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Justin Brady: From the Jethro’s BBQ studio, this is the Iowa Podcast. And of course, who’s not a fan of ice cream? Did you know I actually didn’t know this. This is I’m not, I’m not, I’m not fooling with you. I did not know this until just today preparing. The ice cream capital of the world is in Iowa, Le Mars, Iowa. And th-this is an official thing. It’s not like they didn’t self-proclaim this in Le Mars and just force us to all go around with, uh, go, go along with this story. It’s a legit official thing. So of course, Kristen Heimgartner, the executive director of the Hometown Le Mars Heritage Foundation, we’re gonna talk about that too, joins us in the studio to talk about being, becoming and the ice cream capital of the world, Le Mars.

Kristen Heimgartner: Yeah. Yeah. It’s, it’s a very unique fun fact about Le Mars, and it’s really cool that we’re in Iowa too

Justin Brady: Yeah, we’re gonna talk all about it. Um, before we do everybody, if you like barbecue, go to Iowapodcast.com, scroll to the top, click the Jethro’s logo, and if you buy a $100 gift card, they’ll give you a $30 gift card. promise. Just, you know, if you’re, if you have any fear, just email me. I’ll make sure you get it. You’re good. Uh, Kristin, like I said, thank you so much for coming on the show. What… Okay, so I, I actually did do research. I know that you like ice cream’s the thing. Ice Cream Days is coming up. We’re gonna talk about that. I know all that stuff. I knew all that stuff generally, but can you explain this whole ice cream capital of the world thing? ‘Cause this is a real s-like you’re actually designated this from the Iowa l-is it the Iowa Legislature?

Kristen Heimgartner: Yeah, so we’re the ice cream capital of the world, and we, um, are the home of Wells Blue Bunny ice cream. And so we have the one and only ice cream parlor, Wells Ice Cream Parlor in Le Mars

Justin Brady: Wait, wait, wait. One and only ice cream pop. Where? What?

Kristen Heimgartner: The only Wells Ice Cream Parlor is located in Le

Justin Brady: There’s one of them? Yeah. And it’s in Le Mars? Yep. What is that? It’s like an old-Jethro’s tell, yeah, what is

Kristen Heimgartner: has plants, um, in a couple different locations throughout the US, um, but Le Mars is the only place they’ve built a parlor

Justin Brady: So it’s a parlor by Wells. This is literally what it is, an ice cream parlor, but it’s the only one in the world

Kristen Heimgartner: Yeah, and you can go in and they have over 30 different flavors of ice cream, and they have tons of milkshakes and all the different things. And then the second floor is actually all Wells history. So you can go learn about how ice cream’s made, the Wells history, and it’s like a museum upstairs

Justin Brady: I had no idea. Okay, so there’s, like that’s the whole show right there. Thanks so much for coming in. We’re done.

Kristen Heimgartner: a road trip

Justin Brady: I didn’t know that. Okay, that’s cool. So-Take a road trip over to-Yeah, yeah, for, for sure. I do. I have been taking… Ever since this show, I have been taking, like, more road trips to towns and, um, kind of going on tour. Uh, if you want us to come to your town, let me know. But that’s fascinating. Yeah. That’s cool. I had no idea. So to walk me through the path of becoming the ice cream capital of the world, do you know, like, was there, like, this big local movement where people were, like, calling their, their state lawmakers? When did this happen? Why did this happen? Walk us through the whole history here.

Kristen Heimgartner: don’t know a ton of the history on it. I was born and raised in Le Mars, and I just always knew that when our friends and family came to town, we’d go down to the ice cream parlor and get ice cream.

Justin Brady: Yeah. So yeah, this is an actual thing. It’s a, it’s a legit thing. Um, so I wanna go over the numbers with you of, um, your ice cream capital of the world, but also ice cream days. And so ice cream days are when

Kristen Heimgartner: It’s coming up June 17th to 20th. Um, so in two weeks. Yeah.

Justin Brady: and how many people come to this thing? Like how big is

Kristen Heimgartner: thousands of people. Um, so they come from all over. We get a lot of locals, um, as well as people from Omaha, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Sioux Fall-Des Moines. Like, there’s a lot of people that come over for ice cream days. How many people?

Justin Brady: How many generally are we, are we talking about?

Kristen Heimgartner: Oh, I don’t know that I have a good number for you. I, I… It’s hard to count because all, all of our events are free for the most part. Yeah. And so, um, it’s hard to, for me to have, like, a grasp on a number, especially when we’re outside all the time.

