RAGBRAI 2012: Forget ‘Iowa nice.’ Meet Hazel.

Mon, Jul 23, 2012 | by Michael Morain

Nemaha – Iowans are famous for being nice. Hazel Linsted is famous for bucking the trend.

Since 1968, she’s operated Hazel’s Café, where a sign sums up its down-to-earth charm: “Get your own damn coffee.”

Linsted was just 35 when she opened the place, when things were a little different.

“I don’t sell beer now,” she said. “Or food.”

What the 78-year-old does serve is a dry sense of humor, which charmed former Register columnist Chuck “Iowa Boy” Offenburger. He profiled her in 1998, during RAGBRAI’s last visit to Nemaha, and riders have made pilgrimages to see her ever since. A handful of out-of-staters stop by even when the route rolls elsewhere.

Linsted’s health has declined over the last few years, with diabetes and a bout of breast cancer, but she recently finished her last radiation treatment and seemed to be in good spirits. She was selling (and signing) T-shirts with the volunteer firefighters, who had mixed feelings about her fame.

“People will just knock you over trying to get to her,” fire chief and farmer Russ Davis said. “Know what’s worse? She didn’t even make us coffee this morning.”

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3 Responses on “RAGBRAI 2012: Forget ‘Iowa nice.’ Meet Hazel.”

Lauren Buziak

July 24, 2012 at 3:07 am

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Hisako Reesor

July 24, 2012 at 3:52 am

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