Last night, I had a very rare and pleasant opportunities to sing in front of the dignitaries of Iowa politics and business in The Second Annual Hoover-Wallace Dinner at Des Moines Marriott Downtown Hotel (coverage in Des Moines Register here and here, RadioIowa here). The Dinner was organized by The World Food Prize, Rotary Clubs of Iowa and the Greater Des Moines Partnership, to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Life-Saving work of Iowa SHARES in Southeast Asia. The event was also for raising funds for the Borlaug-Ruan International Internship Program for Iowa highschoolers.
The dinner was very delicious. The invitees were A-list politicians and big companies in Iowa (to name a few: former US Vice President Walter Mondale, Former Iowa Governor Robert Ray, US Senator Tom Harkin, US Senator Chuck Grassley, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack). And the price of the seat was crazy: minimum $100 per seat or $ 1,000 per table if you want to dine! Even Tom Hertz, who came as my guest that evening, said that although he may be able to pay, he will never get the invitation! It is one of the biggest fund-raising event in Iowa and it's very hard to get invited.
Now, how a girl from Indonesia, with mediocre singing quality, and virtually unknown to the prominent figures of Iowa, got invited to sing in such a huge event? Call it luck! :P The reason of why I could sing in that event is because of word of mouth. Kevin Geik, one of the organizing staff, happened to hear me singing quite a while ago in Ames Boys and Girls Scout event to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr birthday, and he suggested my name to be the performer of that evening. How I got invited to sing in that small event of the Scout? It was because Judy Dolphin, the director of YWCA Ames where I volunteered in IFF program, suggested my name. So, it was one thing leads to another.
I was only singing the Iowa Corn Song for less than 5 minutes, but the opportunity to sing in such a prestigious event and to shake hand with some famous politicians is priceless....
 | We're from Ioway, Ioway State of all the land Joy on every hand We're from Ioway, Ioway That's where the tall corn grows... Words by George Hamilton and Ray W. Lockard Original music by Edward Riley |
