In Mom’s later years, we’d ask where she’d like to eat out for Mother’s Day and for her August birthday. Noah’s Ark. Pizza, salad and their famous rolls, with spumoni ice cream for dessert. After a Mother’s Day lunch, we’d usually head down Fleur Drive to Waterworks Park to see all the flowering crabapple trees in bloom.
Her birthday was at the end of August, after the Iowa State Fair. When she could no longer attend the fair, we’d still drive to the fairgrounds after lunch at Noah’s Ark to see the wonderful gardens which were still blooming.
It’s still a treat to have pizza (yes, they have gluten-free crust) at Noah’s Ark.
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See more history about the iconic eatery in Classic Restaurants of Des Moines and Their Recipes by Darcy Dougherty Maulsby.