IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – Restaurants, coffee shops and youth baseball coaches in Eastern Iowa are preparing for the Savannah Bananas’ upcoming visit.
Stella, a restaurant located near Kinnick Stadium, is among the businesses preparing for the influx of visitors.
“Usually we’re closed on the 4th of July,” said Amber Smith, Stella manager. “We’ve ordered a ton of extra stuff and making sure that we have enough staff to handle all of the crowds and all the people.”
Down the street, Sidekick Coffee and Books owner Katy Herbold said her team is also preparing to see more people.
“We are used to this because of football, but we’ve never done back-to-back days before,” Herbold said. “I think it’s going to be a really fun family-oriented event.”
Herbold said her team has also been developing banana-themed menu items ahead of the visit.
“It’s literally bananas,” she said. “So we have been mixing all kinds of coffee and cocktail drinks that have banana flavors.”
Smith echoed the anticipation at Stella. “We’re getting super excited to just do all the things,” she said.
The Savannah Bananas’ influence has also reached youth baseball in North Liberty. Casey Dahm, vice president of Tigers Baseball, said the team has made it easier to keep young players engaged with the sport.
“That’s one of my toughest jobs with youth sports is creating an environment where they want to come back and play baseball and have fun,” Dahm said. “And the Savannah Bananas have definitely made it a lot easier for us to take some time and work on those trick plays or remember why we enjoy the game and play the game.”
Tigers Baseball player Tate Norman said watching the Bananas has given him something to study.
“They’re hilarious. And they’re actually super good, too,” Norman said. “They make a lot of trick plays seem easy when they’re actually, like, super hard. And I just want to… I like watching them so I can learn over them, too.”
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