Welcome to the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation’s blog!
We are a non-profit organization with a mission to raise funds for the renovation and preservation of the historic Iowa State Fairgrounds. Since our inception in 1993, the Foundation has raised more than $200 million through individual contributions, state appropriations, in-kind services, and corporate, federal and state grants.
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Hello all!
I know it must be strange hearing from me on the blog twice this week, but I just have so much to share. Last week, the committee to select Iowan of the Day winners met. All the applications for the last three years and this year were considered. Every application was worthy of being recognized, but unfortunately we’re limited to just ten winners. After much deliberation, we have our winners. Before I get on to that, I want to extend a big thank you to everyone who nominated someone. I also want to say thank you to all our nominees. Whether you know you were nominated or not, you are the reason Iowa is a great place to live. Thank you for all that you do. The 2015 Iowan of the Day recipients are:
Don’t forget to swing by the Anne and Bill Riley Stage each day of the Fair to hear more about our winners. Have a great weekend!
-Anna
Hi there!
It’s a little dark and stormy in the office right now, but I have just the thing to brighten up the afternoon for us all. Think about the sunny, warm and probably humid Fairgrounds we’ll all be meeting at in just 16 days. There will be plenty of sights and sounds to push all the rain from your mind. If you’re anything like me, one big thing occupying your time during the Fair is people watching. There are people from all over the state, country and even the world. There are people competing, camping, working and just having fun. There are people of every age, from a few weeks old to more than a few decades old. Even with all their differences, they all have one thing in common. They love the Iowa State Fair!
If you love the Fair and people watching, the Blue Ribbon Foundation has something else you’ll love. Each year, Sticks designs and creates a custom plaque to commemorate the Fair. The theme this year? You guessed it—people watching.
Whether you’re an avid people watcher or this will be your first year, pick up a plaque to show your love. Even better, they make a perfect addition to a Sticks plaque collection. Like years past, they are 7” x 7”, wood burned creations. The cost is $100 per plaque. If you are interested in preordering one, cut out an order form from our summer newsletter and send it to us. Or you could call us at 1-800-450-3732 and we can take your order over the phone.
Hopefully, everyone is getting excited for the Fair. See you there! And in the meantime, I hope this rain stops!
-Anna
Our new People Watcher plaque with some of our older Sticks plaques.
Hi ya’ll! With another week almost done, we are getting closer and closer to the wonderful Iowa State Fair! One exciting event to look forward to during the Fair is the 9th annual Fairgrounds 5K, which will take place on Saturday, August 22nd at 7:30 a.m. It’s a great way to get a jump start on the day and burn off some calories to make room for some of the iconic fair foods. It’s also a great way to get a unique tour of the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
Participants will receive a Fairgrounds 5K t-shirt, admission ticket, $5 food coupon and a free Fair Square. There will also be water available along the route. The top three male and female winners from each division will receive Fairgrounds 5K ribbons. The overall top three male and female winners will receive medals and 2016 Iowa State Fair prizes. First place overall will receive two admission tickets, a parking pass and two Grandstand concert tickets to a show of your choice for the 2016 Iowa State Fair. Second place overall will receive two admission tickets and a parking pass to the 2016 Iowa State Fair and third place overall will receive two admission tickets to the 2016 Fair.
So come join us for the 9th annual Fairgrounds 5K on Saturday, August 22nd! We would love to cheer you on as you race down the Grand Concourse of the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
For more information or to register for the 5K, visit our Blue Ribbon Foundation’s Fairgrounds 5K or call Drew at (515) 262-3111 ext. 375.
That’s all for now, but I’ll be back soon!
-Maggie J.
Here are some photos from last year's 5K.
It’s not like I’m counting or anything, but there are only 21 days until the Iowa State Fair! That means our office is in full Fair-mode sending out concert tickets, parking passes and admission tickets to members of several different Foundation programs. Maggie also just mailed out the remainder of her volunteer packets, so the amount of mail coming from our office is getting pretty ridiculous. Not to mention the announcements of our Iowan of the Day winners, FairSquare booth preparation, Water Program information and merchandise orders that are keeping us busy.