Justin Brady: Right. Do you have, like, how m-much ice cream you guys give out? ‘Cause it’s free, right? You guys give out free

Kristen Heimgartner: We do at certain events. Um, so Well-the Wells team will pick an event each day to give out free ice cream for, and then they hand out ice cream during the parade as well. So throughout the four-day festival, they hand out about 8,000 novelty pieces of ice cream.

Justin Brady: Yeah. Well, how, we, we, how many?

Kristen Heimgartner: 8,000 between

Justin Brady: call them novelty pieces of

Kristen Heimgartner: You call them novelty-Yes, because some of them are, like, Bomb Pops or some of them are, like, the Chips Ahoy cook-like, different kinds of ice cream and not necessarily your fresh scooped ice cream out of the parlor

Justin Brady: So people who haven’t been there, give people an idea of what Ice Cream Days are. Because, like, is it an event? Is there an itinerary? Is the, like, wha-walk people through what

Kristen Heimgartner: so we have a full four days, um, and all this information can be found on icecreamdays.com, um, as well as maps and all those different things. But Wednesday we start with a car show, and so our local Tri-State Cruisers bring in over 80 classic cars, trucks, all those things. And then we have live music. This year it’s by the CRS Band. They’re a local classic rock group. Um, Wednesday night we have a family bike ride, so there’s two options of a f-five-mile bike ride or a 15-mile bike ride, so pick your poison. I think I would be on the five-mile bike ride personally, but, um, and then after that we go over to Foster Park in Le Mars and the Kiwanis and Action Club do an ice cream social with the municipal band concert. So that’s Wednesday. Um, and then Thursday our local theater has performances throughout Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then the Prime Bank, um, has an ice cream social. This is actually their 58th year of doing it. They’ve been doing it longer than Ice Cream Days has actually been going

Justin Brady: And this is the pr-what, what Prime, excuse me, Prime Bank is doing a ice cream social

Kristen Heimgartner: Yes. So they do it out front of their bank, and they bring in a local band, and they hand out free ice cream sundaes and kids activities and all that good stuff.

Justin Brady: So they, they preempted ice cream days? They’ve been doing this before ice cream days?

Kristen Heimgartner: so this is the 32nd year of Ice Cream Days, um, and it’s their 58th year. So-

Justin Brady: Oh, wait, so is it fair to say they kinda started the whole thing?

Kristen Heimgartner: Well, they, they definitely influenced a lot of it. Um, but I think it started as, like, supporting their local, their bankers, um, and getting them together, and then kinda morphed into this four-day festival, the beast that it is today. But

Justin Brady: what, what is the, like why? What, what started all… Do you know the story of what started this whole thing? What, why like everybody in Le Mars is like, “You know what? We’re doing ice cream days now. This is gonna be our thing.”

Kristen Heimgartner: they realized, like, we have this really amazing title of being the ice cream capital of the world. Why aren’t we embracing it a little more? And so actually, our local chamber started Ice Cream Days, and then the Wells got involved, and then it’s kind of morphed into now me under the Hometown Heritage Foundation, um, which we can talk about, too.

Justin Brady: For sure, yeah

Kristen Heimgartner: um, yeah, that’s… We were-just really needed to embrace our ice cream history

Justin Brady: this is, this came out of, uh, the title kind of. You were im-you were called the c-the ice cream capital of the world. Yeah. And then you guys are like, “We gotta do something with

Kristen Heimgartner: We need a festival. It started as a, I think one day even, and then we went to two for a long time, two full days. Um, and then we just had all these different ideas and wanted to continue to grow it, and so now it’s a four-day

Justin Brady: And so eventually it was, uh, obviously moved under the, the Mars Heritage Foundation, which we’ll talk about. Um, but are there any notable stories, I gotta ask this ’cause when there are iconic events like this in Iowa that have gone on a while, they tend to attract some interesting attention. Uh, like, you know, there tend to be funny stories, there tend to be celebrity sightings, whether it be national, global, or local. So what are some of the top stories that have kinda come out of this over the course of the, its run?

Kristen Heimgartner: That’s a great question. Um, it’s always a battle with the weather. I feel like we have so many jokes about it’s either been storming or it’s been so hot. Like you-

Justin Brady: Welcome to

Kristen Heimgartner: I know. This is my first year kind of, um, running with ice cream days, and so I know last year they were talking about how they had frozen bandanas wrapped around their necks, and it was just-Really? it was over 100 degrees

Justin Brady: Oh

Kristen Heimgartner: So there’s a lot of those kinds of stories, and I’ve talked to Mother Nature, and it’s gonna be beautiful this year.

