TV actor returns to Iowa, touts state’s values

A former regular on T.V.’s “Saturday Night Live” who grew up in northeast Iowa is asking everybody to step up and support the Iowa way of life. Gary Kroeger decided, after living in New York and Los Angeles, it was time to move home and raise his family in the Midwest, saying the quality of life in Iowa is second to none. He says, “we’ve got quality of life here. You know, we’re comitted to education, we’re committed to safety, we’re committed to helping our neighbors.” He says he wonders sometimes if as Americans if we really make them valuable. Kroeger, a Cedar Falls native, says he’s worried about the “brain-drain” of Iowa college graduates leaving the state for what they see as better places to go. He wants Iowans to start being more proactive to keep people here. He says it’s important that parents, community leaders, and business leaders “bang the drum” to get people to stay here. Kroeger, who was an S-N-L regular from 1982 to ’85, says New York and L.A. are not super places to raise a family. He says they’re great is you’re single, but he says once you get married, they’re prisons.Kroeger says Iowans should continue to improve many parts of the environment to encourage people to stay in-state, including upgrading technology and infrastructure. He says there’s room to make it better. He says there’s room to grow the economy, there’s room for more people to live here without it becoming too big. After graduating from Northwestern University, Kroeger became a founding member of the Practical Theater Company in Chicago with Brad Hall and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who all went on to “Saturday Night Live.” After moving back from Los Angeles, Kroeger is now the Creative Director at the Mudd Group advertising agency in Cedar Falls.