CLIVE, IOWA – The Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA) today (Thursday) announced the Dairy Sweet, located in Dunlap, and owned by Lori and Greg Thomsen, has claimed the title of Iowa’s Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin in 2024. Officials say it marks a triumphant return to a legacy that began in 2005 when the restaurant first won under the ownership of Lori’s parents. Lori and Greg purchased Dairy Sweet from her parents in 2013 and made a strategic move to Main Street, allowing her to not only enhance the restaurant’s visibility but also its reputation for serving some of the finest pork tenderloins in the state.

The Iowa Pork Producers Association conducts the Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin Contest each year. This spring, the IPPA garnered nearly 6,000 nominations from 532 restaurants across the state. Members and industry affiliates anonymously visited the top 40 locations this summer, scoring each on pork flavor, quality, presentation, and overall dining experience. The Restaurant & Foodservice Committee utilized these evaluations to narrow the field to five worthy contenders. A team of judges then visited each establishment to determine the top two winners. Dairy Sweet is the first restaurant to win the title more than once in the entire 22 year history of the contest.

Lori and her husband Greg have refined the tenderloin recipe over the years, shifting to using center-cut boneless pork loin for a consistent, quality sandwich. In addition, they cut and tenderize the loins in-house each week. This commitment to quality is evident in the staggering number of tenderloins they serve—approximately 40,000 annually. This dedication not only satisfies local patrons but also attracts visitors from nearby towns and beyond. “It is a privilege for us to win, not only for ourselves but for our employees who take pride in their work and making our community happy,” Lori shared. Her commitment to her family, team and community is palpable, and it fuels the hard work that has gone into making Dairy Sweet a local staple.

The 2024 IPPA Best Breaded Pork Tenderloin award goes to the Dunlap Dairy Sweet. (IPPA photo)

Judge Phil Carey, who evaluated the top five tenderloin eateries, had high praise for the winning sandwich. He remarked, “When we walked into the restaurant, and saw that most of the customers were eating a breaded pork tenderloin… That’s how you know you’re in the right spot. Then tasting it the sandwich had great flavor, was very tender, and the light breading worked very well with the pork.” Carey’s insights reflect not only the quality of the food but also the atmosphere that Dairy Sweet cultivates, where diners are clearly satisfied.

For Lori, this victory carries a bit more emotional significance. “Hard work does pay off. My parents have both passed on, so this is such a cool way to honor and remember them. It makes me very proud,” she said, highlighting the personal connection she feels to the restaurant’s legacy. This win is not just about the award; it’s a tribute to her family’s hard work and dedication to the community both in the past, and currently as she brings her kids Mandi & Logan into the family business. The restaurant is open seven days a week, closing only a few days each year, ensuring that it remains a reliable destination for delicious meals. The staff is known for their hospitality and efficiency, traits honed through their experience running the café at the Dunlap Livestock Auction, where they thrive in a bustling environment.

Iowa Pork Producers Association officials will present the coveted Iowa’s Best Tenderloin Award for 2024 at Dairy Sweet later today! The celebrated eatery will take home a $500 cash prize, a stunning plaque, and a banner to showcase their achievement. This year’s runner-up is Ruby’s Bar & Grill, hailing from Stuart, Iowa. They’ll receive a $250 prize along with a plaque from the IPPA. Earlier this month, we also recognized several other outstanding finalists, who will receive top five plaques in alphabetical order:

• Bronson Bar – Bronson
• Blind Pig – Monticello
• The Market at the Tap – Monticello

The tenderloin contest celebrates Iowa restaurants that feature hand-breaded or battered pork tenderloin as a staple on their menu. To qualify, establishments must be open year-round. Winners are unveiled every October in honor of National Pork Month, which pays tribute to the hard work and dedication of America’s pork producers. Cliff’s Bar and Grill in Manning, won the 2023 contest.

See the full list of past winners, dating back to 2003.