Not only are we counting the number of days until the Fair, we are also counting bricks! Drew, Maggie, Anna and I spent most of Monday placing bricks. We laid bricks bought through our Brick by Brick program at multiple locations throughout the Fairgrounds. I don’t recall masonry in our job description, but laying the bricks was actually a nice change of the pace from office work. We dug out old blank bricks from the established brick pads and replaced them with newly engraved ones. By the time we finished laying the more than 200 bricks on our list, we felt like professionals.
I encourage everyone to stop and take a look at the different brick pads while visiting the Fair. While placing the bricks, I found some of the engravings interesting, touching and even amusing. Those who have made a donation for a brick do so for a number of reasons. No matter the purpose, bricks are a great gift or way to honor someone you love.
Now it’s time to take this exciting countdown to the Iowa State Fair day by day!
-Molly
Hi ya’ll! I hope everyone had a great week and refreshing weekend! The past two weeks have been very busy at the office! Between the Corndog Kickoff (on July 11th) and the volunteer reception (on July 16th), I’ve been one busy girl! We had an amazing Kickoff this year, which I know you’ve heard all about. Last Thursday was the volunteer reception for all of the Blue Ribbon Foundation volunteers that will help out during the Fair. Since I’m the Volunteer Relations Intern, this was in my care; all the planning, organizing and hosting, well with of course the help of my fellow interns and staff in the office.
We had around 250 people attend out of the 450 people that volunteer during the Fair. Everyone enjoyed food, picked up their packets of information for volunteering, had a short orientation which was followed by a tram tour of the Fairgrounds. It was a night filled with food, fun and friends. All in all, it was a very successful evening and I would like to give a big shout out to all of the volunteers for the Blue Ribbon Foundation for all of the amazing work they do for this organization! And thank the Blue Ribbon Foundation staff for helping me out at this event!
Although the volunteer reception has passed, there are still plenty of spots to sign up to volunteer! Check out our schedule online and see if any of the shifts will work with your schedule. We would love to have all the help we can get. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call at (515) 262- 3111 ext. 379.
Well, that’s all I have for now, but I’ll be back soon! Have a fantastic Monday!
-Maggie J.
Here is a picture of the reception!
It’s a dreary morning at the office, but our spirits are high with the reported new Corndog Kickoff totals. We are happy to announce that we surpassed both of last year’s totals and have raised even more funds for the renovation and preservation of the historic Fairgrounds! Last Saturday’s event raised a total of $460,000 and brought more than 2,000 attendees. Guests enjoyed a variety of Fair food while perusing the 215 silent auction packages and watching the 27 live items being auctioned off.
As someone who has never been to this fantastic event, I was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm everyone carried throughout the night. Working behind the scenes on logistics was high intensity, but incredibly rewarding. I got to see everything that goes into such a large event unfold in the week prior and Saturday night.
I would like to give a shout out to all the attendees who made it possible to surpass last year’s total. I also want to thank all the volunteers who took on vital roles during the night, especially my oldest sister who spent the entire night taking photographs for us. Below are a few of the pictures she snagged throughout the night. I already cannot wait for the 20th annual Corndog Kickoff next year, but I better focus on the 2015 Iowa State Fair first with only 27 days to go!
Thanks for all the support!
Molly
Hi everyone! Seems like a long time since I’ve sat down and blogged about happenings here at the Blue Ribbon Foundation. Last week we were hardly in the office at all. We spend most of our time running around the Varied Industries building setting up for ‘The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”, also known as the Corndog Kickoff. My fellow interns and I knew we were in for a long week, but it didn’t feel that long. It sort of flew by as we set up center pieces, created auction packages, did some heavy lifting and checked all the final details. Molly even ended up inside the giant Christmas tree, loaned to us by Bass Pro Shop, to help set it up. (See below for pictures!)
