The mighty Mississippi was indeed a force of nature when it came to the site selection decision for the Delta Kappa Gammas.
“Ours is a society of women educators, and we brought about 200 women educators to the area as honorees, women who teach kindergarten through college,” says Joanne Miller, vice chairwoman of the education foundation board of trustees for Delta Kappa Society International. “Some are retired, some are still working. Every two years, Delta Kappa Gamma has its national convention somewhere in the country, and we selected Dubuque because of its location on the river and things that were there to participate in, including the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, and of course Dyersville for the Field of Dreams and Galena for its specialty shops and things like that.”
The four-day event featured a seminar as its core event, and featured five speakers, including Katherine Fischer, a Clarke College professor and local author who penned Dreaming the Mississippi, about life on the legendary river. Other speakers spoke about the Mines of Spain State Recreation Area and local gardens and yards.
The group took a field trip to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, where they enjoyed an after-hours tour and dinner. Other field trips visited Dyersville, site of the storied Field of Dreams, the Dyer-Botsford Historical House, the National Farm Toy Museum and St. Francis Xavier Basilica.
“We also spent an afternoon in Galena [Ill.], where the ladies could do a self-guided walking tour or wander around the shops and do some shopping, maybe have lunch at one of the many restaurants on Main Street,” Miller says. “The whole Midwest is so friendly, and the architecture there was wonderful with the old Victorian homes and storefronts. And the types of stores they have there are not just tourist stores; there was a quilting store and a popcorn factory. It was just neat, we really enjoyed it.
One night the ladies had the choice of three activities. One was the Jim Post performance at the Galena Trolley Depot Theater, where Post portrayed Mark Twain, and they came back raving about it, according to Miller. The second choice was a dinner cruise on the river, and the ladies who participated also said they had a good time. Third was dinner at the Hamm House, a Victorian home.
“Normally this would have been part of a progressive dinner, but we only had time to do dinner in one location,” Miller says. “There were docents there who dressed in costume and put on a performance during dinner, on the history of the Hamm House. There’s just all kinds of wonderful things, [and] I think the hardest part of my job was choosing what to do.”
