CONTRIBUTED PHOTO The Smithsonian InstitutionÕs traveling exhibit ÒHometown Teams: How Sports Shape America,Ó is coming to Conrad on its last Iowa stop from Nov. 17 to Dec. 31, 2018. The exhibit will be on display at the Conrad Public LibraryÕs Alexander meeting room, and in the main library.

CONRAD — The Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America,” is coming to Conrad on its last Iowa stop from Nov. 17 to Dec. 31, 2018. The exhibit will be on display at the Conrad Public Library’s Alexander meeting room and in the main library.

“We are privileged and very pleased to have this exhibit coming to Conrad,” said Peg Brown, Hometown Teams project chairperson and Conrad Chamber Main Street member. “Twelve communities in Iowa applied to host the exhibit and only six were chosen. Conrad is the smallest community in Iowa to be chosen.”

Brown added, “Joe Jennison, Main Street and Marketing Director for the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group was instrumental in getting Iowa Main Street communities to apply to host the exhibit. Its six Iowa stops started out in Mt. Vernon, and it is currently in Ottumwa. It will make a stop in Guthrie Center, Jefferson and Ames before coming to Conrad to round out the year.”

“Hometown sports are more than just games — they shape our lives and unite us and celebrate who we are as Americans,” according to publicity materials. “We play on ball fields and sandlots, on courts and on ice, in parks and playgrounds, even in the street. From pick-up games to organized leagues, millions of Americans of all ages play sports. And, if we’re not playing sports, we’re watching them … Whether we enjoy traditional sports or develop new ones that reflect our cultural and athletic diversity, the thrill of competition and the drive to win are stronger than ever before. Athletes will continue to view sports as a means to achieve their goals and pursue them throughout their lives. Fans and spectators will never let their teams down, cheering and supporting their favorites from the start of the game to the finish.”

The exhibition covers topics such as: The Home Team, Our American Spirit and At Every Age; Sports and Commerce; Sports and Culture; Equality in Sports and the Future of Sports.

Brown said the exhibit will be both interesting and informative, while giving visitors who view it a chance to “relive and remember their days in sports.”

“It is designed to bring the community together and to allow them to share their own stories of how sports help shape America and rural Iowa,” Brown said.

Along with the traveling exhibit there, Conrad Chamber-Main Street will be bringing in four guest speakers during the events, at times and venues to be announced nearer to the event.

The speakers include Dan Gable (world and Olympic gold medalist in wrestling); Aaron Thomas (son of coach Ed Thomas and noted author); Mr. Baseball — John Liepa (Baseball historian, archivist and collector); and Denise Long Rife (Iowa’s leading scorer on a 6 on 6 girls basketball team, and member of the 1968 State Champions: the Union Whitten Cobras).

“It is indeed an honor for Conrad to be picked as one of only six Main Street communities in Iowa to host this event,” said Krista Grant, Conrad Chamber-Main Street executive director. “It took a lot of work from the committee to plan the fundraising and integrating this project into our schools the communities.”

“With this being the 50th year anniversary for the Union-Whitten 6 on 6 state championship girls basketball team (with their coach Paul Eckerman still living in Conrad), and former BCLUW physical education teacher (and former wrestling and baseball coach) receiving an All-American Wrestling Award from UNI later this fall, this is a perfect year for us to host the exhibit,” Grant said.

According to Grant, the committee is working very hard to promote the event by going to area parades and celebrations to get the word out. She also said that the exhibit will be here during the holidays, including Christmas in Conrad on Dec 1.

Teri Poe Buschkamp, marketing director for Iowa Economic Development/Main Street Iowa, feels that this exhibit will be a great fit for the sports-minded BCLUW communities and Conrad. She said that Conrad being picked as a site host has a special place in her heart, as the application was one of the last things done by former Conrad Main Street Director Darla Ubben before her passing.

“Main Street Iowa has worked very hard to be a statewide partner for this outstanding Smithsonian exhibit which has appeared in 900 communities nationwide since its beginning in 1994,” Buschkmp said. “The exhibit will have been in Iowa since March 28 and will leave after the Conrad stop on Jan. 1, 2019.”

Hometown Teams is a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and the Iowa Economic Development’s Main Street Iowa Program.