CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Eleanor Stegmann of Marshalltown (sitting, second from right) recently enjoyed a special luncheon at the Binford House on Dec. 5 with her daughters and granddaughters as part of Glenwood Place’s “Dare to Dream” program.

Eleanor Stegmann is 94 years old, and the longtime Marshalltown resident who currently calls Glenwood Place home has been fascinated with the historic Binford House on North 2nd Avenue for as long as she can remember.

“I used to just go to Binford House a lot through the years to different clubs and meetings and luncheons and suppers, and when they’d have an open house, I’d go there,” she said. “And I became the historian at Binford House. And I was president of a club that met there.”

With such a deep connection to an iconic local structure, it only made sense for Glenwood Place Life Engagement Coordinator Melinda Beard to arrange for Stegmann’s return to Binford House as part of the “Dare to Dream” program.

“For Eleanor, her number one thing she always, always talked about was her years within the Binford House and, of course, her family,” Beard said. “And so, when we decided to do her Dare to Dream, I thought (about) how nice it would be for her to get to visit the Binford House again, and so I contacted Melissa Pieters and I was directed to the board. We planned a girls’ formal tea party and luncheon, which was wonderful.”

The event, which was held on Thursday, Dec. 5, was a complete surprise to Stegmann. It was the first time she had been to Binford House in about three years.

“I didn’t know about it until I walked through the door,” she said.

Even more special was the fact that all three of her daughters — Marilyn Downs of Marshalltown, Sally Sunderland of Denver, Colo. and Janet Wuest of Cedar Rapids — were all able to attend along with their daughters. Sunderland and her daughter Emma flew in for less than 24 hours before returning home. Being joined by family was the most special part of the day for Eleanor.

“It was a very special day, and Melinda did a great job of planning it and keeping it a secret from her. So when she walked in the room, she didn’t know all of her granddaughters and daughters from Colorado and Cedar Rapids were there,” Downs said. “It was — completely — a great day.”

While she was there, Stegmann donated a scrapbook she had kept full of meeting records and newspaper clippings. Of course, times have changed rather dramatically over the years: when Jessie Binford first donated the house, Stegmann estimated that about 30 women’s clubs used it as a meeting space. In recent years, the number dwindled down to five, and she said it is now just a single remaining organization.

Nonetheless, the opportunity to get back to a place that had meant so much to Stegmann, the widow of late former Marshalltown Mayor and 3rd/6th Street bridge namesake Howard Stegmann, was undeniably special, and Beard remarked that she even recognized the China patterns because she had served so many events there as a volunteer. For those who aren’t familiar with the house’s history, Stegmann urged them to learn more and stop by for a visit.

“That house just looks beautiful now. They’ve really fixed it up for Christmas. It looks gorgeous,” she said.

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Contact Robert Maharry

at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.