What: As the nation’s children prepare for a new school year, United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore and Iowa Governor Thomas J. Vilsack will launch the Iowa state quarter, celebrating Iowa’s “Foundation in Education.”
The 34th Army Band of the Iowa Army National Guard and the Isisirettes Drill and Drum Corps will provide the musical entertainment. Actor Tom Milligan will depict renowned artist and Iowa native Grant Wood. Peter the Mint Eagle will greet children in the audience, and each child will receive a new Iowa quarter free. Adults may exchange their coins and bills for rolls of Iowa quarters.
The Iowa quarter is the fourth of 2004, and the 29th in the 50 State Quarters Program. On December 28, 1846, Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted into the Union. The Iowa quarter design features a one–room schoolhouse with a teacher and students planting a tree, and the inscriptions “Foundation in Education” and “Grant Wood.” The design is based on “Arbor Day,” a painting by Grant Wood, who was born near Anamosa, Iowa.
Who: United States Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore
Iowa Governor Thomas J. Vilsack and First Lady Christie Vilsack
Lt. Governor Sally J. Pederson
Anita Walker, Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald
Students from Capitol View Elementary School
When: 10:00 a.m., Friday, September 3, 2004
Where: Iowa State Capitol, East 9th and Grand, Des Moines, Iowa.
For a digital image of the Iowa quarter: /news/image-library/news-image-gallery
Iowa Quarter Launch Satellite B–Roll Feed:
Friday, September 3, 2004 3:15 to 3:45 p.m. (EDT) AMC 9–Transponder 22