Ollinger’s Ballroom Inducted into Hall of Fame
This story originally appeared in the Record-Democrat newspaper, written by Erin Sommers.
Featured photo caption: Everette and Dorothy Ollinger ran Ollinger’s Ballroom for several years in the 1960s and 1970s in Pocahontas.
A Pocahontas ballroom will join the Iowa Rock N Roll Music Association’s Hall of Fame later this year.
Ollinger’s Ballroom, run by Everette and Dorothy Ollinger, operated for several years in the late 1960s into the early 1970s in Pocahontas. The ballroom was located just off of Highway 3 on the eastern end of town, where Dollar General is now. It is one of two venues being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year.
Doug Ollinger, the youngest of the Ollinger siblings, collected information about the ballroom, which hosted teen dances on Saturday evenings. Bob Harrison submitted the nomination.
People would come for quite a drive to attend dances, if the band playing was a popular one, Doug Ollinger said. Anywhere from 200 to 1,000 people might come in to the ballroom for the dancing and music. Popular bands to play there included The Rumbles, Fabulous Flippers, Echos V, Trademarks, Sticks & Stones, Sheffields, The Notorious Noblemen, The Fabulous Uniques, West Minist’r and more.
Doug Ollinger was young — about nine to 12 years old when his parents owned and ran the ballroom. “I remember going there to help out,” he said.
His older siblings and some of their spouses did as well. His main job was at the coat check, where he’d take and hang up coats for 10 cents. His sister, Sybil, and sister-in-law, JoAnn, would help in the snack bar, where the steamed hot dogs and steamed buns were a hit. His brother, Greg, was often tasked with driving posters to the surrounding communities to announce the upcoming bands.
Some of those posters have survived the decades and Doug Ollinger encountered a few of them at the Iowa Rock N Roll Music Association Hall of Fame in Arnold’s Park in recent years. That’s what got him thinking about seeing if his family’s ballroom could be inducted as well.
The induction ceremony is set for Labor Day weekend, Aug. 29-31, 2025.
