About 100 RAGBRAI® committee members and enthusiasts attended a festive “reveal” party for the Jefferson RAGBRAI logo at the Milwaukee Road depot Monday. The weather allowed several bicyclists to ride to the event at the trailhead of the Raccoon River Valley Trail.
The logo was designed by Bridgette Heisterkamp, a member of the RAGBRAI executive committee. Her husband Philip Heisterkamp, also on the committee, explained that because the band Hairball was booked for entertainment before the committee met to discuss a theme or logo, they decided to use an arena rock theme. They brainstormed around song titles and “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC became “Highway to Bells” and the theme of the Jefferson overnight.
Also as of the logo reveal, the Jefferson RAGBRAI website is live at www.jeffersonragbrai.com Forms for vendors, residents who would like to host riders for the night, and other volunteer committees are available on the website. Logo T-shirts can be purchased online or at ShineOn Designs on the north side of the downtown square in Jefferson.
A highlight of the logo reveal was a 3-1/2 minute video featuring three Greene County musicians, all of whom are now playing professionally, performing their version of “Highway to Bells.” Taylor King, formerly of Churdan, played guitar and sang lead. Parker Willis, formerly of Jefferson, played bass and sang back-up, and Tyler Gathercoal of Grand Junction played drums. Their performance was followed by a short clip from Hairball promoting their Jefferson appearance, and then the logo.
Video production was spearheaded by Skyler Bardole, chair of the publicity committee.
RAGBRAI, the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa, will overnight in Jefferson Monday, July 23. An estimated 300-400 volunteers are needed to assure the success of hosting more than 10,000 bicyclists and their support personnel.
Other members of the executive committee are Toni and Matt Wetrich, Thomas and Susan Laehn, Bret Cranston and Ian Wilkinson.
Information will also be available at a town hall meeting Monday, May 21, at 5:30 pm at the Jefferson municipal building.
