Signature Public Events

Thursday, August 27

7 p.m.-8:30 p.m., Sheslow Auditorium, Drake University, 2507 University Ave., Des Moines, IA

William Taubman, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Khrushchev: The Man and His Era (2003) will speak.

His presentation will be commented upon by Sergei Khrushchev, who was his father's confidante and also present on the 1959 visit; and Russianologist and Drake University President David Maxwell (also see Maxwell on our CGP blog about how he met Khrushchev and got interested in Russian relations). There will be a question-and-answer session.

Book signing afterwards.

Free and open to the public

Map of Drake University

Friday, August 28

1:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m., "Khrushchev in Iowa" Conference.

Hotel Fort Des Moines, 1000 Walnut St., Des Moines, IA

Two simultaneous panels:

Feeding a Hungry World: Agricultural Progress, Productivity and Sustainability, featuring Kendall Lamkey, Chair of the Iowa State University Dept. of Agronomy; Ted Crosbie, Vice-President of Global Breeding for Monsanto; Bill Northey, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture; Vic Miller, Iowa Corn Growers Association/Iowa Corn Promotion Board; Michael Michener, Administrator of the USDA's. Foreign Agricultural Service, and Russian agribusiness leaders.
Citizen Diplomacy in U.S.-Russia Relations, featuring Sergei Khrushchev; Chuck Montgomery, senior managing attorney, MidAmerican Energy Company; and Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist Michael Gartner.

Open to the public, $25 registration fee. (Scholarships available.)

5:15 p.m.-6:15 p.m., "Khrushchev in Iowa" Reception (cash bar)

Hotel Fort Des Moines, 1000 Walnut St., Des Moines, IA 50309

6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.

Public Banquet: "Lessons of Khrushchev in Iowa for the Modern World."

This elegant banquet, where your ticket purchase helps us host over 40 Russian politcal and agribusiness leaders, will be held in the same room and serve the same menu as the banquet served to Khrushchev in 1959. The meal will also feature a historic film clip and special Russian musical selections by the Des Moines Metro Opera.

Emceed by Ambassador Kenneth Quinn of the World Food Prize, speakers will include U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Sergei Khrushchev, Senator Chuck Grassley and Lt. Governor Patty Judge.

Please join us for a very special evening! Hotel Fort Des Moines, 1000 Walnut St., Des Moines, IA 50309 Tickets cost $125 per person (special offer of table for 10 for $650), Please purchase here by Tuesday August 25th

Map of Hotel Fort Des Moines

Saturday, August 29

9:45 a.m.-11:00 a.m., Garst Farm Dedication at Whiterock Conservancy, 1390 Hwy 141, Coon Rapids, IA 50058, (located 70 miles NW of Des Moines, or 100 miles east of Omaha on Highway 141)

This event is to celebrate Garst Farm's entry into the National Register of Historic Places and its donation to the large, new Whiterock Conservancy land trust. Emceed by agricultural banker Liz Garst, the dedication will include Sergei Khrushchev and Tosh Garst Lee (both participants in the 1959 visit), and Wes Jackson of the Land Institute, who will usher us into the next 50 years of agricultural innovation with a proposal on the perennialization of grain crops.

From 12:30 p.m. onwards, enjoy the Agricultural Progress Festival in Coon Rapids, Iowa (located 70 miles NW from Des Moines and 100 miles East of Omaha). Among other treats, this event will feature antique farm machinery as well as a a one-day display of state of the art Case IH and New Holland Agriculture Farm Equipment.

1:30 p.m. Main Street, Coon Rapids. Farm Machinery Parade
2:30 p.m.-3:15 p.m., Commemorative speeches on Coon Rapids' Main Street followed by a Khrushchev and Garst look-a-like contest
3:15 p.m.-10:00 p.m., Live music on Main Street
3:30 p.m. & 5:00 p.m. Inaugural performance of original play by Cindy Mercati, "Peace Through Corn," about the Garst-Khrushchev friendship
4:30 p.m., Silage Throw on Main Street
4:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m., Main Street beer garden (cash bar) organized by the Coon Rapids Fire Department

Activities also include viewing a major new public art piece by David Dahlquist, a test plot featuring corn varieties from different eras, family fun activities, and historic film clips. Please feel free to wear 1950s clothing. Free and open to the public.

Sunday, August 30

5:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m., Iowa Sister States is holding a Symposium and BBQ on ”The Many Faces of Iowa-Russia Connections,"

especially for past, present or potential participants in Iowa/Russia exchange programs. The program includes Iowa Governor Chet Culver; Deputy Governor of Stavropol Georgy Efremov; Brigadier General Timothy Orr.

Camp Dodge of the Iowa National Guard, 7105 Northwest 70th Ave., Johnston, Iowa 50131-1824 Free and open to the public (goodwill donations encouraged).

Map of Camp Dodge of the Iowa National Guard

Public and Press Sign In Here

Even for the free public events, we would very much appreciate it if the public and press could please sign in here. This will greatly help us with food, logistics, and ensuring press credentials and press access to events.

Signing in also makes the public eligible for a raffle prize consisting of two free nights for two people at the Garst Farm at Whiterock Conservancy, redeemable any time. The drawing will be held the first week of September.