Interns

January was a month of intern interviews as we searched for the three people who would help us get everything done for the 2013 Iowa State Fair.  Initially your heart has a nervous flutter to it as you look at a very small pile of resumes in the weeks leading up to the deadline.  But, not unexpectedly, the mailman delivers several large envelopes every day in the few days leading up to the December 31st application deadline.  This year we had quite a few to select from and called ten students in for interviews.

I enjoy talking with these students as they are all very motivated and involved in a wide range of actitivies. Across the board they use words like dedicated, drive, energy, passionate and goal-oriented. They have started new organizations at their respective colleges or served on leadership groups to bring about change. And, several of them spoke of their experiences of showing at the Iowa State Fair and how much that has meant to them. It makes you wish you had more than three internship positions to offer as each of the students has something that could help the Foundation.  One of our less serious, but very important questions to ask is: "What is your favorite Fair food?"  We have an ulterior motive as sometimes this question reveals a food we have not tried.  This year's responses included the beef sundae, caramel apple with nuts, turkey leg, hot dog, corn dog, deep fried ice cream, monkey tails, tenderloin, pork chop on a stick and honey lemonade.

We are pleased to welcome Carly Grenfell (Drake), Kaitlin Ricke (Central) and Kristine Milbrandt (Wartburg) to the Iowa State Fair Blue Ribbon Foundation.  Look for more information about all three of these ladies in our Spring newsletter and throughout the summer.