Justin Brady: You put in a good word. Yes. That’s super funny. The… Okay, so the, I need to know about the, um, around town there are these sculptures that are kind of, I mean, they’re not part of Ice Cream Days, but they’re definitely part of the ice cream capital of the world. What are these

Kristen Heimgartner: Yeah. So our local chamber actually started it. Um, right now there’s over 55 sculptures, ice cream sculptures, and then I believe there is a dog and a cow thrown in the mix as well. Um, just branded different, but the chamber purchased them, and then local businesses could purchase these ice cream cones and put them outside of their business, and then pay a local artist to paint and decorate them to what they would like.

Justin Brady: And you said there are how many of

Kristen Heimgartner: Over 55.

Justin Brady: 55. And they were all moved in front of area businesses, and area businesses could paint them as is? Yeah. So how many do you n-like, ’cause local sculptors and artisans were involved in this. Do you know how many artists

Kristen Heimgartner: Ooh, I don’t know how many exactly. I know we have a list of over 20 artists in the area. Um, but it’s up to the local business to decide which artist fits their theme and what they’re going for the best

Justin Brady: Sure. So the, like, like you mentioned, Ice Cream Days is underneath the LeMars’s Heritage Foundation now. It didn’t used to be, but it is now. Um, and you’re of course the executive director of the LeMars’s Heritage Foundation. What do you guys do over there?

Kristen Heimgartner: So I’m actually a brand new foundation. So this was perfect timing. Um, I started in November, right when we launched. And so Le Mars has this, um, growth plan, and we need to really embrace tourism as part of that growth plan and getting people to town and experiencing our ice cream and all our great attractions. And so I focus on tourism and then Ice Cream Days and Christmas in Hometown Le Mars, which will be in November

Justin Brady: Yeah. So ice cream days and the, the Christmas

Kristen Heimgartner: Christmas in Hometown La Mars. Yep.

Justin Brady: How many other-Two. How many events are there? The two,

Kristen Heimgartner: Just the two main events and then general year round

Justin Brady: And so is that the Le Mars Heritage Foundation’s job? Is the tourism… It’s basically the tourism office?

Kristen Heimgartner: Um, yeah, it’s our commit-Convention and Visitors Bureau, but we are a 501[c][3] foundation,

Justin Brady: Okay, got it. And you, you were talking a little bit about… I, ’cause I wanted to ask you about this as, as well. You were talking about the, um, I think the original name was Vision 2045. It’s a different name now, I believe,

Kristen Heimgartner: think it’s the, like, the LeMarss development plan or something like that Yeah.

Justin Brady: I think it’s like-Yeah. Yes. Yeah, thank you. Um, so this was, um, 2024, I believe is when this plan came out with the goal, which crazy, crazy goal of doubling population

Kristen Heimgartner: That was a number in there. Um, really it’s

Justin Brady: Like a very aggressive growth trajectory

Kristen Heimgartner: Yes. And like they did this long study and very well thought out plan of, um, we have all these people that want to live in Le Mars, but we don’t have the houses to do it. So wh-how do we grow this and how do we get them to want to live here and help our local residents at the same

Justin Brady: And what’s the progress on that now?

Kristen Heimgartner: Oh, good question. They’ve made a lot of progress. Um, yeah, I would have to

Justin Brady: Yeah. I, I did look at some numbers, and it looks like generally across the board, Iowa is, like, 1.5% growth, and Le Mars is 1.7. And so it is actually, you’re outpacing the state as far as growth is concerned. is that? Like, a lot of small towns are, are… W-you know, we’ve had this problem within the last decade here in Iowa, actually couple decades, which is Des Moines itself, uh, some of the bigger cities in Iowa are growing, but rural is receding in population. Not Le Mars. And do you know, what do you attribute that to? What do you see on the ground that may be contributing to that?

Kristen Heimgartner: Yeah. Um, I think it’s a lot of, like, Wells is a big, um, employer. It’s our biggest employer in Le Mars, and so a lot of their employees are driving from other no-nearby towns, but they wanna live where they work, and that’s a big attribute. And so I would say that’s probably the biggest thing

Justin Brady: Yeah. And so it’s the hou-You think it’s a direct respon-or I don’t know what the right word is here, but you think that the housing thing was really helpful in that?

