What’s in a gname?
Plenty, if you’re Elwood, of Iowa State University.
Elwood isn’t one to talk up his stature, but he is one of the biggest things going at the school – whose football Cyclones are blowing in to Morgantown for a matchup with the Mountaineers on Saturday.
It’s an 8 p.m. kickoff at Milan Puskar Stadium, which became instantly familiar to Iowa State fans when the two schools began playing regularly seven years ago.
That’s because Milan Puskar Stadium was architecturally inspired by Jack Trice Stadium back in Ames.
It’s basically the same place.
Meanwhile, there’s gnothing like Elwood in Morgantown.
There’s gnothing else like him in Ames.
Or, anywhere else, in fact.
Say hello to Ellwood, The World’s Largest Concrete Gnome – a 15-foot tall, 3,500-pound icon of Reiman Gardens, a botanical showcase at Iowa State.
“You guys will have to stop by and see him the next time you play out here,” said Andrew Gogerty, who manages marketing and communications for the gardens.
“Elwood is big on selfies.”
He’s also big on his mission at Reimen Gardens.
Visit https://reimangardens.com to learn about the place and its environs.
Ellwood, who came to be by way of an iron cage covered in a cubic yard of concrete, started out as a little idea with some big whimsy.
He was supposed to be part of an exhibit dedicated to – yes – a celebration of garden ornamentation.
That mission got taller as the 40th anniversary of Earth Day rolled around April 22, 2010.
Since the Elwood was complete and good to go, it seemed a perfect time to introduce him to the campus and community.
After all, organizers said: If you’re in possession of a garden gnome, it might also be safe to say you’ve planted a garden – be it vegetable or ornamental – for such a gnome to reside.
And gardens, they continued, are good for the environment and the quelling of food insecurity.
With that said, is Ellwood, and all he implies, the first thing a visitor will spy when he takes in Reiman Gardens?
Gnope, the marketing and communications manager said.
You’ll encounter Ellwood pretty far in the garden, near the back, which Gogerty said was an inspiring placement.
“It’s like the grocery store,” he said.
“You go through the serious stuff, the things that are good for you like the vegetables and produce, first,” he said.
“Then you get to the fun stuff: the chips and candy. That’s Ellwood.”
