Thursday, June 22, 2023

Day 5 (6/22/23)

 Last Day in DC :(

Joke of the Day: What was George Washington's spirit animal? A buck

6:30am came early as we headed to the Crystal City Sports Pub for the last time. Since there was something happening at The White House, we were not able to get a group photo in front of it. Next, was the Washington Monument as we received passes to go all the way to the top. It was awesome going to the top and looking down in all the different directions.


The next 6.5 hours was at The National Mall. Students had to stay in at least groups of three, but they could go anywhere they wanted within two blocks. They could choose between the Air & Space Museum, National Archives, African American Museum, Natural History Museum, and other free museums. Many got lunch at food trucks, which is always fun to see them try it for the first time. After that, we headed to the hotel to pack.


The kids said a farewell to Rob, who has been an amazing bus driver for us. The kids grew very fond of him. We hope to see him again next year. 


Followed by a pasta supper, Iowa had their last snack cooperative meeting. Students reflected on their trip and gave speeches. It was very heartwarming to hear everyone’s amazing experiences. After that, the kids went to the game room before a 9:30pm room check.



Tomorrow is a 4am wake up call as we head back home to Iowa.

Goodnight DC. It’s been fun.

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Day 4 (6/21/23)

                                                 CAPITAL HILL DAYπŸ‘‡

Joke of the Day: Why did the secret service bring a herd of cows to the White House? They were trying to beef up security

6:45am came early when everyone met in the hotel lobby wearing their red polo and kaki pants ready to take on Capital Hill. We went to the Joni Ernst Constituent Coffee right after breakfast and received a talk from her and took a group photo. She even wore one of our corn necklaces! After that, each kid got their own picture, as well as kids from the same CO-OP. The weather was not the best, as students wore their ponchos and umbrellas 24/7.


Next, each kid saw their House of Representatives from their own division. Pictured is Randy Feenstra and the students from division 4. After lunch, we met up with Senator Chuck Grassley, who we originally going to go on a run with him this morning, but he had hip surgery a while ago. It is always fun listening to them talk to our high school group. 



The capital tour was next on the agenda and it was super cool to hear all about it and see the statues and paintings. We had an audio tour, which is helpful when the Capital is full of people.


The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum was next and it turned everyone silent. The pictures and videos were so horrendous that your stomach twisted. It was good to see the students acknowledge everything they saw, but hard to not un-see those pictures in your head. 


The last part of the day was Youth Day. This happened on the bottom floor of our hotel, where all the Youth Tour kids ate, traded pins, danced, and listened to a few speakers. We listened to a guy from the Iowa Lakes talks about his project with electricity to Guatemala. Next, was a student talking about her trip to America from Iraq, and last was Mike Schlappi who is a keynote speaker. Mike was paralyzed by his best friend who accidentally shoots him and turned to win gold and bronze medal in the Olympics in wheelchair basketball. 


Students had the rest of the time to party and on the dance floor before 10:15pm room check.

Goodnight DC!

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Day 3 (6/20/23)

 ONCE IN A LIFETIME TRIPπŸ’“

Joke of the Day: What is the tallest building in Washington, DC?  The Library of Congress because it has so many stories

6:30am wake-up call, then followed by an amazing breakfast at the Crystal City Sports Pub again. 

Our first stop was at the Air Force Memorial where we got another group photo. They were under construction, so we weren't able to go directly under the three pillars.


The next stop was my absolute favorite place, Mount Vernon. Students had over an hour to tour George Washington's Mount Vernon, then we had a mansion tour of his house. There were so many things to see there, that we could've been there all day. For lunch, The Youth Tour purchased golden tickets, which allowed the students to stuff their bellies on lunch combo items. Off to the gift shop....

The most memorable spot was the Arlington Cemetery. The group of students received a train ride with a tour guide explaining some of the most popular people buried there. We saw JFK's eternal flame, which has stayed on for almost 60 years. We made our way over to the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier. The coolest thing of the whole trip was having 4 students (Tristan, Owen, Lizzy, and Veronica) chosen to lay the wreath. It was breathtaking to watch and the wreath said "Iowa Youth Tour."



Our group headed over to the U.S. Marine Corps War Par/Memorial for a group photo. There was the Iwo Jima Marine Corps Memorial where we watched the sunset parade. We had our very own picnic, sitting on blankets and eating food we pre-ordered.

The last stop hit the closest to home, the Pentagon 911 Memorial. Students could listen to an audio tour on their phones, which explained the memorial and what all happened on that day. It was very touching. 

