Special to the Solon Economist
SOLON — As Solon Beef Days (Friday and Saturday, July 21 and 22) celebrates 50 years this year, we want to highlight the rich history of this very special community event and those groups that started it all: the Solon Optimist Club, Solon Fire Department, Solon American Legion Stinocher Post 460, and the Solon Jaycees (no longer active).
Beef Days is named after beef, as the Johnson County Cattlemen’s Association came in and cooked the steaks served at the event during those early years.
To honor these Beef Days Founder’s Groups and the amazing legacy they started over 50 years ago, our Beef Days Founder’s Grand Marshals are: Jean Stinocher, Marv Stastny, Jim and Connie Huber, Jim Leland, Bob Sentman, and Norm Ziskovsky. The Founder’s Grand Marshals will join 2023 Beef Days Grand Marshal/Solon Senior Citizen of the Year Don Ellis in the annual parade Saturday, July 21 starting at 10:00 a.m.
Solon Beef Days Committee – Jean Stinocher
Jean and husband Bob were part of the founding Beef Days Committee in 1971. Bob passed away just before Beef Days in 2016 so Jean carries on their tradition and commitment to the Beef Days Committee along with their granddaughter Ashley who serves as the committee secretary. Jean has over 50 years of stories and memories including the seed notebooks that Bob kept his Beef Days notes in over the years. She has certainly earned the title of Beef Days historian.
Jean shared the following stories about helping prepare the food for Beef Days in those early years:
“I have been involved with Beef Days since its inception in 1971. We held our meetings at the Legion and my biggest involvement was helping fix the side dishes for the Beef Tent. I worked with Carfrae Hawkeye Wholesale getting meat and food prices and made hundreds of pounds of cabbage for coleslaw. Luckily, instant mashed potatoes were available and instant gravy. Coleslaw dressing was out a jar, and a few added ingredients were used to doctor it up. In 1976, 3000 tea rolls were ordered to be part of the steak dinner, not very many were left over.”
During Beef Days nowadays you’re likely to find Jean making food for the Legion Food Tent as she is also a 61-year member of the Solon Legion Auxiliary. Jean shares that Beef Days has seen lots of changes since the beginning and, though it takes a lot of work, it’s been a lot of fun!
It is her hope that Beef Days keeps going for another 50 years.
Solon Optimist Club – Marv Stastny
Marv Stastny joined the Solon Optimist Club in 1981 at the invitation of Harry Kral with the Optimist Club meetings held at the Country Café (now Blue Bird Café). Marv shares that Harry (owner of Ellison Insurance and Solon mayor) was the epitome of an Optimist and instrumental in the Club’s formation in 1966 with a focus on the youth in the community.
The Optimist Club mission still reflects this same vision as it did back in 1966 – ‘By providing hope and positive vision, Optimists bring out the best in youth, our communities and ourselves.’ The opportunity to be part of this positive organization begins at school age through adult with the various club levels including:
• Optimist Club 18 & up
• Octagon Club 14-18
• Junior Optimists Club 10 to 13
• Alpha Club 6-9
Over the years, Marv has served as Board President of the Optimist Club and is active in the many community programs the Club offers including the Bike Rodeo, Pass Dribble Shoot Skills Competition
National Honor Society Reception, annual Easter Egg Hunt, Beef Days BINGO Tent (fundraiser), and the Community Flag program (fundraiser).
Marv served on the Solon Fire Department for 50 years (1962-2012) and was the Assistant Fire Chief under Terry Fiala and Jim Huber. In those early Beef Days years, the Fire Department helped prepare the food for the event, so Marv helped where needed and attended the Beef Days meetings which were held at Heitman’s (now Uncle Sang’s Sushi & Kitchen). He added that Heitman’s was known locally for its turtle races. (Ask Marv how they made the turtles move for the races!) When the steak dinner tent needed a chairperson, Marv stepped up to lead the committee when no one else wanted to. Marv worked closely with Ruzicka’s to organize the food and took great pride in providing a good meal, at a reasonable price while making a little profit to give back to the community.
