On Saturday, five individuals were added to the Greene County Fine Arts Hall of Fame.

Greene County School District Activities Director David Wright was the emcee and started the program by saying that this year’s induction class stretched from one coast to the other, with individuals living in Washington, Maryland, Pennsylvania and two in Iowa. The first to be inducted was 1971 Jefferson High School graduate, Dick Oatts. Aside from his high school accomplishments of being selected for All-State three times on two different instruments, and his father, Jack Oatts, being the band director, Dick spent 48 years being the lead alto sax player with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and is a Grammy Award winner. He currently lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and is a professor of music at Temple University for the past 18 years.

Katy (Von Ahsen) Gordon was next to be inducted. She graduated from Jefferson-Scranton in 1998, and was the first four-year All-State selection in J-S history, having six individual and one large group nominations. She has taught over 10,000 kids with creative, faith-based lessons in over two decades leading a children’s ministry. She talked a lot about being grateful for the experiences and the people that inspired and supported her throughout her career, including her speech coach, Teresa Lawler. She currently lives in Sioux City, where she is a homeschool mom of four children and her husband. 

Dr. Katie Rice graduated from Jefferson-Scranton in 2010, where she was a two-time All-State selection on clarinet and won best of center award. She currently serves as an assistant professor of clarinet at Washington State University, while also performing in the Faculty Quintet Solstice and regional orchestras. She was also named the Namm Foundation/CMS Gennext Fellow in 2021. She lives in the state of Washington with her husband and nine-month-old son.

Dr. Carl Rowles is a 2005 graduate of Jefferson-Scranton High School. While in high school, Rowles was a three-time All-Stater in choir, and was very active in band as a trumpet player. He is currently the band director at Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids and was also recognized in 2022 as part of the “50 Directors Who Make A Difference” in the SBO+ magazine. Rowles was humble when he got that he was going to be inducted into the Fine Arts Hall of Fame.

“I don’t know if I’ve done enough to deserve it. Especially when I look at like what Ryan Van Gilder has been doing with his career, or the fact that they’re inducting Dick Oatts of all people into the Hall of Fame, or when they started with the jazz band from East Greene and their jazz championships. Like, I don’t know that what I’ve done yet warrants the same kind of recognition. But it’s really exciting to be recognized for what I have done so far.”     

The final inductee was a 2016 Greene County High School graduate, David Ayala. He was a three-time All-State vocalist. He also earned his bachelor’s degree in painting from the University of Iowa and then his masters degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2023. His artwork has been exhibited in Iowa, New York and Maryland. He has also been featured in Nunar magazine. Each inductee credited their families for their support, as well as teachers and mentors in Greene County that inspired and supported them. Click here to watch the recording of the livestream from Saturday’s ceremony.