Chicago Tribune, IL
05-25-07
Iowans invite one and all to celebrate John Wayne at 100
Little towns promote famous natives to lure tourists
By Tim Jones
Tribune national correspondent
WINTERSET, Iowa -- It's not easy being a pass-through state, with no dells or dunes, no arch or Ozarks.
That's why small towns with big water towers across Iowa from the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers eastward to the mighty Mississippi, celebrate the long dead or the long-in-the-tooth, in hopes that someone from elsewhere will come and join in the celebration.
In the pleasant town of Winterset, locals are organizing a bash marking the 100th birthday of the famous American celluloid tough guy, John Wayne, who was born here on May 26, 1907, and left at the age of 3.
Thousands of people are expected to gather here this weekend for the gala, driving along John Wayne Drive to the charming town square, ringed by shops with John Wayne photos, portraits, Tiffany lampshades, dolls, boots, saddles and a lunch box. A couple blocks away is the tiny Wayne home, at the corner of Second and South. There's an American flag on a pole in the front lawn. The grass was mowed Tuesday.
This is only the latest effort by Iowa towns to promote themselves, through homegrown celebrities, in ways that go beyond the oft-stated and heartfelt "it's-a-great-place-to-raise-a-family."
"While tourist dollars are important, I think these efforts give a community identity," said Paul Lasley, who chairs the sociology department at Iowa State University. "These celebrities give communities an identity at a time when they are asking, 'What is our future?' "
Iowa has the highest percentage of people over 65 years old in the Midwest, 15 percent. The state has struggled for years to hold on to its young people, and nearly half of the counties report death rates exceeding birth rates. Unlike neighboring Midwestern states, there are no big-time professional sports teams in Iowa to attract out-of-state tourists. For local communities, there is a clear economic incentive to self-promote.
The town of Denison clings to the memory of the late actress Donna Reed, who starred in "It's a Wonderful Life." Wall Lake promotes singer Andy Williams. In Clarinda, it's bandleader Glenn Miller. In LeClaire, it's Buffalo Bill Cody. Mason City celebrates Meredith Willson, of "The Music Man" fame.
Time spent in Iowa is not a barrier to celebration. John Wayne, then Marion Morrison, was probably not long out of his diapers when he left Winterset. In glossy brochures at Iowa tourist centers, the town of Spillville promotes the Czech-born composer Antonin Dvorak, who spent the summer of 1893 there, where he "arose and proceeded to the site of Riverside Park to commune with nature and enjoy the sound of bird voices and feast his eyes on the beauties of the region," according to the brochure.
Those who can't bask in the direct glow of stardom are creative. The town of Eldon promotes the house in the background of Grant Wood's "American Gothic" painting. Wood was born in Anamosa, about a 2 1⁄2-hour drive north of Eldon.
Every state, of course, litters its highways with billboards promoting its own. Missouri, for instance, practically screams the legend of bank robber Jesse James. Iowa is more discreet. Billboards, perhaps in deference to the importance of agriculture, often appear in clusters.
Pleasing aesthetics, though, can hinder the cause of promotion. So can small size and isolation. That was the concern 21 years ago when Becky Allen and her husband Dan met with some neighbors in the shrinking town of Lucas, population 243. Becky Allen argued the town needed to promote their hometown celebrity, the legendary labor titan, John L. Lewis, for 40 years the president of the United Mine Workers of America.
"We just decided we needed to do something," said Allen, who is now curator of the John L. Lewis Memorial Museum of Mining and Labor. The one-story museum, completed in 1990 through the donated work of union members, offers documents, photos and a life-size bronze statue of the fiery labor leader with the signature bushy eyebrows.
There has been a payoff in this old mining town that once had 3,600 people and 26 saloons. A quilt store, steakhouse, ice cream shop and an antique shop have taken root since the museum opened.
The nagging question in many of these towns centers on the durability of celebrity. People will continue to stop at Herbert Hoover's hometown of West Branch (although Republican presidential hopefuls criss-crossing the state avoid it because Hoover's Great Depression notoriety outweighs his celebrity). But how much longer, say, will people care or remember that Mamie Eisenhower, the former first lady, was born in Boone, just northwest of Des Moines?
Becky Allen said many students and a good number of union members don't know who Lewis, who died in 1969, is or what he did. "Fewer and fewer, I'm afraid," is how Dan Allen described those who remember Lewis.
About 1,500 to 2,000 people visit the museum annually during the six months it is open, and the patrons are generally older than 50, Allen said. The high price of gasoline has already taken a toll on traffic. On this day, a reporter showing up a half-hour before closing was only the second person to visit that day.
Winterset, which is about a 40-minute drive southwest of Des Moines, is in lovely Madison County, of covered bridges fame. People flock here for the covered bridge festival in October.
There is no assumption that "If you build it they will come," the famous line from the movie "Field of Dreams," which is celebrated on the movie's cornfield in Dyersville. And not even "The Duke" is safe in the long term. In Winterset, John Wayne's name and image dominate, 28 years after his death. Public opinion polls reflect remarkable, but qualified, popularity.
"I've got two girls, 27 and 23," said Iowa State's Lasley, "and I'm not sure they know who John Wayne is."
At the video store a block from Wayne's white-paneled home, the American icon verges on the status of entertainment afterthought. A VHS copy of "True Grit" is on a shelf with 73 other western titles.
Brenda Lytton is the store manager, and she says people will come in and ask for John Wayne movies "about two or three times a year."