Keep Iowa Beautiful Awards
Donald F. Lamberti Hometown Pride Vision Award
Keep Iowa Beautiful started the Hometown Pride Vision Award to recognize those who work to improve and enhance the quality of our state. Award winners embody a passion for building a higher level of pride through leadership.
2024 Recipient:
Sandy Ehrig
The Donald F. Lamberti Hometown Pride Vision Award goes to Sandy Ehrig for her dedication to enhancing the quality of life in rural Iowa. Sandy is the Past Chair of the Iowa Rural Development Council, Past Co-Chair of the Empower Rural Iowa Initiative, and recently retired from Farm Bureau where she managed Renew Rural Iowa, recognizing entrepreneurs across the state. Sandy currently serves as a City Councilwoman for the City of Nevada.
Previous Recipients
- 2023 – Scott Smith
- 2022- Patti Hardin, Mayor of Delmar
- 2021 – Doug Friedli
- 2020 – Gerald F. Schnepf
- 2019 – Miriam Erickson Brown
- 2018 – William J. Fultz
- 2017 – David Dahlquist and RDG Dahlquist Art Studio
- 2016 – The Vogel Family
- 2015 – The Iowa State Fair Board
- 2014 – Ed Skinner
- 2013 – Donald F. Lamberti
Patti Hardin, Mayor of Delmar, received the Keep Iowa Beautiful Donald F. Lamberti Hometown Pride Vision Award for being an outstanding leader that has inspired many in making Delmar a great community to live.
Doug Friedli received the 2021 Keep Iowa Beautiful Donald F. Lamberti Hometown Pride Vision Award for his excellent work as Hometown Pride Coach for Fremont County providing long-term technical and support assistance to the communities. The results improved quality of life, increased cultural and economic vitality resulting in more community pride.
Gerald F. Schnepf received the 2020 Keep Iowa Beautiful Donald F. Lamberti Hometown Pride Vision Award for his many years of service as KIB Executive Director making Iowa a stronger and better place to live and raise a family.
2019 Honors Miriam Erickson Brown
with the 2019 Donald F. Lamberti Hometown Pride Vision Award for her many years of service as KIB president and board member making Iowa a stronger and better place to live and work. Miriam’s commitment to her local community is evident by her service on many local boards including, Susan G. Komen Iowa, Des Moines Civic Center, Keep Iowa Beautiful, and Youth Homes of Mid-America. She is a member of Iowa Partnership for Economic Progress (IPEP). Miriam’s concern to treat our earth well, and especially to leave Iowa a cleaner and more beautiful state for generations to come, made her involvement in the Governor’s Comprehensive Recycling Planning Task Force a welcome challenge. She supports and encourages environmental stewardship throughout AE Dairy and in our community.
2018 Honors William J. Fultz
William J. Fultz has an outstanding record as a businessman / marketer, artist and as volunteer for a wide range of causes. His non-profit volunteer efforts include being a founding board member for the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and for the past 18 years as a key board member with Keep Iowa Beautiful. His skills not only as a volunteer but as an artist show in the design of the logos for both organizations. In addition, his skills guided two major publications – one honoring Robert D. Ray for his photography and the other for the award winning Iowa’s Natural Heritage in documenting Iowa’s natural world.
2017 Honors David Dahlquist and RDG Dahlquist Art Studio
Keep Iowa Beautiful is proud to honor the creative art, architecture, and landscape of public and private spaces that make Iowa and the nation a more attractive place to live by awarding the 2017 Donald F. Lamberti Hometown Pride Vision Award to David Dahlquist and RDG Dahlquist Art Studio.
2016 Honoring the Vogel Family
The Vogel family was honored for their continued commitment to Iowa and the efforts of Keep Iowa Beautiful. These efforts paved the way for making Iowa’s communities more attractive places to live and enhance the quality of life in Iowa!
2015 Honoring the Iowa State Fair Board
Few events showcase such a broad reflection of our great state as the Iowa State Fair. Highlighting everything that is good in Iowa, the Iowa State Fair, entertains, educates, challenges and excites over a million visitors from Iowa and around the world each year.
Beyond the events of the Iowa State Fair, the message about the quality of Iowa resonates and significantly influences positive change across Iowa in our communities.
The Board of Directors of the Iowa State Fair deserves our thanks. Through their leadership and efforts, the fair is elevated as a model for other national fairs and events as one of the cleanest, well-designed, well-orchestrated, and most attractive state fairs in the nation.
2014 Honoring Ed Skinner
Ed Skinner provided support, personal time and advice to a wide variety of causes, communities, individuals, political leaders and non-profits. His advice and guidance is highly prized and sought after.
2013 Honoring Donald F. Lamberti
In honor of Donald F. Lamberti’s commitment to rural Iowa and small communities, his interest in the beauty and quality of Iowa’s communities and his support of Keep Iowa Beautiful this award was established in 2013. Don was the first recipient of the award at a ceremony and event held at the Meadows Events Center at Prairie Meadows in Altoona on March 25, 2013.
