GOWRIE — Priscilla Schliep, an Olympic medalist in the 100-meter hurdles, will be attending a “Meet and Greet,” at the Gowrie United Methodist Church from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Sunday. Attendees will have the chance to try on Schliep’s Olympic medal and pose for a photo (A great idea for potential Christmas card photos). A light hot dog lunch will be served. There is no cost to attend the event, but a freewill offerings will be accepted.

Jill Viles, of Gowrie, and Schliep shared their story on episode #577 of the podcast, “This American Life” in 2016. In a case of the truth being more entertaining than fiction, the story they shared with the world is the shocking revelation that they have neighboring mutations of the same rare gene, but the most divergent of musculatures possible. This has fascinated scientists at the University of Iowa, and they are expanding on this rare phenomenon to try to understand more about Viles’ very rare form of muscular dystrophy (Emery-Dreifuss).They have created “Jill” and “Priscilla,” fruit flies to model the respective mutations of the two women. Dr., Lori Walrath from the University of Iowa and two or three graduate students will be on hand to share research updates and entertain families with “Fruit Fly Olympics,” games designed to teach the little ones about scientific research at U of Iowa. Proceeds from the event will be dedicated to Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy genetic research.