The original Oran website -oraniowa.com was created by Ben Stong in conjunction with his service for Oran Mutual Telephone Company. That website became obsolete and information was not updated. Although it was evident that the website should be removed, it contained historical community information. The information was copied and is now archived here.
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Innovative Ag Services
Innovative Ag Servicesis the largest employer in Oran. It began serving the Oran community in 1984 when it was purchased (then Youngblut Elevator) by Gary Zimmerman. It was then called Oran AG Services. At that time there were 2 full time employees. In October of 1997 Oran Ag was bought by United Suppliers of Eldora and Gary Zimmerman became the manager. It has grown to 14 full time employees and has branches in Toledo and Tripoli. In 2001 it teamed up with the elevator at Readlyn and assumed its present name of Innovative Ag Services.
Products and services include:
Bag and Bulk Feed
Grain
Fertilizer
Custom Application of Herbicides, Insecticides, & Fertilizer
Custom Feed Grinding
Anhydrous Ammonia
Oran Locker
Proprietor: Todd Briddle
We don't have a whole lot of background information about this business as yet, but we do have a couple of pictures.
1862 Map
1988 Wapsie Warriors
Iowa Sports Magazine features Wapsie Warriors
Front row left to right: Coach Chris Davis, Jason Miller, Jamie Bathke, Coach Steve Doeden
Second row left to right: Robert Gipper, Eric Lohman, Lyn Wedemeier, Tom Miller, Matt Trotter, Shane Buhr, Coach Jerry Southmayd
Top row left to right: Gary Goeller, Adam Frame, Dan Ingersoll, Kurt Leistikow, Scott Weers, Kendall Westendorf
The Streak Rolls On
The UCLA Bruins, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Green Bay Packers and the Wapsie Valley Warriors. What do all these teams have in common? The answer is they all have repeated as champions in their respective sports. One might ask how does Wapsie Valley fit in with these giants of the sports world? Well, the Warriors might not be as highly noted but they are certainly giants in Iowa High School class 2-A football.
Over the past 20 years Coach Jerry Southmayd has developed a highly regarded football program in Northeast Iowa. His record speaks for itself: 122 wins verses 51 losses, 7 conference championships, 5 undefeated seasons, 2 state championships, and the longest winning streak in the state at 24 games. Also, add the 1983 Northeast Iowa Coach-of- the-Year and the 1987 Des Moines Register's Coach-of-the-Year award to Jerry's long list of accomplishments.
How does one develop such a highly proficient program. It all starts with Coach Jerry Southmayd. Jerry graduated from Yankton State in 1963. From there, he entered the University of South Dakota where he earned his master's degree. After a brief stop in Sibley, Iowa, as an assistant he arrived in Wapsie Valley in 1969, where he has been ever since. Southmayd gives credit for his coaching education to his training at South Dakota University. There he was surrounded by several outstanding college and high school coaches. "Our talk was football all the time. We would spend hours studying film and learning about the game through all of the coach's experiences. I think a lot of this influenced my knowledge of the game," says Southmayd.
As Coach Southmayd will tell you, it takes a team effort to be successful and that is exactly what Wapsie Valley has. Not only do they have a premier head coach in Jerry Southmayd, they also have a staff of knowledgeable assistants that have been with the program for 16 years. Steve Doeden, a 1972 graduate from Iowa State, has been coaching alongside Southmayd for 15 years. Chris Davis, another lifer, has been at Wapsie for 16 years. Chris is a graduate of Northwest Missouri State. Upper Iowa grad Tony Foster, starts his 7th year under Coach Southmayd. These three fine assistants give Southmayd a ton of experience and a staff that has a great understanding of the game.
The next ingredient to form a winning program is the players. Coach Southmayd will be the first to tell you that he has had some tremendous, talent- ed players pass through the halls at Wapsie. 'We run the same offense and defense from seventh grade to varsity football. So our kids have a great idea of what they are doing when they reach the varsity level," says Southmayd. Over the years Wapsie has produced many out- standing young athletes that have contributed to their success on the gridiron, As a result of this, Wapsie's players have bolstered the all-conference and all-state teams year in and year out. Do not look for the talent to stop in '88, for once again the Warriors are loaded with all-conference players throughout the line up,
The final ingredient to success is sup- port. The support the community and fans has given has been tremendous over the past 20 seasons. The fans of Wapsie Valley turn out in droves to watch their Wapsie Valley Warriors do battle against opposing teams, As one player put it "during the game you do not really notice the fans, but in the back of your mind you know they are always there," Not only are the Wapsie fans good home team fans, but they have an excellent road following too. The black and gold is forever followed.