Kristen Heimgartner: Yes. Yeah

Justin Brady: Got it. So what’s, what’s next then? You mentioned the Christmas thing, uh, and you mentioned the summer thing. These are two… Uh, can we talk about the Christmas thing too? It’s obviously not Christmastime. Yeah. But as it gets hotter, people are gonna start, you know… Iowans are weird, man. Every time it turns summer, we’re like, “Oh man, Christmas was great.” So can we talk about the Christmas thing a little bit and go into what that

Kristen Heimgartner: Yeah, absolutely. So it is the Saturday right after Thanksgiving, um, but we turn our town into a Hallmark movie. We have, um, live animals, reindeers, a live nativity, um, Santa Claus is there, Mrs. Claus is within, the Grinch comes, um, all the kids’ activities, crafts, et cetera. And then, um, that afternoon at 6:00, we do a stage performance, and so a local organization will read the Christmas story, and then the Browns Theatre, which is in LeMarss, they’ll come out and do some live music. And, um, we have a very large tree in our downtown that we do a big tree lighting for as well

Justin Brady: Do you know how, um… So what, what are, what are some of the things that, again, small towns, what are some of the things that you know about Le Mars that most people just don’t know? It seems to be off most people’s radar. And then I also wanna ask you about, uh, some other

Kristen Heimgartner: Yeah. Um, I feel like we’re known for our ice cream, which is really great. But we have a lot of other great attractions in town. So, um, the Plymouth County Historical Museum is in our old high school, so it’s four floors of just Le Mars and Plymouth County history. Um, really unique, and you feel like you’re walking the old high schools back then. And then, uh, The Browns Theatre is also in Le Mars, and they just expanded, and so they have over a 300-seat theater.

Justin Brady: Wow, really? When, when did they just expand? Were they just expanded this?

Kristen Heimgartner: They, so they started in their new theater in December.

Justin Brady: This is the Br-it called Brown’s Theater? Yep.

Kristen Heimgartner: The Browns. They’re a family. Yes. So the four… It’s, um, the mom, the daughter, and two sons, and the four of them sing these beautiful songs. They have different shows throughout the year. So December they do a Christmas show. They have a 4th of July, like, patriotic show, and then some musical varieties and that kind of stuff.

Justin Brady: Okay, so last question before I send you on your way. Um, and then we’ll, we’re gonna, you know, talk more about ice cream days here in a second. But do you know how much, um… I, I think it’s, uh, a lot. Let, let’s just say a lot. I, I wa-I actually am curious if you know the number, ’cause I tried to find it and I can’t find it. Do you know how much of the dairy that, uh, Wells uses is from local Iowa farms? ‘Cause it’s a lot. Do you have the exact percentage or

Kristen Heimgartner: and I feel like I just talked to someone and they gave me a rough number, but I… It’s slipping my mind right now. I know it’s a lot.

Justin Brady: Yeah. I th-I wanna say it’s like some-somewhere like 75% of all the dairy they source is like from, or, or it’s, it’s like from a 70… Most of their dairy, if not all, is like a 75-mile range. Does that sound about

Kristen Heimgartner: sounds right,

Justin Brady: Which is crazy ’cause I, I think people don’t fully understand how much, um, Wells and LeMarss, Iowa really supports… I don’t, and I don’t know if you have any thoughts on this, but I don’t think people understand how much LeMarss just by itself supports a very large amount of Iowa’s, uh, dairy farming

Kristen Heimgartner: Yeah, we have two very large dairy farms right outside of town. Um, yeah, they’re very unique to see

Justin Brady: Yeah, because a lot of, uh, a lot of the dairy produced in Iowa goes to Wells. Uh, l-l-oh, and I don’t know all the number breakdowns. I don’t know if you have any data points on that, but it, it’s a lot. All right. So, uh, before we let people go, ice cream days, when… Again, remind us when it is, where it is, how we get tickets, is there a cost, and maybe some of the other activities we should expect. And everybody in I-you know what? This is crazy. Everybody in Iowa always wants to know, “Where am I gonna stay, and how do I park?” Yeah. Like, this is the top concern, so go over some of those things.

Kristen Heimgartner: so we actually have these brochures. They’ll be all around Le Mars during Ice Cream Days. Um, but inside we highlighted public parking lots. So we thought ahead for that one. Um, but yeah, so dr-classic car show, drive-in movie, all the kids’ activities, face painting, airbrush tattoos, balloon twisting, um, live music both nights. So we have a country band one on Friday night and a kind of a mix of cover bands for Saturday night. Um, yeah, a l-very large parade on Saturday morning, so that’s always a fun thing to see, too.

