Mount Pleasant appears to never have had an actual grand opening advertisement and may not have had an account of the opening in the local newspaper. However, Sandy's did place ads in the newspaper upon its opening. The first appears to be one announcing the "fair fee" which was a standard Sandy's advertisement at the time on November 29th, 1971.
Others followed;
December 2nd, 1971
December 16th, 1971
January 11th, 1972
Sandy's had risen, along with the rest of the fast food industry, from a walk-up building to a walk-in building to a sit inside and eat restaurant. By 1971, Sandy's was offering franchisees two exciting options, the mini and the maxi.
The mini was for small communities such as Mount Pleasant and the maxi would be for larger cities. Most Sandy's switched to Hardees during the buy-out in 1973 so the buildings are generally associated with Hardees. It is interesting to see a picture of what appears to be a Hardees building with a Sandy's sign on the lot. The buildings, however, were Sandy's all the way. Hardees in Mount Pleasant moved to the growing East side of the city, leaving its original Sandy's building behind. Here is a picture of Sandy's building as it exists to this day in July, 2005.
If you have any memorabilia, pictures or stories of Sandy's in Mount Pleasant, Iowa or elsewhere, please email me!