HIT IT HARD: A wine festival success

Even though the attendance was down from last year, the Aug. 23 Iowa Wine Festival was a great success and I really believe it was the best one so far. There was a great crowd all day long and everyone I talked to was having a great time. I think the local attendance was down a little but there were people here from all over the state. Mary Donaghy and I emceed the event and by the end of the day my voice was as hoarse as my feet were tired.

Mary and I started the day with an 8 a.m. television interview at WHO TV in Des Moines for the “Today in Iowa” show anchored by Dan Winters and Elizabeth Klinge. Mary and I donned our Bacchus and Dionysus togas and grape wreath crowns and set up our props in front of the cameras. In walks Dan Winters neatly dressed in a crisp black suit coat, white shirt and tie and to our shock, black and white striped shorts and flip-flops. Obviously when you’re at the anchor desk you’re never seen from the waist down.

The staff made us feel quite at ease so we decided to return the favor by leaving part of our props: a bottle of wine and two glasses. Right before we went on the air, Elizabeth Klinge said to us, “I have to tell you this. Everywhere I go, I mean everywhere, people ask me if I’m related to Bob Kling.” That’s when Mary just about lost it.

When we were finished with our interview and taking off our garb and putting our stuff away, Mary bent down to pick our stuff off the floor. Right behind her was the large green screen where meteorologist Megan Salois was just getting ready to do the weather broadcast. “Don’t walk in front of this screen or you’ll be on the weather!” she said.

Five seconds later she began her newscast. That’s when my cell phone went off. Later on I told Mary, “It’s a good thing you didn’t bend over and pick up that stuff five seconds later. People would be thinking a large storm front was moving in.”

By the time we got back to Indianola, Mary and I were sore from laughing, something Mary and I do often and always loud. In fact, we think there might be a city ordinance that prohibits Mary, Tim McConnell and I from sitting at the same table for morning coffee at Uncommon Grounds.

This year’s king and queen of the festival, Joe Mokelbust of Des Moines and Jenna Jacobson of Apple Valley, Minn., totally enjoyed themselves and did a fantastic job welcoming the visitors to The Square. Throughout the day we would ask where people were from and were pleased to hear so many out-of-towners visiting our city. I had several people approach me and ask what they had to do to be queen for next year.
The 16 Iowa wineries were busy all day and evening pouring samples for the visitors and by far, the biggest surprise of the day was the most glorious weather yet.

Later on in the evening when Summerset Winery owner Ron Mark showed up to see how his workers were doing at the Summerset booth, he looked a little tired. It was the beginning of harvest time at the vineyard and he said he’d been carrying barrels of grapes all day long.

For the first time we had a tie at the cork guessing contest. Two individuals each guessed 3,200 corks. The exact total was 3,185.

The celebrity grape stomping is always a fun event and this year we had several radio and TV personalities who put on a great show and obviously enjoyed themselves. Grape residue was flying 20 feet into the air from the vivacious stomping. We had great music, great food, great wine and great weather. As far as wine festivals go, you can’t ask for any better than that.