The Des Moines Register
Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa
March 9, 2011

Maloy, Ia. a serene town near the Missouri border with only 29 residents.

As usual, I heard more colorful stories and town history in Maloy than I could cram into one column. For instance, take a look at this 1930s dancehall that still stands in downtown Maloy:

  The current owner of the hall is Don RAY, a Maloy resident who’s a former mayor and teaches Spanish at the high school in Mt. Ayr. He even maintains his own Foxtown Media website where he chronicles some of the stories – about the dancehall, a prairie he has maintained, etc.

"Everybody's got a story about going to the dancehall," RAY said. He bought the place in 2008. In its heyday it was owned and operated by Frank CARR, a member of one of the staple families in Maloy. (Actually, my friend and fellow Register employee Dan CARR is Frank's nephew and grew up in Maloy.) According to RAY, the dancehall was the preferred spot on Saturday nights in the '70s for revelers not only from Ringgold County but also plenty of Missouri residents from across the state line. Those who might have gotten kicked out of other bars in the area reportedly always could find a welcome in Maloy. Bands such as the Bohemian Boys would perform and were instructed, according to RAY, "If there's a fight – band, keep playing!"

RAY still uses his dancehall for the occasional concert, but it also houses such sedate fare as rug weaving and craft retreats. If the walls could talk, some of the stories from the '70s no doubt would raise the eyebrows of the crafting crowd.

Maloy also once was home to the Warin Oil Co., but today there's no downtown business, and the city operates on a shoestring.

"The budget of the town is basically nothing," RAY said. "We can pay for the street lights and a little bit of gravel, and that’s about it."

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2011