You can't get more north in Iowa than Spirit Lake, which borders Minnesota and is part of a chain of lakes known as the Iowa Great Lakes. Spirit Lake was originally inhabited by the Dakotah tribe and French traders - who'd settled there - coined the name "Spirit Lake" after an Indian legend of an evil spirit that haunted the lake. Spirit Lake is the county seat for Dickinson County and is a growing community.

My contact from the school was Sarah DeWild. Like most Iowans, she is very proud of her charming lake community and as a gesture of good will offered me an informational package and coupons from the local shops. The weather turned sunny so we decided to walk over to the SAMI center for the performing arts where I was to speak. I was impressed with the multi-million dollar faciility that was only two years old. The stage was immaculate and was as large as a high school basketball gym. Our shadow baseball game was received with many laughs. My crew improvised their own scenes. One middle school student took my rubber eye and plopped down so hard on her bottom that the rubber ball bounced off the stage. I thought it was lost forever. But a considerate student three it back to me.

The students at Spirit Lake were ready to have fun and boy did we have fun. I actually had my own sound/lighting engineer adjusting the volume/lighting as needed. The lights glowed with such intensity I couldn't really see the packed house in front of me. I have to adimit I was a bit taken back when one of the students said that his dream was to become a hostage negotiator. I had to wonder how one prepares for such a career.

Preparations were underway for the spring walleye run. If I didn't have to travel to North-Scott I'd have liked to stay. There's nothing better than smoked walleye. If you ever find yourself traveling through Iowa you don't want to miss Spirit Lake and the fun-loving townies whose secret is now out. There are no haunting spirits at Spirit Lake, only spirited children who have the luxury of living by and fishing in such a pristine lake.