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Greene County Smithsonian Salute to Sports
By Greene County News
The Smithsonian Institute’s “Hometown Teams” traveling exhibit will be at the Greene County Historical Museum and Jefferson Matters: Main Street and the Historical Society are getting their playbooks ready.
The “Hometown Teams” exhibit is sponsored by Main Street Iowa. Six communities were selected to host the exhibit in 2018 through a competitive application process. Jefferson will host the exhibit Aug. 11 through Sept. 23, 2018. All are invited to an informational pep rally Monday, July 24, 2018, at 7 PM at the museum on E. Lincoln Way in Jefferson. Organizers are looking for sports enthusiasts and community-minded individuals, as well as individuals with ideas on how to promote and participate in the event.
“Hometown Teams” will be a six- week opportunity for residents and visitors to experience an actual Smithsonian exhibit on a topic everyone loves – local sports. “This museum exhibit helps us explore our love of sports in our hometowns. If we’re not playing sports, we’re watching them. No part of American culture so colorfully and passionately celebrates American ideas as does sports,” stated an invitation to the pep rally.
The July 24 pep rally will begin with a short video of the Hometown Team Smithsonian
Institute exhibit. All those at the pep rally will brainstorm ideas for local exhibits, events, and activities leading up to and during the exhibit. Next, the project team (Peg Raney, Debra McGinn, Roger Aegerter, and Dianne Piepel) will share the “teams” needed to organize the project and get commitments of involvement. “This project should be fun, exciting, and as sports do–bring people together,” says the invitation.
Several ideas have already surfaced, including a movie week at the theatre with sports-themed movies, a style show of sports/band/cheerleading uniforms through the decades, book talks, concession stand food, a tailgating event, promotion of local sports manufacturers, an exhibit from each community in Greene County about its own sports history, and more.
Hometown Teams is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Main Street Iowa program. The pep rally is free and open to anyone who wants to attend.
