Serving up Community Connections in The City of Dent
Written By: Missy Hermes
The City of Dent has reformatted a former elementary school, creating a new official Dent Community Center with space for meetings and wellness opportunities. Informally though, two additional locations in town provide important places for forming community coalitions. The Dougout Bar and Grill and Mysteries Cafe, both located in downtown Dent, play a central role keeping the town connected.
While the Dent Community Club heads up events like the summer Dent Corn Daze festival and other seasonal gatherings, the Dougout and Mysteries Cafe jump in as active partners in making these events successful. The Medallion Hunt during Dent Corn Daze is created and sponsored by the Dougout, sending participants searching for cash prizes. They generously donate for Dent events throughout the year.
This full service establishment has indoor and outdoor seating and service with a smile. Their motto – “we are locally owned so you’ll always see a friendly face.”
Owner Doug Hopwood plans plenty of people pleasing events himself, bringing together summer visitors and winter folks. The tremendously popular Testicle Festival in September draws crowds eager to feast on tasty “testies” and enjoy live music. During hunting season, the Dougout offers a promotion to fire up fish and game enthusiasts. The Buck and Doe Contest in cooperation with Sazama Taxidermy draws in deer hunters in a competition that wraps up with a winning wild game feed.
Go wild for the meals at Mysteries Cafe, where they happily remind diners that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This is a community meeting place! They serve a bountiful breakfast including eggs benedict or biscuits and gravy in the morning or coffee klatch classics like homemade pie and cakes during the day.
Both businesses have food and fun at their heart, cooking for the community. As one server who has worked at the Dougout since 2004 said, “It’s a familiar place where people get along like neighbors.”
