Iowa's Famous Straw Pole

I really don't know what all the commotion was about yesterday. I've been to Iowa, and I've seen their straw pole...

What's the big deal all about?!? It's a pole... made of straw... So what?

. . .

Or, am I missing something?

UPDATE: Since I've gotten several visitors today looking for information on the Iowa Straw POLE, I wanted to let you know you've made a mistake. The correct spelling is POLL. For more information see this explanation at Wikipedia.org.