Joni Ernst Presents Small Business Award to Cobblestone Ballroom
joni ernst visited the Cobblestone Ballroom & Event Center in Lakeside on Thursday and personally presented the Small Business of the Week award the business earned back in February. The award also placed the venue into the Congressional Record earlier this year, giving the restoration a permanent federal record.
Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak who chairs the Senate Small Business Committee, said she selected the Cobblestone for its revival and community pride. She told the crowd Thursday that “this combination of revival and community pride is exactly why she created the Small Business of the Week program.”
Cobblestone Ballroom revival
The Cobblestone was founded in 1929 and closed in 1986, leaving the building vacant for nearly four decades before Jennifer Hustedt and Natalie Schumann bought it in 2022. They began extensive restoration work after the purchase, and the venue has since returned as a place for weddings, reunions, trivia nights and live music.
The rebuild kept pieces of the building’s past in view. Murals were uncovered in the Mermaid Room, charred wood was intentionally left in the ballroom ceiling and original fixtures were repurposed inside the building.
Jennifer Hustedt and Natalie Schumann
Hustedt and Schumann stood with Ernst when she presented the award on Thursday. Schumann said “the project has always been about honoring the stories that began inside the historic space — and making sure those stories keep growing.” The Senders also returned to the stage for the venue’s open house, after being among the last bands to perform before the 1986 closure.
Ernst said “the recognition goes far beyond a framed certificate” and that “that means the business — and its revival — will be preserved permanently.” For the Cobblestone, the practical result is a formal federal record of its restoration, tied to a business that has already reopened and is hosting events again.
Congressional Record entry
The Small Business of the Week designation came in February, but Thursday’s visit gave the award a public handoff in the building itself. Ernst said the honor reflects what happened in Lakeside: a vacant structure was bought, restored and put back to use by its owners.
For readers in the community, the immediate next step is simple — the venue keeps operating as an event space, now with a congressional recognition attached to its name.
