Silos & Smokestacks awards event set

Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area (SSNHA) will be holding its annual Golden Silo Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, April 4, from noon-1:30 p.m. at the Waterloo Center for the Arts in Waterloo.

Each year, SSNHA celebrates the best in heritage development by presenting Golden Silo Awards to individuals and organizations whose contributions demonstrate outstanding excellence in preserving and telling America's agricultural story.

This year's event will feature a special presentation by the Grout Museum District, Waterloo, from its farm story video history project. Iowa farmer Keith Elwick will share his inspiring story as an inventor on his farm near Vinton.

His ‘revolutionary' Hawk Bilt manure spreader helped transform agriculture worldwide and made him the first American to receive two British implement prizes from the Queen of England.

This event is supported in part by Iowa Farm Bureau and will feature an Iowa foods three-course meal exclusive to the event by Executive Chef Dan Ankrum.

“We are excited to partner with the Grout Museum District to share Keith Elwick's unique story. The farm story video history project exemplifies the endeavors honored by the Golden Silo Awards,” commented Don Short, SSNHA president.

Tickets to this recognition of the Heritage Area's finest are $15 a person, with reservations due by March 28.

For more information or to register, visit www.silosandsmokestacks.org, call 319-234-4567 or email cklein@silosandsmokestacks.org.

Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area is one of 49 federally designated heritage areas in the nation and is an Affiliated Area of the National Park Service.

The Heritage Area covers 37 counties in the northeast quadrant of Iowa. Interstate 80 borders it on the south and Interstate 35 borders it on the west.

Through a network of sites, programs and events, SSNHA interprets farm life, agribusiness and rural communities – past and present.