Gov. Reynolds makes stop at Prologue Books

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said she was impressed with Charles City’s new bookstore.

“I think it’s really unique, and evidently it’s a hot spot to be,” Reynolds said. “We wanted to encourage people to come out and check this store out, but apparently they already are.”

A good crowd, consisting mostly of regular customers, filled the aisles at Prologue Books and Wine in downtown Charles City Friday afternoon to greet Reynolds, who made a quick stop to visit with owner Darci Tracey. The stop was a part of a last-minute swing through Floyd County to recognize the new business, which has received statewide accolades.

Reynolds said she was visiting as a part of her 99-county tour, in which she tries to visit every Iowa county at least once every year.

“It’s great, and she told me it’s exceeded her expectations, and I really love to hear that,” Reynolds said. “We appreciate our small business owners. It’s what keeps our economy going — it’s the backbone of our economy.”

Reynolds said she is committed to help get more funding to rural Iowa, not only for small businesses like Prologue, but for things such as child care, broadband and housing.

“We’re looking to provide additional funding for infrastructure that can help our small communities across the state,” she said.

Tracey said she was thrilled to have a visit from Reynolds.

“I could just cry,” she said.

She noted that although many of her customers may disagree with the governor politically, they still set aside their differences and came to the event to show support for the business.

“So many people who love me and love our town came out to support the bookstore today,” Tracey said. “It was beautiful. Gov. Reynolds and I have different political beliefs, and the store was full of liberals, and it was a lovely afternoon.”

In April, Prologue was announced as the winner of the award for Best Main Street Business Recruitment Project among communities with populations over 5,000 at the Main Street Iowa Development Awards.

Tracey opened Prologue late last year, and said that running her own bookstore fulfilled a lifelong dream.

“I have always been an avid reader and book lover, and I’ve always dreamed of having my own store,” said Tracey, who was the events manager for the Floyd County Fairgrounds for two years.

Tracey leases the front portion of 213 N. Main St. from Joanna Thompson, who purchased the vacant building that used to be a bar. Tracey said she wanted to do something she loved, and Prologue combines her two favorite things in the world: books and wine.

The shop carries new books in a variety of genres. Tracey said she envisions the shop as a place where people can read and “have their creative juices flowing and write and things like that.”

Reynolds said that she was pleased to see almost as many children in the store looking at books as there were adults.

“Darci told me that she was pleasantly surprised to have so many kids as customers,” Reynolds said. “She said she was going to have to find something to serve the children to drink along with the wine for the adults.”

When she was asked about her literary preferences, Reynolds said she doesn’t get the chance to read for her own personal pleasure as much as she’d like to these days.

“Mostly what I’ve been reading is bills that the Legislature passed,” she said. “That’s been consuming a lot of my time right now.”

Reynolds did say she had recently started reading a non-fiction book written by Jan Rozga, a woman from Indianola. The book, entitled, “Raw Survival: A Practical Guide to Living Through Loss,” is about a mother dealing with grief after losing a child.