July 16, 2013
If it’s Tuesday, it must be
Sioux City, Iowa!!!! After sleeping in a
bit we hit the road for Sioux City, Iowa to meet up with my close college
friend from Friends University, Pam Hoadley, and her spouse, Bill Deeds. Pam was our wedding coordinator and although
we have only gotten together a handful of times over the last 40 years, it
takes about 30 seconds to re-sync when we do!!!!
Pam is now retired after a
great career as a registered dietician, project planner, and coordinator of
international programs (my description of her many talents and skills -- not hers!). She is an
active, active volunteer in her community and just returned from a United
Methodist Volunteers in Mission (VIM) trip repairing damage from Hurricane
Sandy. For the last 14 years they have
lived in Sioux City, Iowa where Bill is the Dean at Morningside College, a
United Methodist- related university.
Their eldest son, Chuck, lives in Iowa City while their younger son,
Mac, lives in Sioux City and we had a delightful time visiting with him. He’s a great blend of his mom and
dad….bright, service-oriented, and part of the hope I keep seeing in this new,
thoughtful, intentional generation!
Taking a windshield tour of
Sioux City helped us figure out where we were and how the three Sioux City’s
fit together! Of course we had to drive
into South Sioux City so we could add
Nebraska to our state list. After today
– we will have visited 13 states on our trip!
Our first stop was the Woodbury
County Courthouse designed by George Grant Elmslie, a contemporary of Frank
Lloyd Wright, and is a stunning example of he Prairie School of Architecture. The building was constructed
from Roman brick and granite and finished in March of 1918 at a cost of
$850,000. It also has a 157-foot-tall tower on top of the building and features
sculptural work by Alfonso Iannelli over its doors.
In 1973, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 1996.
Next we motored over to
Morningside College for a great tour of the campus. The transformation since Bill has been Dean
is pretty astounding...new buildings...open gathering spaces...two visits from President Obama (one as a candidate and one as President)...innovative on-line graduate programs...expansion in their traditional programs...a return to a residential undergraduate campus rather than a commuter school...and an emphasis on service. They are one of
the few private colleges I’ve visited that actually seem to have PLENTY of
land!
After great conversation, good
food (grilled chicken, zucchini and spinach, and gelato and sorbetto) we
settled in for some restful sleep and left at 6:00 a.m. for our very full “Laura
Ingalls Wilder Day” --- northward to De Smet, South Dakota, then East to Walnut
Grove, Minnesota and will “nap” tonight in Decorah, Iowa before touring our
last Little House site in Burr Oak, Iowa tomorrow morning. Stay tuned!
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