Iowa first lady wants to be an activist

Iowa’s first lady held her first-ever news conference this morning. Christie Vilsack says she wants to be an “activist” first lady. She’sfocusing her efforts on fundraising to fix up the aging Governor’s Mansion. The place is torn up as new vents and sprinklers are installed and rottenwood is replaced.Terrace Hill, a Victorian Era mansion in Des Moines, is open for publictours. The latest renovation project is 430-thousand dollars short in privatedonations.Mrs. Vilsack is also leading development of a CD-rom tour of Terrace Hill sokids who can’t make it to Des Moines can visit the place on their computerscreens. She’s also hoping to upgrade the mansion’s site — on theInternet.Terrace Hill has just been named by the National Trust for HistoricPreservation as one of two Iowa sites included in the “Save America’sTreasures” campaign.