A New Governor for One Iowa

Friday, January 12, 2007 was Inauguration Day for Iowa's 40th Governor, Chester J. Culver. I had two friends drive in from Council Bluffs on Thursday evening to join me for the celebration activities. We arrived at the ISEA office before 7:30 a.m. (and here I'm pictured at my desk--ready to check emails!) so we would be on time for the first of the day's activities.


I was one of sixty Iowan's to be named "Honorary Colonel" (I would represent Team ISEA) and we had two responsibilities for Inauguration Day. The first was to be a part of the "Grand March" at the swearing in ceremony at Wells Fargo Arena. Here I'm pictured (at left) with former Iowa Attorney General Bonnie Campbell as we awaited our duties for the Grand March. Bonnie Campbell was co-chair of Chet Culver's campaign for Governor.



Pictured at right is Iowa's first family as they entered the Wells Fargo Arena for the swearing in of Iowa's 40th Governor. With Governor Culver are his wife, Mari, and their two children Clare and John, Jr.

One of highlights of the ceremony for me was the Poetry Reading by students from Waverly, Iowa. The students are pictured here at the left.





Here the first family of Iowa enjoys the festivities of Inauguration Day!



Following the swearing in ceremony at Wells Fargo Arena (right across the street from the ISEA Headquarters building) we walked through the skywalk to HyVee Hall where we participated in "A Taste of Iowa". The following food vendors provided food products (for free!):


Blue Bunny Ice Cream; Delaware County Meats; Great Harvest Bread Co.; Hy-Vee Hall; Iowa Beef Council; Iowa Bison Association; Iowa Egg Council; Iowa Goat Meat Association; Iowa Pork Producers; Iowa Sheep Industry; Iowa Turkey Federation; Java Joe's; Kramer's Specialty Foods; Maid-Rite; Mars Cafe; Niman Ranch; and Windy Hill Orchard.

As we headed toward Hy-Vee Hall we ran into long-time friend and state Representative from Keokuk, Rep. Phil Wise. Pictured with Phil and myself are my Council Bluffs friends, Kim Kazmierczak (on the far right)--my school principal at Carter Lake Elementary and Cookie Clapper (2nd from right) long-time friend and Behavior Disorder teacher at Carter Lake Elementary. Rep. Wise is a retired Social Studies teacher. It is always great to reconnect with my pals from my days in the state legislature!