(Radio Iowa) – The Internal Revenue Service is holding an event in central Iowa today (Thursday) where they are looking to hire more than 100 people. I-R-S spokesperson Christopher Miller says the employees will help taxpayers. “You don’t have to have any previous tax experience for this job. The I-R-S will train you to be successful in the position as a contact representative,” he says. “These are employees at the I-R-S who contact taxpayers over the phone and help them with technical assistance.” He says there are a few things that will help you get the job.”

Qualified candidates will ideally have a year of customer service experience or a bachelor’s degree or a combination of education and experience,” Miller says. The event is at the Embassy Suites, hotel in Des Moines today (Thursday) from 9 a-m until 3 p-m.

“We’re asking that people pre-register for the event and then bring along two forms of identification and perhaps your resume. If you can’t pre-register, just show up in the afternoon, when we will be working with walk ins to get them through the process. So those folks may want to bring along a resume to be able to fill out the application,” Miller says. You can register online. Miller says qualified candidates will find out at the event if they are hired.

“We can offer them a job on the spot, which makes this a great event, because you can leave knowing you already have a job,” Miller says. The annual salary for these positions starts at 39-thousand-868 dollars. Miller says the I-R-S offers exceptional benefits, career development, advancement opportunities and meaningful purpose-driven work.

(Radio Iowa) – A Fort Dodge church will be the setting for tonight’s (Thursday) candlelight vigil to remember victims of domestic violence in Iowa. Leah Bair, of the Fort Dodge-based Domestic/Sexual Assault Outreach Center, says it’s a somber, annual event. “We will be reading the names of those who have lost their lives due to domestic violence,” Bair says, “and it’s really just a big community event to remember those that have been affected or have lost their lives due to domestic violence.” Tonight’s program is at 6 o’clock at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Fort Dodge.

While working to overcome a financial challenge, Bair says her office has also seen an increase in calls for assistance.  “We did take some budget cuts over the last several years, which has made it so that we weren’t able to staff as much as we had previously,” Bair says, “but our numbers have gone up, but sometimes that is a good thing for us, because people know we’re here to help.” The center serves victims of domestic and sexual violence in a 20-county area of north-central Iowa.

The Crisis Line is 1-888-356-2006.
www.dsaoc.com

(Red Oak, Iowa) – A Montgomery County woman was arrested Wednesday afternoon on an Adams County warrant. Sheriff’s officials say 22-year-old Ashlyn Marie Pitman, of Villisca, was arrested on the warrant for Failure To Appear. She was turned-over to Adams County Deputies and held on a $200 bond.

(Iowa News Service The blue-and-white highway sign for the eastbound rest stop near here displays more than the standard icon of a person in a wheelchair, indicating facilities are accessible to people who can’t walk. The sign also shows a person standing behind a horizontal rectangle, preparing to perform a task. The second icon signals that this rest area along Interstate 80 in western Iowa has a bathroom equipped with a full-size changing table, making it an oasis for adults and older children who use diapers because of disabilities.

“It’s a beacon of hope,” said Nancy Baker Curtis, whose 9-year-old son, Charlie, has a disability that can leave him incontinent. “I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re finally there.’” The white changing table is 6 feet long and can be lowered and raised with a handheld controller wired to an electric motor. When not in use, the table folds up against the wall.

The table was recently installed as part of a national effort to make public bathrooms more accessible in places like airports, parks, arenas, and gas stations. Without such options, people with disabilities often wind up being changed on bathroom floors, in cars, or even on the ground outside.

Many families hesitate to go out because of the lack of accessible restrooms. “We all know somebody who’s tethered to their home by bathroom needs,” Baker Curtis said. She doesn’t want her son’s life to be limited that way. “Charlie deserves to be out in the community.” She said the need can be particularly acute when people are traveling in rural areas, where bathroom options are sparse.