Justin Brady: And free ice cream. Don’t forget

Kristen Heimgartner: ice cream at different events, and you can see more, uh… We’ve been posting a lot on our Facebook page, so Ice Cream Days Festival, and then icecreamdays.com is another great spot to find stuff

Justin Brady: Do people Airbnb this thing? Do they drive in every day? ‘Cause, you know, again, small town Iowa, you don’t have like a, like eight Marriotts. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Kristen Heimgartner: have, we have some hotels, um, but there are some Airbnbs in the area. Otherwise, Sioux City is not a far drive if we’re–if our hotels are sold out, Sioux City is a great location as well as Sioux Center, Orange City, all good options

Justin Brady: And I, I like how you brought up, ’cause like La Mars is a cutie little town. You know? It’s like, kinda you brought this up earlier, almost out of like a Hallmark movie.

Kristen Heimgartner: Yeah,

Justin Brady: You know what I mean? It’s super cool. This is probably why you stayed there. You said you’ve stayed there almost your entire life?

Kristen Heimgartner: was born and raised there. I moved away, did some other things, and came back

Justin Brady: Wait, okay. Before, can I hold you just a little bit l-’cause I wanna ask about the left and came back. Why’d you leave? Why’d you come back?

Kristen Heimgartner: so I actually went to Iowa State-Uh-huh. And I got a degree in event management, and I just, I wanted to try bigger city. And so I went to Kansas City, um, lasted about four months and it, it’s just, it’s a different world in a big city. And I realized, like, I need to go back to my roots. And so I worked in Sioux City for a while, and then this opened in Le Mars and it felt like it was the right fit, so yep.

Justin Brady: And it brought you back. Yeah. Four months in Kansas City? Yeah. What was it about Kansas… ‘Cause K-Kansas City is Missouri, and on this show, we think we’re better than Nebraska and Missouri, and definitely Illinois. Um, what was it about, like, um… ‘Cause this is something, I’m sorry, this is maybe a little bit of a tangent, but this is something that a lot of Iowa economic people are trying to figure out, which is, like, why do people go to the bigger cities, and then why do they come back? So what was it that drew you back? You obviously, four months is not a long time. Yeah. So what was it about Kansas City that you’re just like, “This is not for me,” and it brought you back home?

Kristen Heimgartner: Um, I feel like growing up in a small town, it was easy to walk places and you would just know people. Like, you wouldn’t have to try to introduce yourself and get out of your comfort zone. Um, and so that was a big factor. And then also my family is still in LeMars, so I wanted to be closer to them

Justin Brady: Yeah, that’s a big deal. Like, family is a huge deal, especially now. Like, after COVID, we lost some of that social connection. And what I, I… Correct me if I’m wrong, but it, you kinda sounds like in a smaller town, you’re almost put on a default route to engage your community. Your community almost engages you with a, like, against your will in some cases. Yeah.

Kristen Heimgartner: no. Yeah, it’s just, it’s easier to get involved in smaller communities, I think, and it’s easier to find your passion, and that’s kinda why I, I prefer smaller communities. I know others wanna live in a big city, and it very much fits them, and it’s great. Wasn’t for me.

Justin Brady: Yeah. No, I hear, I hear that. I,

Kristen Heimgartner: No, I hear you. I’m glad I tried it.

Justin Brady: I’m on the same boat. I, I moved to Minneapolis, eventually came back to Des Moines. Um, but you know, for a lot of that reason, community, uh, cost, I mean, cost of living’s ridiculously low, low crime. Like, people are like, “Low crime? That’s…” No, that’s actually a significant

Kristen Heimgartner: It’s a big thing. I love to walk around Le Mars and I just feel safe. Like, I don’t feel like I need to look behind me all the time and just, yeah, it’s a safe community

Justin Brady: Yeah. Well, I appreciate you coming in here. Kristen Heimgartner, the executive director of the Hometown LeMars’s Heritage Foundation. If people want to go to Ice Cream Days, what is the easiest, most straightforward way to find the website or get tickets or attend?

Kristen Heimgartner: Just go to icecreamdays.com and June 17th to 20th, um, it’s all free. There are some kids activities that require tickets. They’re all a dollar a piece, so it’s nothing major. Um, but although, otherwise all our activities are free.

Justin Brady: Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on the Iowa Podcast

Kristen Heimgartner: you so much. Thanks