Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | summer 2008
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SUMMER 2008
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Cover Story:
Change the world

Feature Story:
 150 contributions

Feature Story:
 Soggy end to a yearlong party

Feature Story:
 Distinguished Awards Celebration

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THE PARTY'S OVER

What does it take to put on a birthday party that lasts for a year?

I used to plan some pretty elaborate birthday parties for my kids when they were little, but those parties never lasted more than a few hours, and I was always REALLY ready for them to end. Especially the sleep-overs.

I could never have come up with enough activities to last a year. (Once, after 45 minutes, we got desperate and started playing “Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button?” with a bunch of 5 year olds.)

But I digress. It’s a good thing we have talented party planners on campus. My good friend Breck Breitsprecher, who used to be an assistant director for outreach and events here at the Alumni Association, was one of the Big 3 planners for Iowa State’s sesquicentennial. So I know first-hand how much work was involved in this celebration. For instance, I know for a fact that Breck went 78 consecutive hours with-
out sleep during the sesquicentennial kickoff weekend in April 2007. She got a little snippy, but who could blame her?

Carole Custer (director of university marketing) is another person on campus who should get huge kudos for her work with the celebration. For one thing, she was the brains behind the “look” of the sesquicentennial: all the banners and advertising and the State Fair display and you name it. She also planned the closing ceremonies, but it was not her fault that it snowed. I’m sure she was as surprised as anyone.

To really get things rolling three or four years ago, a bunch of people got together to talk about what the 150th anniversary might involve. I remember the group decided the first thing we needed to do was commission a new Iowa State history book since the last one was printed some-time around World War II. It seemed like sort of a daunting task to me, but the university pulled it off, thanks to a lot of good researcher-writers and expert coordination by Tahira Hira (executive assistant to the president and the third Big 3 planner).

I don’t know who else worked as hard as these three women on the sesquicentennial. Tanya Zanish-Belcher is another person who comes to mind. She’s the university archivist, and I would imagine that these past few years completely derailed her regular work. I personally e-mailed her 1.3 million times.

The colleges and other campus units really pulled together to make this a special celebration. All the campus vehicles even had the 150th logo on them, which I thought was pretty cool. And ISU Extension did one of the neatest things: a project in every county.

Well, here, let me just list some fast highlights so you get an idea of what I’m talking about:

  • ISU Dining purchased 4.2 million napkins with the 150th logo on them
  • 3.8 million people viewed the 150th television commercial
  • There were 680,000 visits to the university’s sesquicentennial Web site
  • More than 60,000 people attended the kickoff and visited the sesquicentennial VEISHEA Village on central campus
  • 22,000 pieces of birthday cake were served at the kickoff
  • The Morrill Act was exhibited on campus, the first time it had ever been out of Washington, D.C.
  • Eleven authors wrote chapters for Tradition and Transformation: A Sesquicentennial History of Iowa State University
  • There are now 101 commemorative sesquicentennial plaques in the state of Iowa, one for each county project (apparently somebody was an over- achiever and did more than one)
  • More than 800,000 people saw the “150-year Adventure” sesquicentennial exhibit at the 2007 Iowa State Fair
  • Mediacom Communication spent 25 days shooting video on campus and 300 hours of editing (for free) to produce a sesquicentennial television series that began airing on the Mediacom cable system in March 2008
  • From proceeds from Sticks’ What We Love About Iowa State lithographs and other celebration art, the first “Sesquicentennial Learning to Live a Life Leadership Award” was created
  • 150th celebration billboards appeared in 33 counties in Iowa
  • More than 4 million people saw the sesquicentennial signage at the Des Moines International Airport
  • 115,000 students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and friends around the world received a birthday card via e-mail on the university’s birthday March 22
  • Reiman Gardens planted 18,000 cardinal and gold tulips
  • The Royal Philharmonic performed at Stephens Auditorium in honor of the celebration year in January 2008
  • University Archives scanned 1,586 historical images and answered 3,233 questions (Number of times I personally went to the Archives while working on sesquicentennial stuff for VISIONS: 74. Number of times it was snowing: Every time.)
  • Number of words written about the sesquicentennial in VISIONS magazine: 41,436 (Seriously.)
  • Here’s another fun fact: On April 21, 2007, the sesquicentennial kickoff date, the high temperature in Ames was 80 degrees. For the closing ceremonies on April 12, 2008, the high was 34, and there was snow on the ground.

So enough already. It’s over! (And THAT’S something to celebrate, too!)

About the Writer | Carole Gieseke is the editor of VISIONS magazine.