| Along Our Way Big crowd at Raccoon River Valley Trail Association banquet could see, hear and feel that a “whole new era” is now starting on the RRVT. Guest speaker Kevin Cooney, the Des Moines TV news anchor, sure emphasized that: “All that’s happened on this trail is going to increase a millionfold over the next 10 years!”
The 200 in attendance helped raise $10,604 in one night!
By CHUCK OFFENBURGER
February 23, 2010
PANORA, IOWA
My wife Carla Offenburger, president of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association, has been saying lately that there’s a “whole new era” coming into bloom right now on the well-known recreational trail in west central Iowa. And anybody who was at the RRVT’s third annual membership banquet here on Saturday night, February 20, could feel it.
A new, $6.6-million, 33-mile-long “North Loop” is now under construction. That will boost the RRVT’s total mileage to 89 miles in the next couple of years, making it one of the longest paved rec trails in the U.S. The number of bicyclists, walkers, joggers, skaters, snowmobilers, birdwatchers, hunters and others on the trail is expected to triple or quadruple.
Plans are now underway in nearly every community along the trail to enhance their amenities and attractions to be ready for the growing number of trail users.
Everybody was talking in that direction at the banquet, including guest speaker Kevin Cooney, the veteran news anchor at KCCI-TV who is also a member of the RRVT association and a frequent user of the trail, both as a cyclist and runner.
Kevin Cooney speaking at RRVT banquet.“All that’s happened on this trail the last 20 years is going to increase a millionfold over the next 10 years,” Cooney told the crowd of nearly 200 that filled the Lake Panorama National Resort & Conference Center. “To those who had the vision 25 years ago and acted on it to get all this started on this trail, thank you!”
Cooney cited several benefits from having a well-developed rec trail. “It’s a great place to enjoy exercising, but it’s more than that,” he said. “It’s also an economic development opportunity, a great public relations vehicle for the communities, and something that has a positive impact on public health.”
Among those attending were two members of the boards of supervisors in the three counties the RRVT traverses, as well as mayors of four trail towns, several city council members, several members of the counties’ conservation boards and regional economic development officials.
The RRVT Association will start the coming trail season in the best financial position it’s ever been in, thanks to the $10,604 raised with live and silent auctions and several cash donations Saturday night.
The attendance and the amount of money raised are both records. At the first banquet in 2008, 153 attended and the auctions brought in $8,589. At the second one in 2009, there were 171 in the crowd and $8,873 was raised.
The money all goes to fund the trail association’s activities in marketing and promoting the RRVT and its communities – locally, regionally and nationally.
Of course, the association has been very active in the past three years in the $6.6 million campaign to pay for the new North Loop. That effort went over the top last fall. To help celebrate the conclusion of that successful drive, one of the largest private donors was represented at the banquet to make a ceremonial check presentation. Tom Holcomb, a member of the board of directors of Raccoon Valley Bank, handed Dallas County Conservation director Mike Wallace and RRVT Association president Offenburger a trophy check for $75,000 from the bank – and that brought cheers and applause from the big crowd. The Raccoon Valley Bank has several locations in towns on the trail or nearby – Adel, Perry, Minburn, Bagley and Dallas Center.
Guest speaker Cooney told hilarious stories about his own cycling, as well as counting the glories of rec trails. He pointed out that he and his wife Mollie Cooney, another KCCI-TV reporter and news anchor who was in the audience Saturday night, have ridden on trails all over Iowa.
Kevin began his talk wearing his anchorman’s blazer, dress shirt and necktie, but ripped them off quickly and spoke in his favorite cycling jersey. That immediately won over the big crowd of trail enthusiasts.
“I’ve watched over the years why people get into bicycling,” he said. “We’re in it for the exercise, or for the health aspect of it. Yeah, right. When we’re out there, aren’t we really running away from something? We’re running away from the next decade. We have this fear, this mis-trust of the next decade.
“That’s why I ride bikes,” Cooney continued, getting more fiery with every word, “to try to stay young. They say 40 is the new 30? Shut up! 50 is the new 40? I’m knocking on 60’s door right now. 60’s fricking 60 – that’s what it is!”
Having a trail like the RRVT, he said, is “one of the greatest things that can happen to an area. ‘If you build it, they will come.’ I’ve got my eye on a house in Redfield,” then adding in an aside to Mollie, “Dear, I probably should’ve told you before now!”
