Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

July 26, 2002

Alumni contribution to Iowa highlights ISU fair exhibit

by Anne Krapfl
Visitors to the Iowa State Fair will walk among ISU alumni who, through their professional and volunteer efforts, are making Iowa stronger. At the university's main exhibit, in the Varied Industries Building, life-size cutouts of 24 Iowa Staters will be accompanied by brief summaries of their contributions to the economic betterment of Iowa. Their stories were culled from among 68,000 living alumni in all 99 Iowa counties.

"Our graduates are our best contribution to the development of our state," said Carole Custer, director of university marketing. "Their stories tell the impact of what Iowa State does for the state of Iowa."

The cutouts will tell the stories of Kirkwood Community College president Norm Nielsen; Hy-Vee president Ric Jurgens; Denison High School Spanish teacher Georgia Hollrah, recipient of the Iowa State Education Association's Human Relations Award for her assistance to the state's growing Hispanic population; and Karol DeWulf Nickell, editor of Better Homes and Gardens magazine; among others.

The Iowa State exhibit also will highlight the Cyclone wrestling program, both Cael Sanderson's success and the team's winning tradition. As in past years, fair-goers can get a Cy tattoo on a face or ankle; and enter drawings for T-shirts, DVD players and tickets to Cyclone football and Iowa State Center events. Fair visitors can e-mail an Iowa State "e-postcard" from the exhibit and pick up lots of free Cyclone athletic posters and schedules. The University Book Store will sell ISU merchandise at the exhibit.

Extension promotes health
ISU Extension will be back in its usual spot in the northeast corner of the Grandstand featuring an exhibit, "Just For the Health of It." The exhibit is part of a major initiative on rural mental health coordinated by ISU's Extension to Families, and addresses mental, financial and physical health. Fair-goers can complete a self-survey of their own credit card use to assess whether they need to make changes in how they perceive, use or repay credit. The exhibit will offer information on Extension services available to families or farm owners, including a new computerized debt repayment program, computerized analysis of farm records, one-on-one farm financial counseling and specific Extension hotline phone numbers for family and financial concerns.

As part of the 4-H centennial birthday celebration this year, fair visitors can sign an oversize birthday card at the Extension exhibit. It will be presented to 4-H leaders on the last day of the fair (see below). The exhibit also will include a recording camera for visitors to recite the 4-H motto or recount what the four Hs stand for. This tape, too, will be presented at the birthday party.

Extension's Midday radio report will be broadcast live from the Extension booth most weekdays during the fair.

Happy Birthday, 4-H
4-H's traditionally strong presence at the Iowa State Fair will be enhanced by a celebration of the 4-H national centennial. A birthday party will begin at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 18, in the 4-H Building on the fair grounds. The first class of the Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame will be inducted during the gathering.

One hundred 4-foot high birthday candles (one each from the 100 4-H regions) will decorate the 4-H Building's interior and a giant birthday cake will be outside during the fair. A pictorial history of the first 100 years of 4-H in Iowa will be on display in the 4-H Building. As part of this history-gathering process, staff members will record the stories of former 4-H members who visit the exhibit.

A full-color, illustrated children's book about Iowa 4-H will debut at the 2002 Iowa State Fair. Copies will be sold for $10 by the Iowa 4-H Foundation in the 4-H Building. In cooperation with Iowa Stories 2000, a statewide literacy program spearheaded by First Lady Christie Vilsack, celebrity Iowans will read from A 4-H Story: Helping Hands, Caring Hearts at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. daily on the center stage in the 4-H Building.

More than 3,000 4-H members from all 99 counties will show an estimated 4,000 exhibits in the 4-H Building during the fair. The 4-H Building also is the site for more than 1,200 presentations prepared by 4-H members. These include educational presentations, clothing discussions, extemporaneous speaking performances and non-judged "Share the Fun" performances.

Another 1,900-plus 4-H'ers are scheduled to bring some 7,800 livestock and horticulture entries to the state fair. Market sheep (1,249 entries) and market swine (947 entries) have drawn the highest participation this year.

The Iowa State Fair runs from Aug. 8 to 18. Exhibit buildings are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.