Cotton candy and a Big Duffer with a double order of onion rings

Rick Friday may not have been born and raised in Creston, but many of the experiences that created his fondest memories happened here.

“I was born in Winterset, raised in Lorimor, educated in Afton and got in trouble in Creston,” said Friday.

Cotton candy and a loose tooth

Friday’s father was a hay farmer and his family would put up thousands of bales of hay during the season. Friday remembers that as a child, the Creston July 4 celebration was the only time his father would shut down the baler and come into town.

“The Fourth of July celebration in Creston at McKinley Park was a big deal,” said Friday. “It was such a big deal because Dad — he wouldn’t quit when it was time to hay, and that was smack in the middle of haying time, so for him to shut down and get all spiffed up, it was a big deal.”

The July 4 celebration in Creston included a large carnival, which was located south of the park where the Historical Complex is today, in the 1960s and ‘70s.

Friday said July 4 was one of the only times he got cotton candy, snow cones … and chigger bites from sitting in the grass to watch the fireworks at the end of the night. However, it wasn’t the cotton candy, the snow cones or the chiggers that made July 4 so special for Friday, who recalls losing his first tooth while eating cotton candy.

“I had this front tooth that was loose,” he said. “I wouldn’t let anyone touch it. I wanted to pull it out myself, but I was scared to. I remember getting a great big, tall cotton candy, and I remember eating the whole thing. When I threw away the plastic cone, I had a hollow spot in my mouth. I had swallowed that tooth.”

Creston — the place to be

Gas was 35 to 50 cents a gallon at the Pester Derby gas station, which was located on West Taylor Street where McCaully Glass is today. Friday said filling the tank wasn’t a big deal when he was a teenager.

Every other Saturday he and his friends would meet up and go to the movies.

“We were all farm boys, so we always had money to go to the show,” said Friday. “Gas wasn’t a big deal back then. I would always drive to Afton and we’d meet them on the square ... I ran around with a kid south of Afton who was a dairy farmer’s son, so we’d all go to his place and help him get his farm chores done. Then we’d all jump in the car, and if we were late, they had a late night matinee, too. Sometimes that was the best movie.”

Friday was on the wrestling team in high school, but he said that didn’t stop him from indulging in one of his favorite meals while he was in town with his friends — a Big Duffer and a double order of onion rings from the Lil’ Duffer restaurant. One of the best places to eat in Creston was the Lil’ Duffer restaurant, located where Taco John’s is currently.

Always a leader

Friday, who describes his younger self as hyperactive and a bit of a show-off, was elected as a Union County supervisor in November.

He said there are a handful of people who make a difference in a person’s life. He remembers on in particular — his seventh-grade science teacher.

“Daisy Dell. When she put her glasses down on the desk, somebody was going to get it,” said Friday. “I was that somebody. She picked up her ruler up and popped me right on the knuckles and said, ‘Mr. Friday, I have no doubt that you will be a leader someday, but it will not be today and it will not be in my class.’ I don’t know what I did to get in trouble, but that stuck with me — that phrase, ‘you will be a leader someday’ — that stuck with me my whole life. I did everything I could to keep following that leadership role.”

Friday is also a cartoonist who is featured regularly in Countyside and Backyard Poultry magazine, and he writes a weekly column for the Afton Star.