Jeana Becker wants the people of Fort Dodge and surrounding towns to know there are prominent destinations and a must-see event in town.

Becker is the chair of the Fort Museum and Frontier Village and is the chair of the Frontier Days committee.

Since moving to Fort Dodge five years ago from the Pocahontas area and Gilmore City, Becker has seen the admiration both for the Museum and Frontier Days.

“I remember coming here from Gilmore to Fort Dodge,” Becker said. “It (Frontier Days) was more young adult and I remembered how much fun I had. I heard a lot of things about wanting it to be more family friendly and have more food.

-Submitted photo
Jeana Becker stands with Jesse Kinch after giving him a tour of the Opera House. Kinch performed during Frontier Days.

“That was my goal and to have more variety. We also wanted to open the stockade. Before I joined the board, I never knew I could go in the stockade. We now have that open and we want to make that known.”

“It’s not hidden, but it’s a hidden gem,” Becker said of the Fort Museum. “It has one of the nation’s largest hoaxes (Cardiff Giant) and is connected to P.T. Barnum. Little Fort Dodge has had a big impact on America. It lets people know this is a village and you can come in and walk around.”

Becker started as the Fort Museum chair in January. She works to keep things going and makes sure Fort Dodge has a museum.

“The year before we hired some new people in hopes of bringing the Fort back to life,” Becker said. “We reached out to people in the community that were willing to help us.”

As her tenure started, Becker had some goals.

“When I started, my goal was to bring back awareness and get us in the black,” Becker said. “Not that we were in the red, but I wanted to be able to continue having the Fort Museum for future generations and make it fun for everyone.”

The Fort Museum has a number of events through the year, including the popular Chilli Cook Off as well as the recent Kids in Biz event.

The Fort Museum also offers the Opera House where events can be held.

“People can get married in our beautiful Cardiff garden,” Becker said. “They can have the reception in the Opera House and can also get married here.”

After being in charge of the Frontier Days parade, Becker began being a leader of Frontier Days.

“I gathered a pretty good committee for helping with reaching out and getting partners,” Becker said. “Not just people to give money and be done, but a group to be a part of it.

“We had a lot of great things at Frontier Days this year, and we have a lot of things that we will add.”

It will be a big season next year both for Fort Dodge, the Fort and Frontier Days.

“We have three anniversaries coming up,” Becker said. “It’s the 165th anniversary of Fort Dodge, 60-plus years of the Fort Museum and the 50th anniversary of Frontier Days.

“We are hoping to go pretty big and bring in a lot of local celebrities and showcase them.”

With both the Fort and Frontier Days, Becker always comes back to the family.

“I really enjoy the family-friendly atmosphere and love to see the joy in each of the little kids,” Becker said. “There are a lot of things that they can do.

“I love the social interaction with people and there are many different types of social aspects of the event.”