07/30/2025
THANK YOU IOWA FALLS!!! We did it, AGAIN!!!
It is hard to believe that it has already been ONE WEEK since RAGBRAI Iowa Falls rolled into town. Looking around town, one can hardly tell that we recently welcomed 20,000 our more guests to our community. So, above all, my post-RAGBRAI post will be one of appreciation. THANK YOU!
In order for an event of this magnitude to be a success, it takes a lot of hard work from a large number of people. Our community of Iowa Falls really came together to pull this off, so THANK YOU!
First of all a huge THANK YOU to RAGBRAI Iowa Falls co-chair Alison Campbell. Your commitment, positive attitude, and follow-through once again helped set the course for our successful event. On a personal note, your ability to step in and take over whatever needed to be done and whenever it was needed is also greatly appreciated, when health challenges made it especially challenging on my end at different times…
Another huge THANK YOU to those who served on the executive committee for all of your hard work in overseeing committees, attending numerous meetings, providing direction, and getting the work done: Karla Damiano, Josh Nelson, Kaci Elkin, and again Ali Campbell. Karla, your willingness to step up and do whatever needed to get done in order for things to keep moving forward is both amazing and a true example of service to our community. THANK YOU!
THANK YOU also to our Advisory Board for their oversight and guidance: Michelle Nederhoff, Kat Bissell, Tyler Duit, and Diana Theis, as well as Roger Nissly and his staff at Nissly and Nissly for serving as our budget and finance committee chair.
A special THANK YOU to Kaci Elkin and the City of Iowa Falls for all their support of this project as well as all of their work before, during, and after.
And another special THANK YOU to McKenzie Burton and Hardin County Emergency Management for her guidance and work both in preparation and during this event.
THANK YOU also to all of the Committee Chairs who facilitated the numerous committees, whose work was essential to our event’s success: Josh Nelson, Campgrounds; Gregg Winters, Sponsorship / Showers / Sanitation / Recycling; Adam Nederhoff, Ride Right; Michael Krogh, Publicity; Abbey Sprague, Hospitality; Karla Damiano, Web and Social Media; Bernal Koehrsen III, Information Center; Rena Heem, Volunteers; Kat Bissell and Michael Rottink, Food and Vendors; Jon Zoske, Electrical; Michelle Nederhoff, Beverage Garden; Ali Campbell, Entertainment; Josh Nelson, Public Safety / Law Enforcement; Corey Larson, Medical; Jon Linn, Communications, Diana Thies, Housing; and Deidra Elliott, Transportation. A special shout-out to Gregg Winters who also served as first-call go-fer during the event. Another special shout-out to Kat Bissell and Mike Rottink for all of their many hours making the vendor sites work. And finally, a special shout-out to Michelle Nederhoff and her team for making the beverage garden work like a well-oiled machine!
THANK YOU to our shuttle bus drivers, who worked literally around the clock to shuttle guests to and from their destinations…
Another special thank you to Barb Klein and her staff at ECC and the Equine Center who really stepped up and provided a spot for our main RV and camper campground. THANK YOU Honoria, Wanda, Kevin, and your staff!
THANK YOU to tree sculptor Gary Keenan. Your work here in Iowa Falls was the inspiration for our theme and our logo. Having you here and carving on the day of the event truly made it special. Another special thank you to Travis Gerrish for his work in putting together the website and map of tree carvings in Iowa Falls that we used for our signage
A special THANK YOU to all the committee members who served on a committee and planned and worked to make their part of the event run smoothly.
A special THANK YOU to all of the volunteers who worked the day before, the day of, or the day after in order to meet the needs of the guests in our community. A reminder to pick up your shirt from City Hall if you have not already done so!
A special THANK YOU to all of our many sponsors. Your support is greatly appreciated and helped to really showcase our community.
A special THANK YOU to the Iowa Falls Fire Department, the City of Iowa Falls, The Hardin County E-Squad, the Iowa Falls Community School District, and Zoske Electric for their direct work with the event. A special THANK YOU to the Iowa Falls Fire Department for always seeming to step up at a time of need during the event, often without being asked!
THANK YOU to all of our amazing businesses who worked tirelessly to roll out the red carpet for our two-wheeled guests. I hope that you enjoyed the experience, and that your employees did as well. I hope that last Wednesday also provided your business with a bit of a well-deserved economic boost for your business.
THANK YOU to our churches and organizations that provided meals and other services to our guests. I hope it was a positive experience and that you felt good about the service you were providing to those who needed it.
THANK YOU to those who hosted riders overnight, whether indoors or outside. Your generosity in openening your homes to our guests is a part of the “Iowa Nice” that makes RAGBRAI truly unique.
THANK YOU to Matt Phippen, Anne Lawrie and your RAGBRAI staff for working with us, providing direction, and trusting and empowering us to host this event. When I received a call from Matt in November wanting Iowa Falls to be an overnight for RAGBRAI 2025, I knew that this was a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our wonderful community of Iowa Falls.
And to the overall community of Iowa Falls, THANK YOU! This event could not have been successful without the help of many people working together for a common cause. There is nothing we cannot accomplish for our community when we work together. THANK YOU for coming together as a community for this effort.
With an event like this, it is impossible to THANK everyone in a Facebook post. So, THANK YOU to all of you that had anything at all to do with making RAGBRAI Iowa Falls 2025 a success! From parking in a different spot for a day, to picking up trash, to setting up or tearing down, to buying food from a vendor, and to sitting in your front lawn waving at the cyclists as the rolled into or out of town… THANK YOU!
I am amazed again that the following day, if you visited Iowa Falls, you would not have been able to tell that we had hosted RAGBRAI just the night before! THANK YOU to all those involved with the clean-up efforts, and THANK YOU also to the riders who were respectful, friendly, appreciative, and tidy! THANK YOU!!!
I was also amazed the following days after the ride rolled through by the number of people, mostly kiddos, who were RIDING BIKES in our community. RAGBRAI is truly an inspiration… 🚴🏻‍♂️ 🚴‍♀️ 🚴 💕
Iowa Falls, it is my strong belief that we will have people coming back to visit our community for years to come because of the hospitality and the experience they had here in Iowa Falls on RAGBRAI 2025.
Usually around this time of year, I am somewhat ceremoniously cutting off my official rider wristband, marking my official end of RAGBRAI. Since I was unable to ride RAGBRAI this year, I will have to settle for somewhat ceremoniously cutting off my Official RAGBRAI Vehicle sign…
From those of on the committee, it was our mission to both showcase our wonderful community as well as give back to our communities. Mission accomplished! ✔️
THANK YOU AGAIN Iowa Falls!!! WE DID IT, AGAIN!!!
They HAULED ASH to Iowa Falls, and we KICKED ASH in Iowa Falls…
