One of the rites of springtime on the campus of Iowa State University is underway this week with the 91st annual VEISHEA celebration. Hilary Morris of Centerville, a senior at Iowa State, is one of the co-chairs for this year’s festivities.
The opening ceremony is this afternoon from 4:30 to 6 with a keynote speaker and leadership awards. Wednesday through Saturday, there will be all sorts of entertainment events with a free concert on Thursday night and “Live at VEISHEA” concerts on Friday and Saturday nights.
Morris says a large crowd is expected for the VEISHEA parade, scheduled to start Saturday morning at 10:30. There are nearly 100 parade entries, which may be a record, in addition to several hot air balloons that will be flying over.
A new event this year is a VEISHEA 5-K Fun Run and Walk on Saturday morning, starting at 8, to raise money for the VEISHEA Scholarship Fund. VEISHEA is the acronym for the five colleges that were at Iowa State University in 1922 — Veterinary Medicine, Engineering, Science, Home Economics and Agriculture.
All of those colleges, and more, are being highlighted this week. On Saturday, there will be a VEISHEA Village on Central Campus where various student groups and departments will be showcased.
There will be noon cookouts each day this week, the Taste of VEISHEA on both Friday and Saturday and a barbecue contest called Smoke over VEISHEA. For more information, go to www.veishea.iastate.edu.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City