We headed to the hotel for an hour of the snack CO-OP being open then 10:30pm room-check. 

Goodnight DC!

Monday, June 19, 2023

Day 2 (6/19/23)

πŸ’₯ DAY 2πŸ’₯

Joke of the Day: If you cut put the entire DMV on scale, what would it weigh? A Washing-TON

After a 6:30am wake-up call, the group headed down to the lobby to meet up with their chaperones. Then, we walked a couple blocks over from the hotel for breakfast. Iowa Youth Tour has a ritual of going to Crystal City Sports Pub for breakfast which included: eggs, cereal, sausage, fruit, bacon, french toast, and a variety of juices. The pub is 3 stories, Iowa was on the 2nd story, while Oklahoma was on the 3rd. Students enjoyed the most important meal of the day. 


After filling up our bellies, we headed to the Thomas Jefferson Memorial for our first group photo. Next, we headed to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Air & Space Museum) for a couple hours. We received an hour tour guide with veterans themselves, then had time to explore on our own. One of the highlights was seeing the Enola Gay, the plane known for dropping the Hiroshima Bomb. It was amazing listening to all the history and seeing the transformation of space shuttles and planes. The kids stocked up on souvenirs at the gift shop, which everyone was excited about. 


The children found names of people from their hometown who died in Vietnam and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

For lunch, we went to the most iconic place of all time in DC, Ben's Chili Bowl. Known for their background in segregation and many celebrities going there, we received a private room with our own menu and a slideshow about the history of Ben's. Each table received an appetizer of fries with nacho cheese and chili. Each student got to pick out a list of 8 items of what they wanted for lunch. For dessert, they had a choice of a chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry milkshake. It was absolutely delicious and we will be back again next year.


The next few stops included many monuments, such as Albert Einstein, Roosevelt (FDR), Martin Luther King Jr., and Dwight D. Eisenhower. We also received a tour of Ford's Theatre, which was interesting to listen about Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Every student received a snack bag, which kids took advantage of today. We are giving access to water bottles at every place we stop, which is beneficial with DC's heat.



Amy Gold was our tour guide for most of the monuments and she is a hoot! We learned all about the history of monuments, buildings we passed, and heard a lot of funny/crazy stories. Youth Tour is always blessed to have her as a tour guide. 

Supper Time!! Our group finished the night at Hill Country BBQ. They served mac n cheese, brisket sandwiches, coleslaw, lemonade, chocolate chip cookies, and cornbread. After getting our bellies filled, we headed to the hotel for games and the snack cooperative to start their business. At the beginning of the tour, we had students sign up for a membership of the snack CO-OP ($1) and a punch card for $5. The delegates assigned a board of directors with positions in the CO-OP. Students can go into the CO-OP and purchase snacks and beverages with their punch cards. This is helpful for students to see what it is like in a real cooperative and in business.

It is getting so fun to see all the kids branch out and become more outgoing. Friendships are brewing and everyone is getting to know each other better. The Youth Tour 2023 Family is starting to form.

10pm was room check and everyone was ready to hit the hay. 

Goodnight DC!

Day 1 (6/18/23)

                         WE MADE IT TO DCπŸ˜€πŸ˜„πŸ˜†πŸ™

Joke of the Day: Why can't you just go to one Smithsonian museum? Because you have to see the Mall

4am wake-up call came way too early for everyone. We headed to the Des Moines Airport and our flight to St. Louis, MO, left at 6:30am. After a 2 hour layover, we got back on the plane and landed in Baltimore, MA. Having a number system, wearing the same color shirt, and lanyards help with keeping the group of 44 together. It was amazing to see how many first-time flyers we had.

We were greeted by a charter bus with our wonderful bus driver Rob, who has been driving for the Youth Tour for about 16 years. State Patrol by night, he takes two weeks off the year to drive us and another group of students around. On the bus were our pre-ordered Subway sandwiches. 

The first stop was at Fort McKinley where the National Anthem was created. We had a tour guide in the beginning, then we were able to explore in groups of 3. The weather was beautiful, but a little hot for some people's liking.


The second stop we headed to Washington DC for everyone's favorite.πŸ˜‰THE WHITE HOUSE! We were only there for a little bit, but the students took many pictures and witnessed people playing instruments on the streets for money.


Shelly surprised the group with a little time before supper and took us paddle boating. The two people biking in the front were breaking a sweat, while the two in the back were enjoying the view of the river. LOL. 



