ladies and gentlemen. thank you all for coming. we have a great turnout. [applause] we have a great turn up to salute the veterans of the great state of iowa. this is a date to remember for one thing 165 years ago, on december 28, 1846, iowa became a state judge, joining this great american union of hours. happy 165th birthday, iowa. [cheers and applause] the rest of our group are all veterans. the program is an honor to veterans by veterans. and the one we will honor the most tonight is our special guest that we will introduce a little later. until then, i want to extend greetings to all of you. talking about dates to remember, the birth date of iowa, i predict that another great date to remember will be january 3, 2012. [cheers and applause] we will make history, i believe. we already have. and we will finish off [cheers and applause] it is because of all of you. we will make it happen. with that, we will start our program. it is my pleasure to ask crystal mcintyre, w