With the ingredients in place, the Wapsie Valley players, coaches, and fans have jelled to form one of the most successful programs in the state. As Coach Southmayd boasts, " We have great tradition and an excellent attitude about Wapsie Valley Football in the school and in the community."
In 1988 Wapsie Valley will try to put forth their ingredients and do what only one other team has done, capture three consecutive state championships in a row. It should be an interesting season to see-- --as the STREAK ROLLS ON ! ! !
Oran Tap & Cafe
Proprietors: Jake and Corinne Schares
Every town has to have a place to "let it all hang out."
Owned and operated by John Bailey as "Bailey's Tap" for over 45 years, and by Kerry Rushing
as The Oran Tap from 1994 until 2001, then by Barb Treptow
until December of 2010, with Tom Pitz and other owners after that. It was closed in the fall of 2017.
In 2018, the Oran Tap and Cafe was remodeled and re-opened by new owners, Jake and Corinne Schares.
Mayor’s Corner
To whom it doesn't concern:
The final vote tally has been audited. 99.5%. I received forty-five and a half votes; one vote was torn in two. I ran on the Republicrat ticket. The opposition party was the Nitwit or Nitpick Party. Not too much mud slinging in this campaign. Too dry and cold. I managed to secure most of the widows' votes and other women, some which probably wish they were widows. I imagine some people voted for me to give me something to do.
My wages for the term will be ten percent of the deficit. Oh, I forgot... the term is till someone else wants or needs the job. My campaign fund was used mostly to buy coffee... for myself. As of now, I have no reason to seek a higher office. My campaign committee has been dissolved. He said there is too much hassle to put up with.
My agenda will be whatever people want. But what they will get is something else. There have been concerns stated about the rush hour traffic in the business district. It seems that at times two or three cars going through at the same time. Maybe they should car pool.
The street sweeper wants a new broom. Tough luck. It wasn't in the budget.
Some old timers want the 7 AM whistle put on snooze for an extra hour of sleep. One citizen suggested putting a silencer on the siren so the dogs wouldn't bark so much.
So as this year is slowly drawing to a close, there's much work to do. Wait till next year. I'm expecting more help!
CHEERS,
THE MAYOR
Russell Cummings
Churches
St. Peter Lutheran Church
In 1902 St. Peter was organized at Grove Hill and dedicated on November 16.
In 1952 The Golden Jubilee was celebrated.
In 1955 the existing church building was relocated and expanded to its present site at Oran. This included the purchase of the old Zion Lutheran Church in Oelwein. The congregation spent from May 23 to May 27, 1955 tearing down Zion and moving the lumber and materials to Oran. The materials and windows were used to enlarge the newly located St. Peter. During 1955 volunteers donated 3100 labor hours for reconstruction. Another 1000 hours were volunteered in 1956 and that year marked the dedication of the newly remodeled church.
1977 marked the 75th anniversary and a large new entrance was added.
Another celebration was held in 1987 for the 85th anniversary.
Pastors who have served our congregation include:
A.R. Beer (1902-1905)
R.C. Ackerman (1906-1910)
C.G. Gerlack (1910-1915)
H. Kovar (1915-1920)
A. Ottersburg (1920-1924)
H. Kovar (1924-1930)
E.J. Voss (1930-1940)
G. Kuhlmann (1940-1944)
E.J. Dornbusch (1944-1968)
A. Stoa (1968-1976)
J.H. Reints (1976-1979)
Arnold Thalacker (1979-1985)
Joyce Guldager (1985-1988)
James Rushton (1988-1990)
Gerald Melby (1990-1998)
Gary Olson (interim 1998-1999)
Carlton Shaw (1999-2009)
Sandra Burroughs
Joel Becker (present)
United Methodist Church
The Cemetery
United Methodist of Oran Closed it's doors in 2017
The Oran congregations' first worship service was held in 1911 on the Main Street, with the congregation seated on the sidewalk. Then they met in the waiting room of the depot. In 1912 services were moved to the Dewey Schoolhouse located 1/2 mile north and 1 mile east of Oran. A building committee was appointed and the present church was built in 1913 with most of the work done by the congregation. Ladies Aid started in 1910, before any services began. By 1913 it was a well organized group. The church was dedicated on May 24, 1914.
Edgeton Hardware
Carl Edgeton, Owner
Kevin Edgeton, Service Manager
Edgeton Hardware and Repair serves Oran and the surrounding area with a good variety of hardware items. The store housed the post office prior to it's closing. Kevin spends most of the time on the road doing a variety of electrical wiring, plumbing, furnace and air conditioner installations. A backhoe, trencher, bucket truck, and various other machines facilitate the work requests. Joan Wenger is the storekeeper.