Marv also handled the parade security and was always quick to do the jobs that needed doing without anyone asking. Marv was ever present on Main Street in the weeks prior to Beef Days sprucing things up for the Beef Days event and then could be found at the steak dinner tent or picking up the parade candy left in the streets to keep the town looking nice and clean.
This year Marv is retiring from his long-standing steak dinner chair post and is looking forward to relaxing with family which includes his wife Bernita and their three children and eight grandchildren: Mark (Aaron & Amelia), Kimberly (Addison, Hank & Clay), and Jackie & Mike (Tim, Samantha, Wil).
For Marv, the best part of Beef Days is the families. It is a special time for his family to gather and spend time together and the event is wonderful opportunity for families to come to together and enjoy themselves at Solon Beef Days.
Solon Fire Department – Jim and Connie Huber
Jim and Connie Huber are longtime Beef Days Committee members that have worked tirelessly to help build Solon Beef Days into the successful event when know today. Jim, a retired Solon Firefighter, began his service on the Solon Fire Department in 1970 and serving as Fire Chief from 1974 to 1986. Jim become involved with the Beef Days Committee in 1974 and shares the story that the event profits in 1974 were $2.27. A few years later Sam Stahle and Dave Cilek thought of adding the beer tent, and that year profits were $6500.
Connie joined the committee when she and Jim married in 1989 and served as the Beef Days Chair in 1993. That milestone year was a memorable one as the floods of 1993 directed much of the region’s traffic through Solon on Hwy 1. Closing down Main Street for Beef Days wasn’t an option while Solon was serving the important role as a transportation corridor while many other roadways in the area were closed due to flooding. This was the first of only two times since 1971 that Beef Days was cancelled. The second time was during COVID-19 in 2020.
Ever present and ready to serve where needed each year at Beef Days, Connie and Jim’s 2o year tradition of pulling their camper up next the Fire Station during Beef Days speaks of their commitment and dedication to making sure they did their part toward the event’s success. Ask Jim how many years he has worked the Beer Tent during Beef Days and he’ll answer, “All of them”! Jim’s also the kind of person who is always glad to see you whether it’s been a few weeks or few years. Jim and Connie are quite humble and don’t seek recognition for their work on the Beef Days Committee, so we are grateful for their willingness to be part of our Beef Days Founder’s Grand Marshals during this special year as we celebrate 50 years of Solon Beef Days!
Solon American Legion Stinocher Post #460 – Jim Leland
Jim Leland is a 69-year member of the American Legion. Serving in the Air Force during the Korean War followed by the Minnesota Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves, Jim joined the American Legion in Bricelyn, Minnesota. He transferred to the Solon American Legion in 1962 when he accepted a teaching position for Solon Schools.
Along with teaching in Solon, Jim and his wife Eileen also owned Solon Hardware for a period in the 1970’s before the Trump family purchased the store from them. Jim then went into Ag equipment sales until he retired though continued to be a substitute teacher at Solon. Jim and Eileen raised six children: David, Daniel, Mary, Ann, Kerry and Kyle and their growing family includes 16 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild!
Jim has held several positions within the local, county, state and national levels of the American Legion organization. At the local level he has served on the Color Guard and as Adjutant, Service Officer, Membership Chair, Vice Commander, Board Member and as Post Commander two times. He has been the District Vice Commander and Commander, and State Vice Commander and Historian.
Jim remembers the early Beef Days well, and he was also a charter member of the Solon Optimist Club. Those early meetings were held at Cabbage Patch (formerly Jonesy’s – now where Big Grove Brewery is). Tractor pulls and the parade were part of those early Beef Days and through the years Jim worked the BINGO and Legion Auxiliary Food tents. Selling raffle tickets during Beef Days is Jim’s pet project and he continues to serve the Legion whenever he has the opportunity.
When asked what his favorite part of Beef Days is, he can’t narrow it down to just one part… the food, the beer, the parade!
Johnson County Cattlemen’s Association – Bob Sentman and Norm Ziskovsky
Bob Sentman joined the Johnson County Beef Producers after serving in active duty when the group was formed in 1965 which later changed their name to Johnson County Cattlemen in 1973.
