"Yes, I fondly remember that day in 1979. We went out with a family that had 8 children. I was in charge of the four youngest. They needed to use the restroom and by the time we tried to get back to our 'spot', 4000-5000 more people had arrived. I was scared to death but I said quick prayers and I immediately heard, "Gayle, we're over here!" What a relief.
It was terribly cold but we used trash bags to keep our feet/legs warm. When the Pope's helicopter arrived, the skies opened up with the warming of beautiful sunlight. His presence was immediately felt by all of those around us.
Thank you for allowing me to 'relive' this special day!!"
Gayle Duffe
"I was part of the choir for the mass, Tom. The most wonderful thing about the celebration was the scope of it. There were people almost as far as you could see in all directions for the mass, and it was not a nice day.. We wore coats to sing in the choir. Also, Dr. Marian Hall (man) was the director, and he had also been my vocal instructor at Drake. We recorded the mass downtown at the KRNT tv studio, and then the day of the actual mass we sang with the recording so as to be able to reach all the thousands of people there for the mass. How they kept that together is a small miracle. It really seemed like a universal church that day.
Bonnie Reed
"When I went to "The Pope Of the People" last spring, I was flooded with memories of the Pope's visit to Iowa. I was teaching at Sacred Heart School in Sioux City at the time. I was 23 years old. My parents and five siblings lived in Bancroft, Iowa. We all decided we HAD to go!
On October 3rd I met my parents in Fort Dodge so I could drive to Des Moines with my family in Dad's blue van. Of course, when we arrived, there were “no rooms in the inn”. Every hotel was booked. So, we parked in the old Happy Chef parking lot on Douglas close to 35/80 and all 8 of us curled up and slept in the van that night. We really didn’t know that Living History Farms was exactly south of us! We knew we were close, but not that close!
The next morning the excitement in the air was palpable! We got out of the van and made the trek with all the other people who parked around there, down that little gravel road between Douglas and Living History Farms. We found a perch on the hill, laid our blankets out and waited. I’ll never forget the moment the helicopter appeared. I can still feel that excitement. Tears were in our eyes. What a moment of history we were getting to witness.
My mom loved Pope John Paul II. She still has many original newspaper articles about that wonderful visit to Iowa, plus all of his books and a big collection of “holy cards” of Pope John Paul II. Today, she can’t sleep in a van with her husband and 6 children nor make a trek down a gravel road to see a precious Pope. She is in the nursing home and is not able to walk alone, but get her to talk about the Pope’s visit 32 years ago and her eyes will light up just like back then!
Pope of the People? Absolutely! Even 32 years later!"
Kathleen Schiltz
"I had no clue of the impact Pope John Paul II would have on me on October 4th, 1979. That day, I stood, shivering, awaiting his arrival at Living History Farms. I was a Protestant, raised in the Episcopal church, married two short years to the love of my life, a cradle Catholic. I was there because he was THE POPE, which is a big deal even to Protestants, and because my wife wanted to go.
JPII was elected Pope the day my Mom died, October 16th 1978. That's a big day in my life.
My daughter was born on October 4th, 1983, four years to the day of JPII's visit to Living History Farms. These two quirks of the calendar seemed to bond me to John Paul, although I didn't realize it at the time.
Frankly, I didn't really remember what the Pope said during his homily, because I couldn't hear it very well through the wind, the distance, and his accent. Since then, I have poured through a half dozen or so of his homilies given in 1979 in Poland and Iowa. I distilled their essence into song to showcase his passion for Christ in my musical, The Pope of the People.
Little did I know then that I would join the church in 1981 and years later, embark on a passionate vocation of writing Catholicism-inspired musicals in a ministry I call: "evangelization through entertainment."
I participated in the Cultural Committee for the Diocese in planning our diocesan Centennial Celebration. It was decided that my musical should be one of the programming events during the Centennial. At one meeting last year, Monsignor Bognanno, pastor at Christ the King parish, asked if it was too late to change the musical. This was in August. I was working fast and furiously to have it completed by the end of September.
Monsignor threw a curve at me: could I incorporate JPII's trip to Iowa into the production? He said it would make the musical more "marketable." Talk about irony: a priest talking to a marketer (me) about marketing. I said I'd think about it.
I returned to my studio and began playing around with it. What emerged is a song called, "O, Iowa." It is clearly the most popular song in the musical. I love Iowa, and John Paul II clearly did, too. Here are the lyrics I wrote inspired by the Pope's homily. This is my reflection on the great day in the history of our diocese."
Tom Quiner
