Stover and “Dale”History
Sketch of the “Caboose” label: represented by the train that passed on the “Rock Island Trail” for many years through downtown Stover
“Local Lore”
The list below shows the wines that are included in the “Stover Lore” series:
Storybook Red
Blackberry Patch
Haw Creek
By count of population, modern day Stover hasn’t changed much over the span of 100 years. However, us Stoverites are still as proud of our town as the many generations that came before us. We are still pioneering into new things (fiber internet, anyone?) and rediscovering things once thought forgotten, like growing grapes and community togetherness, to name a few.
Stover has active groups, businesses, a lovely park, a vibrant and growing school that now features a state-of-the-art dome, and churches with congregations that have stood the test of time. A trip to the lake area isn’t complete until you have visited the little towns sprinkled around it that have been here longer than it has. Towns like Stover and the people that call it home are the true gems of the Midwest!
Haw Creek
The original settlers of the area were a few miles southwest of modern day Stover. That famed location is south of the Rock Island Railroad that came through in the early 1900’s, around the same time a tornado tore through Old Stover. The area was originally referred to as the “Haw Creek Township” due to the abundance of Black Haw trees growing in the area creek beds and wooded areas. Our Haw Creek Label (with the bridge and creek between Stover and Cole Camp) celebrates this deep history and township name that connects us to the nature around us.
Blackberry Patch
Stover history has sometimes mistakenly attributed the tornado as the sole reason for the relocation. While it may have made the decision easier, and as the “Stover Centennial” (1903-2003) clarifies, a few of these early visionaries realized the town needed to be situated directly on the railroad. The rest is history. There’s a gravel road south of town called “Blackberry Patch Road” that basically connects “Old Stover” to “New Stover”. Our Blackberry Patch label pays homage to the history of our little town.
Storybook Red
As for our family, the “Dale History” started in Stover in the 1950s:
Our Grandfather, Melvin Dale, bought the farm where the vineyards are planted and where the winery sits in the 1950s. He tried some of the conventional routes of farming in the Midwest- pigs, horses, hay etc. Through the years hay turned out to be the most viable option and his kids and subsequent grandkids can still remember bucking square bales with Grandpa Melvin. This is where the Dale Hollow story bega
On a total of around 50 acres, Grandpa Melvin was never going to be operating a massive operation, but he and his boys enjoyed working the land. One of those boys is our dad, Kenny Phillip, son of Melvin Phillip, grandson of Elmer Phillip. The namesake has been passed to two more generations now for 5 total generations of “Phillip”, including Kenny’s son Asher Phillip, and Asher’s son, Kenneth Phillip. As the label depicts, you could say we “flipped” the purpose of the land. Going from hay to grapes is not the most conventional path in our area.
One day while fishing with Grandpa Melvin, one of these grandkids told him about all his big plans in life: graduate college, move to the city, travel on the fastest planes and the biggest boats enjoying the finest foods. A modern day George Bailey. Melvin looked at this ambitious lad quite seriously and said, “Why would you want to leave Stover? What can you find out there that you can’t find here?” Both Asher and Jesse did leave Stover for a few years, to cities and coasts, and both came back with wives, heeding those words of our grandfather and believing him wholeheartedly.
Grandpa never would have guessed in a million years his old farmland would be used for vineyards and a winery. However, he was still here when we planted the first vines and he was absolutely thrilled about the idea and was able to watch as his kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids planted the first 1000 vines on his old hay field.
These pictures were taken on the day that our Grandpa Melvin passed away: one view from the east and the other from the west. The brilliance of the sun shining through the clouds to show a beautiful rainbow. A reminder that his story didn’t end that day.
We now work side-by-side with our father, toiling away at growing grapes and making wine instead of bucking bales. We have already started convincing Asher’s kids and Jesse’s son that working in the vineyard is fun and they will also have memories working on the very same land with their grandpa. Our dad still drives the tractor depicted on the label that our grandpa took for many rounds “back in the day”.
In this day in age, this all may seem a bit “flipped”, so I guess Phillip has been an appropriate middle name all along. While many of our labels depict the town and surrounding areas, this one captures the fullness of our own tale, unfolding one chapter at a time, Storybook Red. A sweet wine for a sweet story.
