Friday, September 11, 2009.

This morning I met Mike Avitt by the Welcome Center off I-35 east of Lamoni. Our first stop was to get a photograph of The Pioneer School.

The Pioneer School, built in 1889, was located on the Leon-Lineville Road approximately 15 miles northeast of Lamoni. The school was moved to the Welcome Center east of Lamoni and was restored by Orman Broomer and his crew in 2007.

We stopped at Nine Eagles, visiting the docks and swimming area. It had been a long time since I've been to this section of Nine Eagles. This area, in the 1960's, was where Harry Graves and Milt Henderson used to hold 4-H Day Camp for the younger kids. Off to the east of this area used to be a hiking trail. I'm sure that many Decatur County kids have fond memories of taking a pedal-boat out on the lake.

I was surprised to see that the boat rental building is gone along with the lifeguard tower. It seemed to me that the floats marking off the swimming area doesn't go out as far as it used to. Today there is a picnic shelter and playground equipment on the "beach."

From Nine Eagles we stopped at Pleasanton.

There isn't much left of the original buildings in Pleasanton. It has been over 30 years since I've been there and I didn't recognize the town. I did take a photograph of the Masonic Lodge, pictured above.

If I remember correctly, Pleasanton's Community of Christ Church was built in the late 1970's by Will Raiser, Sociology instructor at Graceland University.

There is a country school located on the west side of the Davis City-Pleasanton road, north of Pleasanton and south of Nine Eagles. I'm not sure but believe this might be the Moffett School No. 7. We peeked in the windows to see that the blackboard has been removed. The rest of the interior of the school seems to be intact - cloakroom, wainscoting, woodwork, built-in shelving, and original flooring. If anyone knows which school this is, please contact me.

From Pleasanton, we drove to Davis City.

Contribution by Sharon R. Becker, September of 2009