Meeting place reflections
~by Mary Weaver
Does Rippey have an Uber service? Is there a bar in town? What is that tall white round building?
Where is the water filling station?
Those were just a few of the numerous questions posed to “local” volunteers on Tuesday, July 25, as RAGBRAI® riders came into the smallest MEETING PLACE town on the RAGBRAI route. “Locals” were sought out by riders, and Iowa Highway Patrol troopers. Most times, the conversation would begin, Are you a local?
The first word of MEETING PLACE came last February when mayor Dan Brubaker was contacted by Gannett/RAGBRAI staff. He called me and said, “Hey, they will give us $10,000 for hosting.” That seemed like easy money. “Sure, let’s do” was my response.
Lots of planning. Lots of volunteers, lots of donations of materials, and labor, but little Rippey did it.
The RAGBRAI people passed through our town nine times prior to July 25. The route checking was for traffic flow, availability of roadways, railroad tracks, overnight towns large enough to accommodate etc. A day-long orientation was given in Des Moines for meeting towns and overnight hosting communities. In addition, direct meetings with RAGBRAI staff and community volunteers were held two times in the Rippey Community Room.
The town prepared with residents working to fix up, paint, clean up, discard trash, and extra lawn mowing.
Finally, the day of the ride! RAGBRAI riders were coming from Carroll, traveling to Ames. MEETING TOWN means they may connect with their support vehicles, but of course the support vehicles do not travel the same route as the riders. While the riders came from Jefferson, the support vehicles came north from Perry.
We had five Greene County food vendors, along with 35 others who were providing food and souvenirs; Big Red radio, two bands, plus Signature Rock; two bike repair shops and the mobile emergency room. These were all placed on the Main Street of Rippey. We met the self-generated Rippey-established goal of being prepared by 8 am, but because of the extreme heat, the first riders were in town at 6:20. A few riders remained at 8 pm, but they had their transport vehicle to take them to Ames.
DONATIONS, PROUD, and FEEL-GOOD STORIES ABOUNDED:
The volunteers were provided purple T-shirts identifying the date, the Rippey water tower as a logo, as well as VOLUNTEER written in bold letters on the back of the shirt.These were a donation from Clark Fessler, former third generation Rippey community resident, and CEO of Authentic Brand Sportswear.
Former Rippey resident David Chase, whose father was a local physician, came with his wife to work with the Lions Club/fire department selling pork loin sandwiches. He said his parents loved this community, were buried in the local cemetery, and this was his way of paying back the community.
One woman whose “knees were done”, asked Dave Roberts, who was working with the Baseball Commission, how to get an Uber. He explained that was not available but took her and the bike to Ames.
The Sports Ability team was hosted in the large Community Room of the Rippey library. The Rippey host was notified that one of the team members left her backpack at the HyVee in Jefferson. The host gave her the keys to her car and let her drive to Jefferson to retrieve the lost article.
A reefer van was donated by the FOOD BANK of IOWA, to provide ice to Greene County and out of town food vendors. Three pallets of ice – 2 tons – were available thanks to the efforts of Michelle Book, Greene County native, and CEO of the food bank.
Extended generational family members and friends of friends came to Rippey to serve as volunteer food vendors, traffic helpers, and information providers as the little town hosted an estimated 40,000 persons.
The lead Iowa state trooper stopped me as I was driving in my gator emptying trash bags, saying, “Where is Brubaker? I need to talk to him.”
I assumed a problem, so I invited him to ride with me until we found Mayor Dan. He got out, asking to me to wait for him, and then I observed him shaking hands with Dan, as he expressed thanks for being so well organized regarding the traffic flow of bikers and support vehicles.
The Inspections and Appeals person, after checking all the food vendors, expressed gratitude and thanks that all passed. Two out-of-county vendors received recommendations, but all food was at the correct serving temperature, and dishwashing was in compliance.
The bikers were friendly, and curious. The question about the tall white, round building, was of course an explanation of grain storage. They frequently called out praise of “THANKS RIPPEY, LOVE YOU RIPPEY” as they exited under the large U.S. flag gracing the Landus elevator catwalk.
A good friend who is a retired physician and a gay person, shared she loves the RAGBRAI community. She observed they help each other in an accident, a lost item, or most any need, and never question their ethnicity, their religion, their politics, their life position, etc. before reaching out to assist.
Lots of planning. Lots of volunteers. Lots of donations of materials, and labor, but little Rippey was a successful MEETING PLACE for RAGBRAI.
