Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek has proclaimed April 13 as Bill Sackter Day. The proclamation coincides with a week of special events to mark the 100th birthday of Bill Sackter, April 8-13.

Sackter, a native of Minnesota, was a middle-aged man with a disability who spent nearly half a century in the old Faribault State Hospital. In the early 1970s, he came to Iowa City with Barry and Bev Morrow, a couple he had met in Minneapolis. Barry Morrow had been offered a job at the University of Iowa and Sackter ended up coming along.

Wild Bill's Coffeeshop, 321 North Hall on the UI campus, began as an employment opportunity for Sackter. Later, it became a symbol of "abilities awareness" around Iowa and beyond. The coffee shop thrived and it continues today in the same location in North Hall on the university campus. Staffed by individuals with disabilities, the coffee shop is a service learning project of the UI School of Social Work in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The proclamation was signed and awarded at the Tuesday, April 9 City Council meeting and can be viewed at now.uiowa.edu/files/now.uiowa.edu/bill_sackter_day.pdf.

For a related story, visit now.uiowa.edu/2013/03/bill-sackter-centennial-celebrates-life-and-spirit-iowa-icon.