Main Street Elkader

10/23/2026

The most perfect FALL Friday in Elkader… 🍂

📸 K8Ki Design Studio

10/22/2026

🦃 Save the date! 🦃

We're back this year after a SNOWY Thanksgiving last year and having to cancel the event. Fingers crossed for a wonderful day for RUNNING in our beautiful community!

‼️ REGISTRATION OPEN SOON! ‼️

🗺 Same route.
✨ New merch.
🏃‍♀️ We need YOU!

🤝 SPONSORS 🤝
Interested in sponsoring? Let us know! We welcome new ideas, too!

🫶 VOLUNTEERS 🫶
We are in need of people to...
1) Join the committee!
2) Help day-of event
PLEASE let us know if you're interested in getting involved!

10/22/2026

to 1908 on Main Street.

📸 Robert Ungs

10/21/2026

Iowa Downtown Fall Workshop ✔️

With Maggie being on maternity leave, we were proud to send Design Committee and Art in the Park committee member, Ketaki Poyekar Hauber to this year’s Iowa Downtown Fall Workshop!

This event was hosted in Osceola, Iowa — just south of the Des Moines area. Ketaki was able to meet lots of new faces, network with other Main Street communities, and grab lots of ideas to bring back to us in Elkader. We can’t wait to share more! 🫶

Thanks for reppin’ our community, Ketaki! These events are required for our organization but are so important and beneficial as we continue to grow as a community, as an organization, and to support our Main Street District.

Iowa Economic Development Authority
osceolamainstreet

10/19/2026

The more you know! 👇👇

Short Bio of Emir Abdelkader who saved thousands of christians

10/16/2026

Congrats to Schera's Restaurant and Bar! 🎉

Congratulations to Frédéric Fethi Boudouani & Brian Bruening of Schera's Restaurant and Bar in Elkader, the Iowa Restaurant Association’s 2026 Faces of Diversity Award recipients! 🥳

Frédéric and Brian’s journey to rural Iowa began with an unexpected connection. Born in Algeria to an Algerian father and French mother, Frédéric was living in Boston with Brian when his search for a deeper understanding of his heritage led him to Iowa—to the nation’s first mosque in Cedar Rapids, and then to Elkader, a small town named for Algerian leader Emir Abd el-Kader.

One visit to Elkader became many. They made friends, found a connection to the community and eventually left Boston for Iowa. When a Main Street restaurant became available, opening Schera’s Algerian-American Restaurant seemed like a natural next step.

Their belief was simple: living in a small town doesn’t mean people aren’t interested in experiencing new flavors. Twenty years later, their community has proven them right.

Along the way, Elkader became more than the home of their restaurant. Frédéric and Brian arrived as business and life partners, eventually married and became deeply woven into the community themselves. Their story is one of sharing culture, but also of finding belonging in an unexpected place.

For sharing their food, culture and lives—and expanding the definition of what belongs in rural Iowa—we’re proud to recognize Frédéric Fethi Boudouani and Brian Bruening as our 2026 Faces of Diversity Award recipients.

Thank you to Society Insurance, sponsor of the Faces of Diversity Award.

We are excited and honored to celebrate Frédéric, Brian and all of our 2026 Celebrating Excellence honorees at the Iowa Hospitality Showcase & Celebrating Excellence Awards on October 19 at Prairie Meadows!

10/15/2026

Did you know that Elkader hosted the Iowa Arts Council forum today? 🤩🙌

It was really neat to attend an Iowa art council forum on behalf of The Collective in person today in our beautiful small town. So grateful for the support of the arts across the state, and for meeting other artists and collaborators from our region. Feeling energized!

Elkader Opera House
The Collective Elkader

10/15/2026

Today is the ‼️LAST DAY‼️ to get registered for this year’s Elkader Holiday Light Show! ✨

Please join us in helping bring JOY to our community again this year! ❤️

➡️ Display set-up will be open sometime after November 1st — more details to come soon! 🤩

During the “off season” one of our committee members, Roger Thomas built this building for use in the Elkader campground. Our Holiday Light Show volunteers will use to greet visitors as they arrive to our show each weekend evening. ✨

We can’t thank Roger enough for his help constructing this for our use! We are SO excited to decorate it for the holiday season. 🤩 🎄

➡️ Have YOU reserved your space yet for this year’s show? Deadline is TODAY! ‼️ We’ll have Main Street Elkader help us and drop the link in the comments.

Be a part of this festive COMMUNITY tradition!

10/15/2026

More on the $25k grant recently received by City of Elkader. Big congrats to Jennifer Cowsert and team for making this happen! 🏠

We’re constantly working behind the scenes as a team with the city to bring things to Elkader and help push things forward. This is just one example of those efforts. Congrats again, Elkader! 🙌