June 28, 2021

My Home State of Iowa reached out to me in Wyoming, today, and gave me a hug — via a song, a someone and a summer treat. And, all because I wore my IOWA shirt, the one my son gave me.

The Song

The song came by way of Dvorak’s “American Quartet.” It was playing on NPR as I was making the 30-minute drive to my doctor’s office. In the moment, I just thought it neat to learn from the broadcaster that the Czechoslavakian immigrant wrote the piece while spending a summer in Iowa, in a little town called Spillville. That, she said, was a year after he’d immigrated to the United States to become the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York City. He’d gone to Spillville, she said, because he was homesick and that’s where a lot of Czech immigrants were settled. It did inspire him, there, but didn’t do the trick for convincing him to stay because within a couple of years he’d moved back to Bohemia.

The Someone

The someone came by way of a kindred spirit -- my doctor. He walked into the examining room and said, “Are you wearing that shirt for me?” “No,” I replied, “and what? Are you from Iowa?” Not quite, it turns out, but, I learned, he did get his medical degree there at the same alma mater as mine – the University of Iowa.

The Summer Treat

The treat came by way of my favorite summer sweet – ice cream. Turns out the boys working at the Scream Shack had a summer goal going, to serve someone from every state in the U.S. And they had all, but Iowa, until I walked up. So, even though I told them I now lived in Wyoming, they named me the winner. And I received a prize of one dollar. The prize, come to find out, was an afterthought because they didn’t really think they’d reach their goal. Still, I thought the gesture very sweet and graciously accepted their gift.

The Wrap

So, like I said, my home state of Iowa reached out to hug me today. And all because of a shirt. Here I thought I was dressing down and come to find out I was actually dressing up to accept a message from the universe. One that says: Iowa will always be there to give you a hug. Pretty cool.

MORE on DVORAK: The President of the National Conservatory of Music in America, Jeannette Thurber, offered Dvořák an annual salary of $15,000– twenty-five times what he was paid at the Prague Conservatory. Shortly after his time in Iowa, Dvorák extended his contract at the National Conservatory for another two years. However, the economic crisis of April 1893 resulted in Thurber's husband's loss of income, and directly influenced the National Conservatory's funding. But shortfalls in payment of his salary, along with increasing recognition in Europe and an onset of homesickness, led him to leave the United States and return to Bohemia in 1895. SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA

MORE on SPILLVILLE: Spillville was platted by German Joseph Spielmann in 1860. It was largely settled by Bohemian, German and Swiss immigrants. Spillville is the site of the Inwood Ballroom, established in 1920 and the destination of several popular 20th-century musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo, and The Byrds. Many tourists to Spillville have also visited the Bily Clocks Museum (see link below), a collection of intricately designed clocks created by two brothers in Spillville housed in the building where Dvořák lived during his stay. The Roman Catholic parish in Spillville, St. Wenceslaus Church, was built in 1860 and is the oldest Czech Catholic church in the United States. Originally named Spielville after the founder, Joseph Spielman, it was misread and became Spillville. SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA