We’re taking the Countdown to the Iowa State Fair Brick-by-Brick!

It’s not like I’m counting or anything, but there are only 21 days until the Iowa State Fair! That means our office is in full Fair-mode sending out concert tickets, parking passes and admission tickets to members of several different Foundation programs. Maggie also just mailed out the remainder of her volunteer packets, so the amount of mail coming from our office is getting pretty ridiculous. Not to mention the announcements of our Iowan of the Day winners, FairSquare booth preparation, Water Program information and merchandise orders that are keeping us busy.

Not only are we counting the number of days until the Fair, we are also counting bricks! Drew, Maggie, Anna and I spent most of Monday placing bricks. We laid bricks bought through our Brick by Brick program at multiple locations throughout the Fairgrounds. I don’t recall masonry in our job description, but laying the bricks was actually a nice change of the pace from office work. We dug out old blank bricks from the established brick pads and replaced them with newly engraved ones. By the time we finished laying the more than 200 bricks on our list, we felt like professionals.

I encourage everyone to stop and take a look at the different brick pads while visiting the Fair. While placing the bricks, I found some of the engravings interesting, touching and even amusing. Those who have made a donation for a brick do so for a number of reasons. No matter the purpose, bricks are a great gift or way to honor someone you love.

Now it’s time to take this exciting countdown to the Iowa State Fair day by day!

-Molly