SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
July 5, 2013
Sullivan’s
Salvos 7/9/13
In this edition:
*No Salvos Next Week!
*Welcome Larry Gullett!
*Tiffin Fest
*More on Janet Shipton
*Did You Know?
*No Salvos Next Week!
Even
the most prolific writers deserve a vacation, right? There will be no Salvos
dated July 16 (typically sent the weekend of July 13-14). The next Salvos will
be dated July 23, and should arrive the 20th or 21st.
Enjoy your break!
*Welcome Larry Gullett!
The Johnson County Conservation Board announces
that Larry Gullett has been selected for the position of Executive Director
beginning July 1, 2013. He will succeed Harry Graves who will retire on June 28
after serving 12 1/2 years as the Executive Director.
Larry
has over 25 years of experience working in conservation and currently serves as
the Jones County Conservation Board Executive Director. Larry will be only the
third Executive Director in the history of the Johnson County Conservation
Board with Rod Dunlap serving as the first Director from 1970 to 2001 and Harry
Graves serving from January, 2001 to June 2012.
Gullett
is a graduate of Iowa State University majoring in Fisheries and Wildlife
Biology and Environmental Studies. He began his conservation career as a
naturalist and park ranger in Dallas County before becoming the Executive
Director of the Jones County Conservation Board in 2004. During employment in
Dallas County, he founded and directed Prairie Awakening, a project that
involved Native Americans from 9 states and Canada in a weeklong music, dance
and story-telling event integrating Native American traditions and cultural
with prairie restoration. In Jones County, he has led the restoration of native
and re-constructed prairies, wetlands, savanna areas and pond and lakes and
worked to adopt sensitive design standards for recreational use of public areas
along the scenic Maquoketa River system.
Larry
currently serves on the State of Iowa Water Trails Advisory Committee and is a
member of the Board of Directors of Iowa Rivers Revival. He has written and
administered more than 45 successful grant applications from federal, state and
non-profit sources, resulting in more than $6 million in outside funding.
Larry
and his wife, Connie, are currently planning their move to Johnson County. He
has two boys, Ryan, who works in Hiawatha, and Cody, who is attending Central
College in Pella. Larry can be reached after July 1st at the Johnson County
Conservation Headquarters at 645-2315.
He will also be accessible by email at lgullett@co.johnson.ia.us or by cell
phone at (319) 400-1270.
*Tiffin Fest
The
booming town of Tiffin is holding its 4th annual Tiffin Fest this
Saturday, July 13th. Events include a parade, music, games, food,
and a rodeo. Hope you get a chance to explore the growing City of Tiffin!
*More On Janet Shipton
Last
week I mentioned the many Supervisors who have served Johnson County over the
past 30 years, and I was reminded of the fascinating story of Janet Shipton.
Shipton moved to Iowa City in 1957, and immediately got active in
the League of Women Voters. She became a US citizen in 1966. She served two
years on the Johnson County Board of Supervisors (‘78 and ‘79) following a
4-year term on the Johnson County Board of Health.
Having come of age during the creation of Britain’s National
Health Service, Supervisor Shipton put a great deal of time and effort into
health issues while in office.
I found the following article on her from the January 9, 2012
Odgen (UT) Standard-Examiner.
OGDEN — Janet Shipton likes to think of herself as
her husband’s wife, and not so much her father’s daughter. She is quick to say
she loved her father and cherishes the times she spent walking with him and
talking politics – something they did quite often, considering he was Great
Britain’s prime minister from 1945 to 1951.
Shipton’s
father was Clement Richard Attlee, a beloved political leader in England during
tough times – the Depression, World War II and the tough years following the
war were the years he served as prime minister.
Shipton
was a young woman when her dad took office, and though she never resided at No.
10 Downing St., she visited there often. She remembers her first visit there
after her dad was made prime minister.
“Things
weren’t as protected then, and I just walked right up to the door,” Shipton
said, smiling at the memory. She was in the Royal Air Force at the time and
went to the door in her uniform, not an uncommon sight at the time.
Shipton
moved to the Harrison Regent retirement home in Ogden in November. She has
lived in the Ogden area since 2006. She and her husband moved to the area to be
close to her granddaughter, but she immigrated to the United States in 1954
when her husband, whom she lovingly refers to as “Shippy,” came to start a
biomedical core program at the University of Iowa. They reared their children
in Iowa and then moved to St. Louis where he taught at Washington University
for 20 years. The couple then moved to Florida when her husband was stricken with
Parkinson’s disease and then settled in Utah where he died in 2007.
She
has lived a very full life. Now 88, she said she is starting to feel her age,
although she has always acted young.
“No one in our family is
very mature for their age,” she said with a laugh.
Shipton
was the oldest of four children, and when her father became the prime minister
she was a little more removed from things than her younger siblings. For her,
having a prime minister for a father wasn’t a difficult thing.
“I
didn’t have a challenging role because I was a grown-up child,” she said, still
speaking with a pronounced British accent. “My poor mother. We were just an
ordinary family, and then she was moving into No. 10 Downing St.”
She
remembers that Clementine Churchill, wife of Winston Churchill,who preceded
Attlee as prime minister, helped her mother learn her duties as prime
minister’s wife, and her sister loved attending the parties and events that
were required.
“I
liked living my life as my husband’s wife, and then when I am in England, I am
my father’s daughter,” she said. “It is really like playing a role, like
acting, you see.”
Her
most cherished memory of that time was visiting Chequers, the country residence
of the prime minister in Buckinghamshire. She loved the country, and that’s
where she took her husband to ask her father for her hand in marriage.
“My
father was wonderful,” she said.
She
remembers detectives always being around and said they looked into her
husband’s background.
“He
completely trusted my judgment,” she said of her father.
“(Shipton)
had no money, no looks, really not much of anything,” she said.
But
her father knew her mind, and he knew she would marry Shipton anyway, so he was
kind about it.
She
married in Bristol the Thursday before Queen Elizabeth’s wedding. All of her
guests came in on a train, and she remembers it was a very delicate process to
plan to the wedding.
“When
you are a prime minister, you have many decisions to make, and planning a date
for a daughter’s wedding can be difficult,” she said.
She
speaks with pride of her father and his many accomplishments while in office,
including his work in India. She has photos on the wall showing him during his
days as prime minister. Many other English touches are in place as well, such
as the porcelain teacups on a shelf on the wall.
Her
only regret is the time she didn’t get to spend with her father. He went into
Parliament in the 1920s and was politically active all of her life. That’s why
the time at Chequers was always so special for her.
She
said she doesn’t like to tell people right away who she is.
“I
want people to know me for me,” she said, but some people figure it out before
she shares the information. She has always tried to stay active politically,
because politics is something she feels strongly about.
*DID YOU KNOW?
Janet Shipton’s papers are available at the Iowa Women’s Archives.
Anyone
interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the
County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 9:48 AM
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