All Iowa, all pride for Jefferson alum

By DOUGLAS BURNS
d.burns@carrollspaper.com

CARROLL — Quiz time.

What was Donna Reed’s given name at the time of her Denison birth?

Donna Belle Mullenger.

And where was world-renowned pollster George Gallup born?

Jefferson.

And the biggest high school wrestling tournament in the nation?

Why, right here in Iowa, over four days in Des Moines. The tourney draws 80,000 to 90,000.

Jack Lashier, director of the Iowa Hall of Pride, a center celebrating Iowa excellence in a sweep of fields and endeavors, talked about that 13-year-old institution with the Carroll Rotary Club Monday during a noon luncheon at the Santa Maria Winery.

“We’re proud of our heritage, we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished,” Lashier, a 1966 Jefferson High School alum, said of Iowa.

A production of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, The Hall of Pride, located at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, across from Wells Fargo Arena, offers 47 interactive exhibits.

The Hall — which operates under the motto of “the best field trip ever” — celebrates sports figures like golfer Zach Johnson and Olympic champion Shawn Johnson (whose likeness is featured on a balance beam in the museum manufactured by Jefferson’s AAI).

It’s also home to interviews and inspiration from political and business figures, people like late Gov. Harold Hughes and former Vice President Henry A. Wallace and John Ruan.

Agriculture features prominently, too, as Lashier says some 85 percent of students who visit the Hall haven’t been on a working farm.

“What happens in the Hall of Pride, you get this pride in our state,” Lashier said.

Lashier regularly conducts interviews with prominent Iowans, including, he noted to the Rotary, Cloris Leachman, a Des Moines native who went on to an award-winning career in TV and film. The Hall has archived some 320 interviews.

The one that eludes Lashier — actor Ashton Kutcher.

A native of Storm Lake, Lashier spent much of his youth in Jefferson, where his dad, Richard, who died in 2013 at age 90, served as superintendent.

The Hall of Heroes
Here’s a list of the 30 Iowans previewed within this highly interactive exhibit at the Iowa Hall of Pride:
John Atanasoff, Norman Borlaug, George Washington Carver, Carrie Chapman Catt, Jay “Ding” Darling, Mamie Eisenhower, Simon Estes, Herbert Hoover, Natasha Kaiser-Brown, Nile Kinnick, Peggy Whitson, Andy Williams, Meredith Willson, Dr. Frank Spedding, Donna Reed, John Wayne, Marvin Pomerantz, Karl King, Glenn Miller, Grant Wood, Mauricio Lasansky, Luigi Liguitti, James Van Allen, Don Lamberti, Henry Wallace, George Gallup, Robert D. Ray, Harold Hughes, John Ruan and Roger Williams.

How to get to The Hall of Pride
Iowa Events Center in Des Moines, 320 Park St.
Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday; select hours some weekends
Admission: Students free; Adults, $10; Seniors, $7.
Website: iowahallofpride.com