My Time at the Iowa State Fair

I think most of the Iowa State Fair prep is done and ready. Now I just need the days to arrive to do the stories.

This is my second year of producing fair coverage for IPTV. Its still fun for me to got out and enjoy a day. I'm always amazed at how you can get sucked into one event and not notice anything else that's happening around me.

Here's a look at where you can see me or avoid me during the Iowa State Fair. I plan to post pictures as the days go on from the mobile production.

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009.
Tallest Cornstalk: Annual event. This year one of the spectators will be a family from Washington, Iowa who has connections to the tallest corn stalk ever.
For more than 30 years, from 1939 to 1967, no one grew corn taller than Don Radda. His top stalk reached 31 feet 7/8 inches. Now a permanent commemoration of the stalk has been erected at the Washington County Fairgrounds with hope for a similar statue at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. We are looking at the historic growth efforts by Radda and this year's corn competition at Pioneer Hall. Measuring begins at noon on Wednesday.

Friday, August 14th, 2009.
Welde Bear show: Johny Welde operates the bear show and it is more than just an attraction, this is a way of life.
For 85 years the Welde family has raised bears and kept them. These bears at the Iowa State Fair are part of a traveling show that leaves Florida during hurricane season. His bears are movie stars, nothing new for the family. Current group were in Brother Bear and have modeled before. Family history goes into many TV shows and movies.
They travel with 11 bears, they do not sell the bears. Johnny's been around the Bears since he was 3. That's almost 50 years.
We plan to attend the noon show.

Sunday, August 16th, 2009.
Marbles shooting contest: - Marvin Oline has run the show for nine years.
There are 2 or 3 shoots every day, between 1 and 5 near the old church and the chainsaw guy. Its in the shade, raised tables and everyone gets a button, bag of marbles and a ribbon. A couple of divisions, finalists get call backs for the last day of the fair. 9th year at ISF. Marvin has been facinated by marbles his whole life. Meet at 12 on Sunday.

Polka Performance: First time feature for the IPTV Fair coverage. Polka people from across the state will dance at Pioneer Hall. We followed a central Iowa polka club on a dance warm up at a senior center in Clive. Then we're following them as they entertain at the State Fair with other polka clubs across the state. The show is interactive, trying to get people from the crowd involved in the dancing. This is also an effort to preserve the spirit that is the polka including wardrobe, music and dance.
See you at 9AM on Thursday, August 20th, 2009.

Say hello to us or any of the IPTV crew and let them know how you think we're doing and that you love the Iowa Journal.

Did I mention you can see Dan Wardell at the Fair as well? Stop by and say hello in the Varied Industries building.

Blast from the State Fair past

This week is the time to get our Iowa State Fair features in order before next week hits. We did more pre-fair features than in years past as a way to cut down on OT. So, I even got into the mix.

I was editing the Corn Dog Kickoff on Monday. I was in need of tapes from 1993 when the Blue Ribbon Foundation really got going. I pulled some of our tapes from that year when I stumbled across some great video from my high school years.

It wasn't my personal experience, but from my time frame of when I was there with my 4H projects.

But what I found was the State Fair Queen contest. A review of tape of the 1993 Fair was well worth it. Former Wartburg students Emily Jaspers, Cheri Jensen, Steph Harvey and a name I hadn't seen in quite some time, Sara Franken. Sara was a Comm Arts major. Even one of Amy's high school mates, Nellie Bassett. Also Amy Horst, currently with the Metro Waste Authority.

The 1994 tape found former Wartburger, Amy Fleming. I think the KIMT-TV anchor would love me if that tape showed up one day.

I know in 10 or 20 years I'll look at the stuff I'm doing now and laugh. But until that time, I can just chuckle at my past.

Iowa State Fair coverage

Its time to get our corn dogs and lemonade diets ready for IPTV's coverage of the Iowa State Fair.

We got our assignments of fair stories for this year. We've got some fan favorites again. For me, most everything is new to me. There's so much to the fair that I don't see or have seen before.

You can spend 6 hours at the same event and be focused on that same event and have no idea there's anything else going on at the fair. Last year I was at the Monster Arm Wrestling event inside a show arena. You have no idea the fair is going on because there's no windows to the outside and you are focused on that one event.

