Stuart's Fall Calendar Runs on Suppers, Breakfasts and Auctions

"The reason why the foundation was started, was because we didn't have enough money in our city budget for books." Stuart Public Library Director Lisa Sherman said that to Raccoon Valley Radio in November 2024, while explaining why the Stuart Public Library Foundation holds an auction every year. At the time, she said the auction and the Foundation's smaller events let the library buy $1,500 worth of new books and materials every month.

That quote also explains most of Stuart's calendar between now and the end of November. The fire department, a fraternal lodge, the library foundation and a revitalization group each host an event this fall, and each one raises money or attention for something the town keeps up itself. Restaurants, a movie theater and a handful of storefronts run their own schedules around those events. Below is the calendar, with the group behind each event.

The calendar through the Saturday after Thanksgiving

Nearly every weekend from mid-October on is anchored by a group raising money or putting on a free community event. The farmers market has two Wednesdays left, October 7 and October 14, and the Chamber's fall guide says October 14 is the last market of the season.

The season opened with history

The fall started on October 3 with the Stuart Revitalization Group's annual History Walk. It began at 6 p.m. at the Stuart Depot and ended back there with chili and cinnamon rolls. Organizer Bob Cook told Raccoon Valley Radio the walk started in 2018 to share downtown history and the stories of the people who worked in and owned businesses there. It has run every year since, except 2020.

After the walk, building owner Jay Lindgren held an open house at the 1894 Masonic Temple and Clocktower at 111 NW 2nd Street. It included tours and a 1920s-style speakeasy in the basement, with volunteers in period clothing and a password to get in. The Chamber listing named the Clock Tower Building, the Stuart Chamber of Commerce and Laura Woten as hosts. The building's own website advertises commercial space and residential lofts for lease. Opening the basement to the public is one way to get people through the door of a landmark that still has room for tenants.

Two meals, two hosts, eight days apart

The first fundraiser meal is the Stuart Fire Department French Toast Supper and Auction on Saturday, October 10, at 5:30 p.m. at the fire station. The department calls it "one of Stuart's favorite annual traditions." Local businesses and organizations "throughout Iowa and beyond" donate the auction items, and the proceeds go to the department. The Times Vedette lists the station at 211 Front Street.

Eight days later, on Sunday, October 18, the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs serve an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at Odd Fellows Hall, 121 N Gaines Street, from 7:30 a.m. to noon. It costs $10. The listing doesn't say where the money goes, so the lodge is the place to ask.

The two meals fall on back-to-back weekends, a supper on one and a breakfast on the next. Each is hosted by a group that owns its own building and uses it to bring people in.

The town's biggest building has its own repair bill

The Saints Center hosts the holiday market at the end of the season, and its history shows how much of Stuart's public space depends on outside money. The church was built between 1908 and 1910 and restored as a cultural center after a 1995 arson fire. This year's work there is repair, not restoration. On March 25, 2026, the Stuart City Council voted to pay the remaining $56,300 of Scott Concrete's estimate for repairing the east steps, on the condition that a $20,000 Hotel/Motel Tax award came through. In other words, a big piece of the repair depended on that tax award.

The center's own events page calls its November 28 event the "Small Business Saturday Vendor Market" and lists the time as TBD. Adair County Tourism lists it as the Annual Saints Center Holiday Market, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with more than 30 vendors, a Festival of Trees and a Holiday Passport. Because the venue hasn't posted a time yet, check the Saints Center's page closer to the date.

Beggars Night is when businesses take over

Saturday, October 31, is the one night on the calendar run mostly by storefronts. The Chamber's fall guide lays it out this way:

1. Downtown businesses hand out candy from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m.
2. Trick-or-treating moves to residential streets from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
3. Ruby's Pub and Grill serves burgers, tenderloins and pizza for anyone staying downtown.
4. The Fremont Theatre's 7 p.m. show caps the night, with popcorn and candy.

The Fremont runs shows Wednesday through Sunday at 7 p.m., with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. A September 2025 Iowa Byways newsletter says the theater first opened in 1908, while the theater's own site dates its legacy to 1906.

Stuart Bowl's City Tournament also starts on Halloween, with doubles and singles running October 31 through November 1 at 419 E Front Street. The team event is November 14 and 15. Entries are due October 25, and only bowlers in the Stuart Iowa USBC Association can enter.

Where the businesses fit around the fundraisers

Between the suppers and auctions, Stuart businesses have plenty of their own fall offerings. The Chamber's guide includes:

• Ruthie's Coffee House for handcrafted espresso and pumpkin-flavored drinks.
• The Stuart Scoop, which rotates 16 flavors and makes its own waffle cones.
• Los Altos for dinner after the farmers market.
• Goldfinch Provisions for hunting licenses, outdoor apparel and craft beer, and Doe A Deer, from the same owners, for gifts, specialty foods and kitchen goods.
• Brown Dog BBQ, which is catering only, for tailgates and family gatherings.
• Wildcat Den Energy and Nutrition, which opened in September at 203 Front Street.

Wildcat Den's Chamber listing describes meal-replacement shakes, loaded tea bombs, aloe shots, protein balls and kids' options. On the health-care side, GCH Clinic holds a Chamber Coffee and ribbon cutting for its new Stuart Rehab location at 211 SW 7th Street on October 16, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Guthrie County Hospital lists 515-523-8049 for physical therapy appointments at that address.

The Best of Southwest Iowa ballot runs October 8 through October 30, with winners announced November 16. The Chamber notes that Stuart members are on it.

November belongs to the library

The Stuart Public Library Foundation Annual Auction is Thursday, November 5, at the library. The Chamber's archive doesn't list a start time this year. In 2024, the auction started at 6 p.m. As of November 2024, Sherman said the auction was the Foundation's biggest fundraiser and that it helped pay for $1,500 in new books and materials every month. Before the Foundation existed, she said, the library collected donated books and picked up others at half-price bookstores and garage sales. No newer figure has been published. The 2024 numbers still give a sense of how much of the library's new shelf space this one night pays for.

Small Business Saturday on November 28, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closes out the season citywide. The Chamber says the list of participating businesses and other details are still to come. Community Connection Night at Summit Grove on October 27 comes about a month earlier, with light appetizers planned. The listing still shows its theme as TBD.

Over the season, the fire department, the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, the library foundation and the Saints Center each get a date of their own, and the businesses fill the hours around those events.

If you're going to the French toast supper or the library auction and want to talk about a property in Stuart while you're there, Lake Panorama Realty works across Stuart and Guthrie County and is glad to sit down with you. Let's Get in Touch.