Oman Family Youth Inn

What exactly does the Blue Ribbon Foundation do?  Our website says, “The Blue Ribbon Foundation is a non-profit organization raising funds to help preserve and improve the Iowa State Fairgrounds.” This answers the basic question of why the Foundation is here, but is that really what people want to know when they ask?  

 

During my interview I was asked if I knew what the Foundation did. Because I had read the website, I answered confidently that I did.  After getting to know the Foundation as an intern, I think that examples better describe all that the Foundation has done, and continues to do.  

 

Yes, the Foundation raises funds, that’s why it was created.  We have many sponsors during the Fair, large capital donations, and many giving programs.  Our giving programs include purchasing light posts, plaques for trees, bricks, pavers, and blocks in the Richard O. Jacobson Exhibition Center.  These giving programs tell a story though.  Individuals call or visit the office all the time, not intending to “preserve and improve the Iowa State Fairgrounds,” but to honor a loved one or beloved tradition.  To the people of Iowa, the Fairgrounds are not seen as a money making event complex, it’s where they’ve made memories.  Honoring and preserving these memories is what the Foundation makes possible.  

 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking with Jill Oman, who told me about the memories she and her husband Mark were honoring with the renaming of the Oman Family Youth Inn.  Being community minded people the Omans wanted to make a difference and help the entire state. They realized that the best way to do this would be by supporting the Iowa State Fair.  Jill and Mark love how the Fair brings together everyone’s talents from across Iowa to be showcased.  The Youth Inn will particularly help young people across the state, who Jill admires for working hard towards their different projects.  

 

The Oman Family Youth Inn was built as a Works Project Administration project between 1939-1942.  The facilities include bunk beds, showers, and a kitchen and cafeteria area that hundreds of young exhibitors call home during the Fair.  The Blue Ribbon Foundation makes a difference on the Fairgrounds, but also with all of the Fairgoers who are able to continue making memories. This summer specifically, the Foundation’s work can be seen as the Oman Family Youth Inn is reopened, and is once again deserving of the title “Hilton on the Hilltop.”  

 

-Kelsey