The finale of the night was the dinner cruise and dance. Iowa met with Kansas, South Dakota, South Carolina, and Hawaii on the Potomac River for a taco bar and dance/DJ afterward. Everyone had a blast meeting new friends and trading pins from other states. The dance floor was crazy!!! The DJ lasted until 9pm and everyone was exhausted after a long day. We headed to the hotel to unpack, shower, and prepare for tomorrow. Room check was at 10:30pm and we went to bed getting ready for a 6:30am wake-up call. 



Goodnight DC!

Orientation (6/17/23)



 THE DAY IS HERE!!😊


Parents and students arrived at the Holiday Inn in Des Moines on Saturday, June 17th. They were greeted by the chaperones (Shelly, Thresa, Ashley, Katie, Clayton, and Andrew) with their swag bag, name tag, and snack bag. 

Shelly met with the parents and students and reviewed the trip's agenda and the do's and don'ts. After the meeting, the parents were dismissed and the students went to dinner. There were hamburgers, pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, cookies, chips, lemonade and water.


After supper, we played some ice breakers games to get everybody's nerves gone. We played bingo, spoons, trivia, rock paper scissors, a tower of cards, and 20 questions with their travel group. The kids had a lot of fun and already started to make a lot of friends. The delegates voted 5 people onto the snack CO-OP. The students also wrote letters for the hero flight.







After meeting with roommates and travel groups, everyone headed to their room for a 10pm room check.

 4am wake-up call the next day........

Goodnight DC!

Friday, June 2, 2023

Youth Tour – how it all started and the lasting impact

In early 1957, the National Rural Electric Cooperatives Association’s Annual Meeting was off to a strong start in Chicago, and invited speaker, U.S. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson (D: TX) addressed the crowd with a novel idea: Rural teens should have the opportunity to experience Washington, D.C. and see their government in action – and America’s rural electric cooperatives are the perfect organizations to facilitate this!

“If one thing comes out of this meeting, it will be sending youngsters to the national capital where they can actually see what the flag stands for and represents.” 

– Lyndon B. Johnson

The following summer, in 1958, Iowa’s rural electric cooperatives sponsored 34 delegates for a week-long tour of Washington, D.C.

Recently a member of that very first group was interviewed about her Youth Tour experience. Here’s what she had to say.

Delores Fagle Thom recalls experience on 1958 Youth Tour

Over 60 years ago, Delores (Reed) Fagle Thom stepped on a bus headed to Washington D.C. for the first annual Rural Electric Co-op Youth Tour.

Delores holding a group photo from the 1958 trip.

It was a trip that would leave a lasting impression on the recent high school graduate.

At the time, Delores was working at the Extension Office in Independence. As a member of the Buchanan County Rural Electric Cooperative, her boss suggested that she complete the application for the tour, writing an essay about why she wanted to be chosen. She was one of the over 30 participants from Iowa selected to go to D.C. in 1958. 

On June 14, Delores got on a bus headed to D.C., her first time to the nation’s capital.

The first day of the trip, they had breakfast with members of the Iowa Congressional Delegation, followed by a tour of the U.S. Capitol, led by Senator Thomas Martin. That was followed by a tour of the Library of Congress, visiting both the House of Representatives and Senate, as well as the Supreme Court Building. Delores recalls the time she spent visiting with her local delegates, as well as posing as a group on the Capitol steps.

June 17 saw the participants visiting the NRECA (National Rural Electric Cooperative Association) Building, followed by a visit to the Bureau of Printing and Engraving and the Department of Justice.

Activities the next day included touring the REA (Rural Electrification Administration) Headquarters at the Department of Agriculture, viewing the Washington Cathedral and touring the USDA Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland.

June 19 holds a special place in Delores’ memory. That was the day participants got a special tour of the White House.

After the White House tour, the group visited the Washington Monument, including an elevator ride to the top. Next, they went to the Smithsonian Institute and finished the night with a trip to Glen Echo Amusement Park. On the final full day of the trip, they toured Arlington National Cemetery, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Lee’s Mansion, then concluded the visit with a tour of Washington’s home at Mt. Vernon. After five days of learning about government, the group got back on the bus to Iowa on Saturday, June 21.

Although it’s been well over half a century since Delores was on the Youth Tour, she still has fond memories of the trip.

With the next group of Youth Tour participants just weeks before their trip, Delores is excited for them to experience the thrills she had.

“Make it a learning experience because there’s a lot to learn, but still enjoy the time that you’re there,” she said. “It was a good experience for me, a good learning experience.” 





Special thanks to Jennifer Achenbach, manager of marketing and communications at Allamakee-Clayton Electric Cooperative, for allowing us to republish her story.