Photo help at Gothic Center thanks to grant

BY CINDY TOOPES COURIER STAFF WRITER

November 23, 2007 10:12 pm

— ELDON — Want your picture taken in the cut-outs at the American Gothic House Center?
If you do and you forget your camera, the center’s staff can help you thanks to a $2,500 grant from the Wapello County Foundation.
Jessica Strom, the center’s director, said visitors can have their pictures taken by a Sony camera and printed immediately on an Epson printer.
“American Gothic ‘look-alikes’ can purchase quality four-inch by six-inch pictures of their memory in front of the house,” Strom said Friday. “This new service will add to the center’s bottom line.”
Is this a typical thing at other historic sites?
Strom believes the equipment is a “unique added value” for Eldon’s center.
On Friday, an out-of-town family went to the center with their Santa hats to have their picture taken for the family Christmas card.
“They live in Iowa and every year they go to an historic site for a photo to use for their Christmas cards,” Strom said.
Also included in the grant are a Sony Cyber-shot camera and a portable PC-free printer by Epson Picture Map Snap, which enables center personnel to take the printing show on the road.
“They can capture those cute shots of merrymakers in the American Gothic wooden cut-outs,” Strom said.
The foundation’s grant also included an Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium software package, which allows the center to manage its Web site (http://www.wapellocounty.org/americangothic/index.htm) and design its promotional pieces.
“It’s a technological dream come true for the American Gothic House Center,” Strom said. “And it’s all with thanks for the continuing support of the Wapello County Foundation.”
A 2002 University of Iowa graduate, Strom started her job as director in April and is considered a Wapello County Conservation employee.
For information, contact Strom, (641) 652-3352 (phone/fax), or e-mail her at aghc@iowatelecom.net.
Cindy Toopes can be reached at (641) 683-5376 or via e-mail at cindy@ottumwacourier.com.