The City of Woodbine, in Harrison County, celebrated a ribbon cutting ceremony in their historic downtown Monday night. In the last 18 months, Woodbine welcomed 13 new businesses and 35 new employees to its 3 by 3 block Main Street District while renovating 25 historic buildings into energy efficient storefronts, office spaces and upper-story apartments. On Monday night, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds attended the ribbon cutting ceremony. Branstad said the transformation in Woodbine was phenomenal.

He said the community had a lot of old buildings that were falling down. The Main Street program, he says, helped to make it something that everyone can be proud of. Branstad says Woodbine should be an inspiration to other towns.

A crowd of close to 300 people witnessed a photo re-staging of a 1911 Chautauqua “Big Doings in Woodbine Town” streetscape scene complete with period costumes, horse and buggy and automobiles ranging from back in the early 1900s all the way to a brand new John Deere tractor. The ribbon cutting ceremony finished quite a long day for Governor Branstad. His day began in the Guthrie County community of Panora, and included lunch featuring Iowa’s Best Burger, in Coon Rapids, as well as a stop in Audubon, and finally, Harlan.

The Governor will travel through northwest Iowa today starting in Onawa this morning.

(Joel McCall/KNOD)