“And I so swear.” Immigrants raise right hands at restored movie site. Image: Brian Tabik
Marking Independence weekend at a memorable place
DYERSVILLE. Iowa. – A judge agreed to forsake the usual courtroom setting and go out to the Field of Dreams to naturalize 26 people into U.S. citizenship on Independence Day weekend. The imagery was undeniable. “How can you get more American than baseball,” said Miguel Burgos in a KCRG interview after becoming a citizen. The group included people from 15 countries. Burgos himself had immigrated with his parents from Mexico when he was a teenager and settled in nearby Cedar Rapids.
“Field of Dreams”
This 1989 sports fantasy movie was about a farmer who built a baseball field in his cornfield that attracted the ghosts of baseball legends. The movie was based in a book, “Shoeless Joe,” by Canadian author W.P. Kinsella. Since then an 8,000-seat stadium has been built at the site as a tourist attraction. It attracts 65,000 visitors a year to Dyersville. The film was nominated for Academy awards for best picture, screenplay and adapted screenplay. In 2017 it was selected for preservation in Library of Congress.