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Honor delayed 3 years
Sokol will be State Fair Iowan of the Day
By Winona Whitaker, Hometown Current
Jul. 19, 2024 3:15 pm
BELLE PLAINE — In 2021, Jane Hrabak filled out a form nominating her friend Marilyn Sokol to be Iowan of the Day at the Iowa State Fair.
Hearing nothing from Fair officials, Hrabak thought her effort failed.
Three years later, Hrabak received a call from an official of the Iowa State Fair. Sokol will be honored Aug. 8 in Des Moines.
“She’s just done so many things for so many people,” said Hrabak. She deserves to be recognized.
Hrabak sent a letter explaining why Sokol deserved to be Iowan of the Day. Barbara Rychnobsky and Wayne Parizek added letters at Hrabak’s request, to increase the chance that Sokol would be chosen.
But that was a long time ago. “I think I might have even mentioned it to you,” Hrabak told Sokol at her office in Belle Plaine Wednesday.
Sokol doesn’t remember that.
When Hrabak got the call from State Fair officials, she was confused at first. So much time had passed.
The Fair official asked if Hrabak wanted her to call Sokol or if Hrabak wanted to tell her.
“I said, ‘Oh, you’ll never catch her,’” said Hraback. Sokol is busy. “She’s always doing something.”
Hrabak waited until about 5 p.m. “My husband and I drove over to the house.”
Hrabak and her husband Dave ran a funeral home in Belle Plaine for four generations, Hrabak said. They’ve known Sokol for years.
Hrabak wasn’t sure she’d find Sokol at home, so she prepared a letter to leave in the door.
“A couple years ago I campaigned for you to be the Iowan for the Day as a member of the Blue Ribbon Foundation — Iowa State Fair,” wrote Hrabak July 8.
“This afternoon, I received a call from Chloe Hammacker … informing me that you had been chosen.”
“I’m so excited I’m shaking,” Hrabak wrote.
Sokol, who was home to receive Hrabak, was excited too. She hasn’t been to the State Fair in years, partly because of her age and how much walking it requires.
As Iowan of the Day, Sokol will receive an award from Bill Riley on the Riley Stage at noon. She’ll receive four tickets and a parking pass to the fair and will have a golf cart at her disposal all day.
She’ll receive $200 and four tickets to the evening concert, and she’ll stay at the Des Moines Marriott downtown because of the distance she’s traveling.
Sokol’s history
“I grew up on a farm seven miles south of Tama,” said Sokol. “When I was young, I went to the Poweshiek County Fair.” Poweshiek County was just across the road from her Tama County home, she said.
Sokol exhibited at the fair as a member of the Sheridan Sunshine 4-H Club. “I made me … a skirt and blouse,” Sokol said. And she and a friend made an angel food cake from scratch. “We got a blue ribbon. I remember that.”
“I haven’t been to the State Fair for several years,” said Sokol. “I always like to go see the fruits and vegetables and the baked stuff and the crafty things.”
As a farm girl, she likes to see the livestock. Her family raised pigs “and my mom and dad milked Holstein cows for several years.”
They also raised cattle “and we always raised our own meat.”
Sokol married a man from Vining. They lived in Vining and in Tama before moving to Belle Plaine in 1969. Sokol’s husband worked for Motor Supply and Car Quest.
“I babysat for several years,” said Sokol. When her parents bought Lincoln Café, she worked for them for about 10 years.
After her parents sold the café, Sokol worked for Casey’s for about 10 years, then retired and started working for Benton County Volunteer Program under Pat Frazenburg.
The organization was restructured under United Way last year and became Benton County Volunteer Center.
“I’ve been here for 17 or 18 years,” said Sokol. “I’m the coordinator for the Wednesday group.”
When Hrabak told Sokol she’d been chosen Iowan of the Day, “I was in shock,” said Sokol,
“I’m a person that doesn’t believe I do anything,” said Sokol. “You just do it because you like to, and you don’t even think about it.”
What she does
Until a few months ago, Sokol found drivers for people who needed rides to doctor’s appointments. Someone else is handling that now, but for years “she had all of that on her shoulders,” said Hrabak.
“We have a list of drivers,” said Sokol. “It’s all volunteers and they get so much money a mile for gas.”
They aren’t paid for their time, which is considerable when they drive people to Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Marengo, Tama-Toledo, Vinton, Waterloo and Marshalltown.
“She had people [to drive], said Hrabak, “but she had to organize it.”
“And I used to drive too when I was younger,” ‘said Sokol. At 82, Sokol doesn’t drive anymore. “I use the service here.”
Sokol works Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays, overseeing the volunteers who show up at the community center Mondays and Wednesday.
“We make pillows for Mercy and St. Luke’s hospitals,” she said. They make lap blankets for the nursing homes.
They color pictures for the nursing home in Belle Plaine. The pictures decorate rooms. They also make treats for the holidays.
Last week the volunteers colored Welcome Back pictures to go in the manilla envelopes sent home with elementary students in the Belle Plaine Community School District every Wednesday.
They cut out 8,000 cards awarded to the students for good behavior.
“That’s what the girls have been doing today,” Sokol said.
“Once a year we have a catered dinner for all the volunteers that work Wednesday afternoon. “I think there’s 16 if they all come,” Sokol said.
Another group comes in on Monday afternoons. “They bring their own projects just kind of a day to get away from home and be with people.
The State Fair
Sokol is excited to get back to the State Fair.
“I’m just looking forward to everything because I haven’t been there for several years.” she said.
Sokol’s daughter, son, grandson and great-grandchildren, all of Grinnell, will accompany her as will her granddaughter, of Kirksville, Missouri and her brother, of Jewell.
The Hrabaks will be there as well. It’s been a long time coming.