Bob, an Iowa City native, has an impressive resume that includes advanced education, military service, business ownership, and civic memberships. He and his wife Ellen have three children: Beverly (James), Stephanie (Terry) and Patricia (William), eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Bob and Ellen operated a 1200-acre grain/livestock farm and owned ROB-ELL Simmentals and were a Kruger Seed Dealer for 20 some years. Their farm was named Outstanding Farm Family in 1981 and they’ve won numerous corn and soybean grower awards.
Bob served as a Director of Iowa State Bank and Trust Company from 1983 to 2010 and has held multiple roles and titles on community and civic organizations including the distinguished list of: Director of Johnson County Extension Council (1965-68), Director of Johnson County Farm Bureau (1967-70), Director/Secretary/Treasurer Consumers Cooperative (1968-1978), Director of Johnson County Cattlemen (1973-79), District Director Farmers Home Administration (1981-84), Director Iowa City Chamber of Commerce (1988-91), Chairman and Charter member Military Affairs Association (1986, 1993-94), Director and President Tiffin Fire Association (1987-95), Director Iowa for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves for the State of Iowa (1992 -present), President Iowa State Team Penning Association (1997-98), Founder of Hawkeye Team Penning Club (2000-present) and holds memberships to many more organizations and clubs.
Bob retired as Major General for the U.S. Army in 1992 after an honorable military career. Among many other awards and accolades, General Sentman was credited for being the driving force to rebuild the Iowa National Guard after Vietnam War. He brought his units to the highest levels of strength and readiness preparing his units for their success in Desert Storm, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Norm Ziskovsky grew up on his family farm near Swisher and his family has a had a long association with Iowa Cattlemen’s Association both past and present. Norm’s parents, Marilyn and Vernon, were founding members of the newly merged Iowa Cattlemen’s Association in 1973 and his mother served on the State Cowbell’s Board.
Farm life for Norm meant helping with chores as soon as he was old enough to drag a bucket (not carry) and showing over a 100 head of cattle at fairs through 4-H over the years. His first experience with Solon Beef Days was when his cousin (and Johnson County Pork Producers member), Dan Vanorny, asked Norm to help cook burgers and brats at Solon Beef Days – that was 1976 when Norm was still in high school – he said yes because he thought it would be fun and he is still grilling steaks at Beef Days 47 years later!
In 1982, Norm was asked to be the Pork Producer Board’s representative on the Beef Days Committee. Norm was already helping with the event security as overnight watchman of the keg beer during Beef Days. Norm and Johnson County Sheriff Gary Hughes would sit and talk until everyone had left for the night. Norm would still be on watch when the Boy Scouts would arrive at 6 a.m. for clean-up detail so he would fire up the grill and feed them burgers and pop for breakfast! Still today, Norm fires up the grill early in the morning during Beef Days for the early morning broadcast at the local news stations. He was asked once by the New York Times, how much meat he’s grilled over the years and his best guess is around 300 tons on meat!
Norm’s family has been connected to the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association since its beginning, and Norm joined himself in 1976. He was elected to the Johnson County Cattlemen’s Association Board in 1992 and served as Board President for 21 years (1995 – 2016). Since being elected President, Johnson County Cattlemen’s Association won 11 state awards and he is quite proud that Johnson County is the most active county organization in the state.
In 2006, the Johnson County Cattlemen’s Association elected Norm “Cattlemen of the Year”. Norm also served as District Director, State Regional Vice President and on the Iowa Cattlemen’s Association Board for 17 years. The list of beef industry boards and organizations (county, state & national) that Norm has served on or currently serves on is long and impressive and he has received the State of Iowa Governor’s Award for Volunteerism twice! (Branstad 1996/Reynolds 2018)
Serving on the Beef Days Committee all these years, Norm got to know all of the original committee members and everyone since, and he has formed many lifetime friendships. Norm could tell stories about Beef Days for hours. He remembers the first outhouses, the tornado, the missing stock rack, the buckets with frisbee lids, and the time the grill blew up, but what he’ll remember the most, are the wonderful people that he’s met over the years and their friendship, those he will cherish.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Submitted photo

Marv Stastny