Ron Van Dyke left Osceola after a year of pool hall management. His mother, Wynette Van Dyke, recalled, "They said I couldn't run it." For 20 years she ran it. Wynette supervised the pool hall in the daytime and her husband, Glen "Slim" Van Dyke, worked the evening hours. During the day Slim managed the P & S Oil Company station for Jim Schaefer, a responsibility he performed for 33 years.
The Van Dykes referred to their business as Van Dyke Recreation. Chuck Offensburger in his Des Moines Register "Country Boy" column in September 1981 wrote, "Van Dyke Recreation is the kind of pool hall your mother wouldn't mind -- no booze, no beer, and large sign over the front table saying, "Please no profane language."
Wynette said, "If I had put booze and beer in there I could have made more money, but I couldn't have had the kids in there. I admit we bent the language rule quite a bit, especially when Red Cottrell played. He was a pistol! He always complained he couldn't see well enough to shoot a good game, so as a joke, a rifle scope was mounted on a pool cue for Red."
The Van Dyke Recreation center was open 10 a.m to 11 p.m. When pool tournaments were held the hall was open to the "wee" hours of the morning. Wynette remembers that Arlo Harger usually was the first one in when the doors opened. Arlo would buy a bag of peanuts and take the same bench seat near the front table. Players on that table didn't have to keep score on the chalk board because Arlo kept the scores in his head. Walter Utley, a retired farmer, came in early too. He never played a game of pool, but racked the pool balls, collected money for Wynette (50 cents per game) and served pop and candy.
Wynette said, "He wouldn't take pay, only a free bottle of pop and one candy bar a day."
You could almost set the clock by when the old guys came in, like "Wild Bill" James and Red Chaney's group. In the afternoons Wynette made popcorn. Jim Wade would bring butter for the popcorn. He didn't play pool, but liked to visit and eat popcorn.
During the day, the juke box was turned down for the older men. Kids would turn it up at night. Jack Jeffreys serviced the video games. Wynette had a standing bet with the youngsters, "If you whip me in pool the game's on me." She added, "There was a lot of free pool."
Van Dyke Recreation was on the south side of the square where the Coffee Parlor is now located. The game room was 100 feet long and 25 feet wide. There were ceiling fans and a dark oiled floor. Marie White's "Osceola Business Directory," states that Osceola's first pool hall opened at this location in 1903. The Van Dyke Recreation was open 20 years. Slim Van Dyke died in 1999.
Slim and Wynette Van Dyke have two sons and a daughter. David Van Dyke lives in Davenport, Ron Van Dyke lives in Denver, Colo., and daughter Norma Bailey lives in Sisters, Ore. There are five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
Wynette Van Dyke works the "cage" at the Lakeside Casino. She has worked there ever since it opened. When she visits with former customers at the casino she reminds them that it was cheaper playing pool.