The day of Corndog Kickoff was exciting and stressful and wonderful all at the same time. I’ve never been a part of behind the scenes work at such a big event, so it was awesome to see all the work that went on to make the Corndog Kickoff so successful. We’re so thankful for everyone that attended, volunteered and donated. Final numbers on money raised will be out sometime soon. Hopefully one of the other interns will be able to highlight that later in the week.
For now though, we’re all hard at work back in the office. Things haven’t really slowed down though. Remember, the Fair is only 29 days away! We hope to see you all there. If you’re looking for an opportunity to get involved, consider volunteering with us.
In the meantime, keep your eye on the official countdown clock on the Fair’s website. It will be time to gather on the Fairgrounds before you know it!
-Anna
Got a corndog as the live auction was going on. Clearly, I was excited about it.
Below is the 2015 Volunteer Schedule. The schedule is subject to change and will continually be updated.
Hi y’all! With all the excitement and energy around the office, you would think someone has been shooting off fireworks for the Fourth of July. Everyone has been busy getting ready for 2015 Corndog Kickoff, which is NEXT WEEK (Saturday, July 11 to be exact)! It’s crazy how fast it’s gotten here. Tickets are still on sale by the way. Just call the office at (515) 262- 3111 ext. 371 to order yours! Or stop by that night and purchase them. Either way we would love to see you there!
My week has been busy getting the volunteer schedule ready to be posted online, which will go live in just a few hours! It’s not full yet, which means there are still plenty of spaces to sign up to donate your time at the Iowa State Fair. There will be highlighted shifts on the schedule that are still available for volunteers. For those of you who don’t know and are curious about what volunteers get in return (besides that wonderful feeling you get from helping keep our Fair the most wonderful Iowa tradition), volunteers receive ticket(s) into the Fair for the day(s) they volunteer, parking pass(es), and a t-shirt. They are also invited to our volunteer reception where you receive a wonderful meal catered by Campbell’s, a short presentation, and a Fairgrounds tour. This reception is also something I have been working on this week. It’s kept me pretty busy. I’ve created a manual for volunteers, ordered food, created a game to play and many other things. So, if you’re interested in volunteering give me a call at (515) 262-3111 ext. 379 or shoot me an email at Maggie@BlueRibbonFoundation.org. We would love to have your help!
Anyways, that’s all I have for now! I hope everyone has a fantastic Fourth of July weekend and enjoys the wonderful fireworks. And remember, if you can’t get enough of the fireworks on the Fourth, come to the Corndog Kickoff where there will be even more!
Maggie J.
The volunteer schedule getting ready to be posted online...(plus, check out that manual that made it into the background).
Just a little 'Throwback Thursday' to the fireworks during the Kickoff last year!
Hi everyone!
It’s a short week here at the Blue Ribbon Foundation and as always things here are busy, busy, busy. Not only do we have a three day holiday weekend coming up, it’s also the deadline for Iowan of the Day nominations to be postmarked, Corndog Kickoff is just around the corner and Goodguys Car Show is setting up around the grounds.
With just ten days left before the Corndog Kickoff, our office is getting a lot more visitors. People are coming in to buy tickets and drop off auction packages. Just today, we’ve had Charley Starnes, the ISF photography superintendent, Iowa Speedway and a few others drop off auction packages. We’re also expecting a chicken coop to be brought by sooner or later. Of all the visitors we’ve had today, the cutest by far were our Foundation Director, Peter Cownie’s, kids. It was a nice little break as things are getting hectic around here.
Adding to all of that, I’ve had a good bunch of Iowan of the Day nominations come in yesterday and today. I might have to wait until everything is done for the Kickoff before I dive into those. Either way, I’m excited to move forward with the program. Winners will be picked later in the month! Hard to believe the project I’ve been working on since March is picking up speed.
I’ll be back next week with more updates. Have a great weekend and happy 4th of July!
-Anna
Just some things to look forward to next week, once the big event arrives!