When Iowans think of the Iowa State Fair, the first thing that usually comes to mind is food. Now, a one million dollar gift will create more room for food displays and competitions. John Putney, Executive Director of the State Fair’s Blue Ribbon Foundation, says the Iowa State Fair’s food division is the largest state fair food department in the U.S., offering about 895 classes and 216 divisions.

Putney says the gift from the Denny and Candy Elwell family of West Des Moines will transform the Iowa Tourism Building into the Elwell Family Food Center. "The food department has simply outgrown it’s current facility, almost 13,000 food exhibits were entered in 2006 alone," says Putney. He calls the project a "win-win" for both the food center and the tourism exhibits.

"What we’ll do is transform the existing Iowa Tourism Building into this new Elwell Family Food Center and then move the tourism exhibits to the south hall of the varied industries building," explains Putney. The Elwell family has been attending the fair for five generations, and before entering real-estate development in 1985, the family ran a grocery store in Des Moines.

Iowa boaters are urged to remember their safe boating rules as it’ll be a busy weekend ahead on the state’s waterways. Susan Hager, boating safety coordinator for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says Memorial Day weekend is always crowded on our rivers, lakes and streams — and it can be dangerous. Hager says dozens of people were involved in boating mishaps over the past few Memorial Day holidays.

Hager says there were 60 boat incidents statewide in 2006 while there were 81 incidents in 2005, so the numbers were down last year and "we’d like to continue that trend." She explains the definition of a "boat incident," serious enough to notify the DNR.

Hager says it’s an accident where there was personal injury, property damage or a fatality. She recommends boat operators practice defensive boating techniques and to avoid alcohol, adding, boat operators should keep their hand on the throttle and off the bottle. "Our primary goal is safety and having a sober operator can go a long way toward that end."

The centennial celebration of actor John Wayne’s birth continues today in Winterset. The home where Wayne was born was purchased in 1980 and opened to the public. David Trask, chair of the John Wayne Birthplace Society, and says though Wayne left the state as a child, it’s still important to honor him.

Visitors to the Science Center of Iowa might feel like they’ve been hit by the shrink ray in the movie "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids." An exhibit opening today called Backyard Monster offers a bug’s-eye view of the world.

Center spokeswoman Sally Dix says it puts visitors face-to-antenna with a host of huge, robotic insects. Dix says there is a giant paper wasp, a beautiful 20-foot wide monarch butterfly that flaps its wings, and an 11-foot tomato caterpillar. She says people will feel as if they’ve been miniaturized in the oversized backyard setting where blades of grass are as large as trees and insects are gigantic.

Dix says there are interactive exhibits along with each giant bug, so kids can pull ropes to see how the muscles of a bee work to flap their wings, or too see how certain bugs make noises. She says folks should be on the lookout for two fighting atlas beetles, a tarantula and even a giant scorpion that’s prepared to strike its prey.

Dix says it will be a fun exhibit but kids will also get the chance to see that insects aren’t necessarily all that scary and there are plenty of interesting facts to learn about them. She says each figure contains a system of animated robotics that enables it to display lifelike movements like moving heads, flapping wings and creeping legs.

An extensive insect specimen collection is included with the exhibition that features real butterflies, beetles and a foot-long "walking stick" bug. Backyard Monsters will be at the Science Center of Iowa in Des Moines through September 4th. For more information, visit " www.sciowa.org ".