Baker Curtis, who lives near Des Moines, leads the Iowa chapter of a national group called “Changing Spaces,” which advocates for adult-size changing tables. The group offers an online map showing scores of locations where they’ve been installed. Advocates say such tables are not explicitly required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. But a new federal law will mandate them in many airports in coming years, and states can adopt building codes that call for them. California, for example, requires them in new or renovated auditoriums, arenas, amusement parks, and similar facilities with capacities of at least 2,500 people. Ohio requires them in some settings, including large public facilities and highway rest stops. Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, and New Hampshire also have taken steps to require them in some public buildings.

Justin Boatner of Arlington, Virginia, advocates for more full-size changing tables in the Washington, D.C., area. Boatner, 26, uses a wheelchair because of a disability similar to muscular dystrophy. He uses diapers, which he often changes himself.
He can lower an adjustable changing table to the height of his wheelchair, then pull himself onto it. Doing that is much easier and more hygienic than getting down on the floor, changing himself, and then crawling back into the wheelchair, he said.

Boatner said it’s important to talk about incontinence, even though it can be embarrassing. “There’s so much stigma around it,” he said. He said adult changing tables are still scarce, including in health care facilities, but he’s optimistic that more will be installed. Without them, he sometimes delays changing his diaper for hours until he can get home. That has led to serious rashes, he said. “It’s extremely uncomfortable.”

The I-80 rest stop near Adair was one of the first in the state to include an adult-size changing table. (Photo: Tony Leys.KFF Health News)

Iowa legislators in recent years have considered requiring adult changing tables in some public restrooms. They declined to pass such a bill, but the discussion made Iowa Department of Transportation leaders aware of the problem. “I’m sorry to say, it was one of those things we’d just never thought of,” said Michael Kennerly, director of the department’s design bureau.

Kennerly oversees planning for rest stops. He recalls an Iowan telling him about changing a family member outside in the rain, with only an umbrella for shelter. Others told him how they changed their loved ones on bathroom floors. “It was just appalling,” he said.

Iowa began installing adult changing tables in rest stops in 2022, and it has committed to including them in new or remodeled facilities. So far, nine have been installed or are in the process of being added. Nine others are planned, with more to come, Kennerly said. Iowa has 38 rest areas equipped with bathrooms. Kennerly estimated it costs up to $14,000 to remodel an existing rest-stop bathroom to include a height-adjustable adult changing table. Incorporating adult changing tables into a new rest stop building should cost less than that, he said.

Several organizations offer portable changing tables, which can be set up at public events. Some are included in mobile, accessible bathrooms carried on trailers or trucks. Most permanent adult changing tables are set up in “family restrooms,” which have one toilet and are open to people of any gender. That’s good, because the act of changing an adult is “very intimate and private,” Baker Curtis said. It’s also important for the tables to be height-adjustable because it’s difficult to lift an adult onto a fixed-height table, she said.

Advocates hope adult changing tables will become nearly as common as infant changing tables, which once were rare in public bathrooms. Jennifer Corcoran, who lives near Dayton, Ohio, has been advocating for adult changing tables for a decade and has seen interest rise in recent years. Corcoran’s 24-year-old son, Matthew, was born with brain development issues. He uses a wheelchair and is unable to speak, but he accompanies her when she lobbies for improved services.

Corcoran said Ohio leaders this year designated $4.4 million in federal pandemic relief money to be distributed as grants for changing-table projects. The program has led to installations at Dayton’s airport and art museum, plus libraries and entertainment venues, she said. Ohio also is adding adult changing tables to rest stops. Corcoran said those tables are priceless because they make it easier for people with disabilities to travel. “Matthew hasn’t been on a vacation outside of Ohio for more than five years,” she said.

Kaylan Dunlap serves on a committee that has worked to add changing-table requirements to the International Building Code, which state and local officials often use as a model for their rules. Dunlap, who lives in Alabama, works for an architecture firm and reviews building projects to ensure they comply with access standards. She expects more public agencies and companies will voluntarily install changing tables. Maybe someday they will be a routine part of public bathrooms, she said. “But I think that’s a long way out in the future, unfortunately.”