The on-line tickets site for the inaugural ball and swearing in ceremony Friday for Governor-elect Terry Branstad and Lieutenant-governor elect Kim Reynolds has closed, but tickets are still available. Branstad’s communications director, Tim Albrecht, says you can buy tickets for the ball at the door.
He says tickets for the ball are $75 and the proceeds go toward the “Branstad-Reynolds Inaugural Fund,” which will give scholorships to those who qualify in the agriculture or medical field, or for children of fallen soldiers. The ball begins at 7:30 and will be held at Hy-Vee Hall in downtown Des Moines.
Albrecht says the tickets for the swearing in ceremony on Friday at 9:30 a.m. are free. That event is also at Hy-Vee Hall. The inaugural committee is also selling plaques with an inaugural theme for $100.
Albrecht says the plaque was designed by Des Moines artist Sarah Grant of “Sticks Furniture and Collectibles.” He says the plaque embodies the theme of agriculture, the medical field and the service of our troopes. “Governor Branstad is embodying the concept of service for this inaugural and he’s really reflecting on J.F.K.’s words 50 years ago that said ‘ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,'” Albrecht says.
Albrecht says the inaugural events follow the tradition of the past, but there is a new event that salutes Iowa National Guard soldiers. Albrecht says Branstad wants to recognize the troops serving in the guard’s largest deployment since World War Two, and the family members of those soldiers. So there is a recognition set for the capitol rotunda at 4 p.m. Friday.
The other events for the inaugural include an open house at the Terrace Hill Governor’s mansion from noon until 2 p.m, and an open house at the capitol from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.