Auction of Iowa State Fair display raises thousands for Iowa Barn Foundation

DES MOINES — This was the last year for the Iowa Barn Foundation’s model barn exhibition at the Iowa State Fair.

The display, which rested in a 15-by-15 space inside the State Fairgrounds’ Agriculture Building, went out in style.

First, the foundation arranged for the construction of two silos to go with the model barn that had been the centerpiece of the exhibit for two years. (A windmill was added last year.) Dwight Hughes, an Iowa Barn Foundation board member from Cedar Rapids, did some fundraising to help cover the cost of constructing the silos and worked with Iowa State University officials to generate ideas for the silos’ construction and enlist the help of roughly 60 students for their construction.

Then, the various exhibit pieces were auctioned off, raising thousands of dollars for the foundation.

Since its creation in 1997, the Iowa Barn Foundation — a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, all-volunteer organization — has raised more than $2 million and funded the restoration of nearly 300 barns across the state, the organization says. The foundation publishes a biannual magazine and hosts annual tours of Iowa barns.

More information about the Iowa Barn Foundation, its grants, its spring and fall barn tours, and its magazine can be found at the organization’s website, iowabarnfoundation.org.

The Gazette spoke to Hughes about the State Fair exhibit and what it has meant for the organization.

The following interview has been edited only for clarity and brevity.

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Q: Why did you decide to add silos to the Iowa Barn Foundation’s State Fair exhibit this year?

A: Our idea was to bring in a silo, and we actually brought in two silos, and one of them was an old barn board silo. We actually took a shed down just west of our horse farm with volunteers from the foundation. I had rings bent and my son helped weld up. We put four pockets on it so we could pick it up. It was nine foot tall. And then a neighbor who’s a retired mechanic, a maintenance guy from heavy industry, was able to put the top on it with some used galvanized steel that I found at a neighbor’s. And then we wanted to do a special silo in honor of Roy Reiman, who was on our board of directors and as you well know was the editor of several magazines, 13 of them in years past with no advertising: Birds and Blooms, Farm & Ranch Living, Reminisce, Country Woman, and then in retirement, he did the Our Iowa magazine with an old classmate of mine and they focused on Iowa stories and beautiful photography. And we wanted to honor him. He and I actually financed the first two years of the display. We promised the board of directors that we would not take a single penny out of the treasury. So Roy Reiman and I financed the model barn and then the windmill, and that was our goal this year, to do the same thing and add silos. And I searched the country for materials that we could make a 20-foot silo out of. … The students designed rings and made molds, and they’re three foot tall and six foot diameter circle, and they blew that full of foam. And they kept building and designing and trying to make it work. In the meantime, I decided that I would do a fundraising project in honor of Roy Reiman, and I sent out a personal, handwritten letter to 75 of my friends, not only in Iowa but around the country, who had some interest in agriculture, passion for barns, and probably a connection to Roy Reiman at Iowa State University. And I asked for $4,000, which was the expenses for what we call the model glaze block Roy Reiman silo. And we chose glaze block because that was originally an idea that came out of extension of Iowa State University in the 1920s. They’re quite popular as you drive around the country. … In return from that letter, I received $25,000 of donation money that we put forth, and the extra money that we didn’t need went into the treasury of the Iowa Barn Foundation and will be used to help preserve Iowa barns all over the state. … Monday morning at 8:00, the three new owners (auction winners) were there, and they wrote me three checks, and that totaled $10,000, which will go into the pot to be distributed to people who are fixing foundations, painting barns, putting new roofs on, whatever.

Q: How pleased were you with the funds you were able to raise for the foundation?

A: We were very happy. Obviously, you always dream for bigger numbers. I always tell people who are friends of mine, you can move the decimal. It’s OK. I talked to all three owners before they wrote the check and I gave them a heart-to-heart talk about our foundation, our volunteers and how we’ve helped, and each one of those three gave us a tip. So when we got done, we have $10,000, and that’s an important segment, because it shows what the culture of Iowa people is.

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Q: What has the State Fair exhibit these past three years meant to the Iowa Barn Foundation as an organization?

A: So three years ago this coming October, we had a meeting. We have two board meetings a year, and the discussion centered around the issue of the Barn Foundation had created so much traction that there was an enormous amount of grants coming in, but we didn’t have enough funding to really take care of all of them. So we started segregating and prioritizing, and we would like to help more people. So I suggested that this wasn’t that difficult, we just needed more members. We needed to find a sugar daddy or sugar mama. And if we were looking for that audience, where would it be? And then I kept answering my own question: it would be at the Iowa State Fair in August. And if you wanted to be at the State Fair, where would you want to be? And that would be in the center of the Agriculture Building. And that’s when I lost eye contact, and all the people around the board table started looking down at their hands, and there was silence. They just basically said, ‘Farm boy, go home. You got a great dream, but we’re not going to get that space.’ So I came home and I made three contacts. No. 1 was to Steven Huffman in Ottumwa, Iowa. MetalScapes is his business. … I called him and we had a brief, 10-minute discussion about what my dream was to put a model barn in the center of the Ag Building at the State Fair to promote the Iowa Barn Foundation. He and I had worked together. It was a quick conversation. We agreed. We came up with a budget of $10,000 to build it and get it erected and put it in its place. And that was the end of that discussion. And I made my second contact, and that was an email to Roy Reiman and Larry Wiebel at Our Iowa magazine. Roy was on our board of directors. He wasn’t at that meeting, but he was familiar with what we were trying to promote. Our mission is to save Iowa barns. And I explained that we had a $10,000 budget to build a model barn to put it at the State Fair. And I didn’t hear from him. So I called Larry in a week, and he said, ‘Dwight, that’s a brilliant idea. You need to go forward with it. But I don’t sign the check. That’s Roy’s job.’ So I emailed Roy and said, ‘We got a $10,000 budget. I’m going to put five in; I want you to match me.’ He immediately emailed back and said, ‘Where do I send the check?’ … So I had the designer-builder. I had the money. But I didn’t have the space. So I called the State Fair, wove my way through the administration department to get to Jen Cannon, who’s responsible for every square foot in that space. I told her my vision, my dream. … Her first question was, ‘How much money do you need?’ I said I don’t need any money. ‘Oh, really. How much space do you need?’ And I said to her, ‘What do you think?’ And in a few seconds, she said, ‘How about 15 foot by 15 foot?’ I said that’ll be perfect. She said, ‘Dwight, I don’t need to talk about this any longer. Just plan on doing it.’ So then I had to go inform the board of directors that the dream came true. We’re actually going to do it. And we started. Since that time … our membership has quadrupled, our income has doubled, and our image and reputation has phenomenally grown. And we’re getting over 1,000 people at the spring tour and upward to 2,000 or 3,000 people at the fall tour, because it’s all over the state of Iowa. Priceless.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com