This year I'll be covering the marble shoot, bears, tall corn, polka plus my features already shot on the Jacobson Exhibition and the corn dog kick off.

Iowa Public Televisions coverage of the Iowa State Fair is usually some of our most watched programming of the network. That's exciting to be part of something that special to Iowans. Here's a look at our coverage from the past and plans for this year. We begin airing nightly highlight shows on August 17 at 9 P.M.

Check out page for past coverage like the husband calling and mom calling contest.

Here's my rubber chicken toss story.

Right now I'm finishing writing about the Corn Dog Kick Off and soon time for the Jacobson story.

What's your favorite event of the Iowa State Fair?

Polka Party

My job with Iowa Public Television allows me an opportunity to travel across the state and cover all sorts of topics. Last week it was baseball and the wine industry. This week, its the polka.

I will try to post pictures of those adventures here on this site as I usually do as they happen on Twitter which also feeds my Facebook page. So, you may have seen some of these pics before, sorry about that. But its also a chance to keep track of what I've been up to if the bosses get curious.

Tuesday night Steve Carns and I were on another pre-fair story. This time we were hanging out with the Polka Club of Iowa during a performance in Clive, IA. They will be performing at the Iowa State Fair on August 20th in Pioneer Hall at 9a. Check them out if you get a chance. Currently there's about 600 people statewide who take part in a dancing polka group like this one.


The Tuesday event was a senior community center and gave a chance to do something different for the evening. The polka group was having fun with the crowd even getting them to do everyone's favorite, the chicken dance.

If you want to learn more about the Polka Club of Iowa, check out their website. Magically, you can find it here.

The Polka Club of Iowa was part of last year's Oktoberfest in downtown Des Moines through the Hessen Haus and Principal Park. There's a little bit more to the story for this year according to Tim Westemeyer. He's got a blog that has his story of why they won't be polka-ing at this year's Oktoberfest that's been renamed to Rocktoberfest.

He's looking to do a story if anyone's interested.



Back to the polka story. We'll follow up with the Polka Club of Iowa at the Fair on August 20th and will air during our Iowa State Fair coverage on IPTV beginning the second week of the fair.

If you want to see polka in person before the fair, the Polka Club of Iowa will be in the Iowa State Fair parade the day before the fair begins.

By the way, who likes to see the chicken dance in action? Everybody.

Getting Ready for the Iowa State Fair

We are getting closer to Iowa State Fair mode around here and that's a lot of fun. My fellow producers here at Iowa Public Television are out shooting stories and some have even edited them for air. Judy Blank went to my hometown of Jesup on Thursday for a look at the Schwennen family farm and their dairy goat operation.

Fair preview pieces are being shot all over the state as well. I've been to the Corn Dog Kick Off which is a fundraiser for the Blue Ribbon Foundation. They are the fundraising arm of the fair that's raised nearly $80 million since inception. The BRF has done work on nearly every building on the fairgrounds from the Grandstand to the Ag Building (which will NOT have a Michael Jackson butter sculpture afterall) and now the new Jacobson Exhibition Pavilion.


Here's few pictures of the fun at the fair.

The first is a look at the Jacobson from the east looking west. This is a massive 110,000 square foot building. It won't replace, but rather compliment the original livestock building nearby that was recently air conditioned, so its not going anywhere soon.

There's also a look from the far southwest of the fairgrounds looking east. You can see the Jacobson on the right and the 4-H building on the right. You will no longer be able to see the grandstand from the front of the 4-H building, so that will be a little different.
Our Fair coverage begins soon. We'll let you know when it airs.

During our shoot I asked where we were standing on one particular shoot.
Here's the picture. It was photographer Steve Carns on the far east side of the fairgrounds. We were in what is called the VIP campgrounds. Its right above a new livestock prep and show area. We were looking west and you can see the Des Moines skyline in the background.



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Cape meets war and presidential candidate veteran

Just a follow up on Dan Wardell hitting the road and coming to your city.

Monday Dan was in Denison and Glidden. Tuesday you can see the cape in Guthrie Center and Bayard. Then he continues to northwest Iowa for Orange City, LeMars, Sioux City and points beyond. His Dantastic Blog is here.

Here's also a follow up on the meeting between Dan Wardell and Sen. John McCain during their photo op during the Iowa State Fair in 2006.

Check out the fun meeting right here.