Wednesday GUEST Blog

11-2-11 vacant brain
This is one of the interesting activities Ann did in October ~Judy

The World Comes to Iowa


I’m always amazed at the people who come to Iowa, so before I forget, here’s my ground report of the World Food Prize Program. In case you did not read the first part, here it is
http://tiny.cc/0aixx


I decided to stop by the Iowa State Capitol on October 13th after seeing several stretch limos at the Marriott to catch a glimpse of the “pomp and circumstance” of the festivities for the official “Food Prize” ceremony.

First, the attendees (approx 800) were greeted with an array of music by the Southeast Polk marching band. I absolutely love marching bands, so this was an unexpected treat. Then came buses of guests at the midlevel of the grounds and then …. Drum roll please … the black limos and SUV’s started coming at the top level. Wow, I got to see the Prize winners and former Presidents Kufor( Gahna) and Lula daSalva (Brazil) and many more that I would not even know. This is President Kufor.

Here’s something that wasn’t reported, President Lula got out of his limo and greeted a group of guests … wow, what a security nightmare. He was very kind and posed for pictures for five minutes. I quickly went home and watched the ceremony live on IPTV, it was really a first class program, showcasing Iowa and of course, Norman Borlung. Thank you Iowa Public TV.

The following day, I was able to hear both Prize winners speak. Both men are impressive, rising from nothing to the Presidencies of their countries. President Kufor spoke English and President Lula spoke Portuguese, which meant the attendees were given a headset to hear his speech in English. Sweet, this is how it’s done at United Nations.

On Saturday, I made a point of touring the home of the Food Prize, Hall of Laureates. This is a spectacular restoration of the 1903 Public Library building. The Hall celebrates the importance of agriculture in redefining how you feed the world in the harshest of conditions and its’ pioneers: Norman Bourlung, Henry Wallace, George Carver Washington to name a few. Cleary, the Hall is an “all Iowa tribute”. In addition to the paintings, murals, sculptures, the public garden with two stunning statutes of Boulung and John Ruan (major sponsor) are first class.

The Hall is a private building and will be closed to the public until ’12 Summer. So glad I took the time to take a peek. I hear approximately 3000 people came to the two-day open house.I’ll leave you with this quote by President Lula.

“I am happy to receive the World Food Prize in a state where the statues are not of war heroes, but of heroes that fight hunger …. this is the true war that all leaders need to learn to wage. …. hunger is the most powerful mass destruction weapon … hunger kills children, sometimes in the womb of the mother herself.”

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That Girl, Ann Marie