She rolled her eyes and said under her breath, “I’m sliding my purse back under this chair to try to hide my wallet. I’m afraid how much this night is going to cost me!”
Kevin Cooney had two big suggestions for the RRVT Association.
“I’ve become a triathlete the last few years,” he said. “I think you should have your own triathlon out here on the RRVT. I’d help with that. Now, the trail would be perfect for the bicycling and running parts of a triathlon. But I’m not sure anybody would want to go for a nice long swim in the Raccoon River. There’s a solution to that. A triathlon I’ve done in Ames has people kayaking instead of swimming, and you could sure do that on the Raccoon.”
He also continued his own lobbying effort to get a trail link completed between the towns of Perry and Woodward. Perry will be on the new North Loop of the RRVT. Woodward so far is the west terminus of the “High Trestle Trail,” formerly known as the Ankeny-to-Woodward Trail. He said he’s been pestering Dallas County’s conservation boss Wallace with the idea during the past year.
“Look at the map of that area – it’s just this far from Perry to Woodward!” Cooney said, holding up his fingers to show a very short distance.
He recalled how the RRVT Association, on a snowy February Saturday in 2007, held a “Business & Tourism Development Seminar” in the trail town of Cooper.
“We sent up a reporter, Eric Hanson, to cover that seminar,” Cooney said, “because we of course recognized that Cooper, Iowa, is such an important center of business and economic development. But actually the seminar was really good. You brought in those speakers from the Root River State Trail in Minnesota to tell how they’d developed everything on that trail. I went back just the other day and pulled up that story to see it again. You know what? Everything you all at the seminar talked about wanting to do, it’s all happening right now out here.”
There is more information about the banquet in the captions of the photos posted below here.
Allan Sieck, of Rippey, another member of the board of the RRVT Association, made this distinctive table and donated it for auction. It is made of five species of wood native to the area of the Raccoon River Valley Trail. His daughter Julianna Cullen did the artwork on the table top.
Here is a closer look at the intricate artwork and carpentry on the top of the table made by Allan Sieck. The surface is cherry wood, with an inset of of hard maple featuring the logo of the Raccoon River Valley Trail. The darker wood inset in the middle of the surface is walnut, which was also used for the pegs that hold the table together.
Joe Connolly, of Council Bluffs, stepped up to buy a $5 ticket in the raffle for a new Schwinn bicycle donated by the Hiawatha Bike Company of Perry. Left to right in the photo are RRVT Association board member Jim Miller; Mark Wyatt, of North Liberty, who is executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition; Joe Connolly; Jen Wyatt, walking from the right, and Cindy Connolly (right).
Forrest Ridgway, owner of the Bike World bicycle shops in the Des Moines area and in Ames, is shown here talking with two of his good customers, Jefferson Mayor Craig Berry (left) and Greene County Conservation Board member Diane Wise.
Kevin Cooney (left) was wearing a blazer, dress shirt and necktie when he arrived at the RRVT Association banquet with his wife Mollie Cooney. Here, they are talking to Clark Smith, of Des Moines, who is executive director of the association.
After the first half-minute of his speech, Cooney ripped off his anchorman’s coat and tie, and delivered the rest of his remarks while sporting his favorite cycling jersey.
Cooney makes his case with the crowd.
Cooney said he’s so excited about the Raccoon River Valley Trail that he’s “got my eye on a house in Redfield,” then glanced at his wife Mollie in the audience and said “Dear, I probably should’ve told you before now!”
After the speech, Cooneys stayed to visit with those attending. Here they are with their banquet tablemate Rich Osborne, of Jefferson, an RRVT Association member who is co-owner of the new Greene Bean Coffee Co. One-pot sample bags of that coffee, which is roasted in Jefferson, were given to all those who attended the banquet.
Tom Holcomb (left), a member of the board of directors of the Raccoon Valley Bank, talked about what a recreational and tourism amenity the RRVT is, as he prepared to present the bank’s donation to Mike Wallace for the new North Loop. Holcomb added the trail makes for pretty good people-watching, too.
Wendy Kozal, of Jefferson, shows off the new Schwinn bicycle she won by picking the right spot on a raffle board, with chances costing $5 per spot.
One of the most popular items on the live auction was this unique copper weather vane, topped off with a classic high-wheeler bicycle. The original work of art was made by artist & plumber Brian Myers, of Dallas Center, and donated by him and his wife Linda Myers. Left to right in the photo are Mike Wallace; Bob German (holding the weather vane), the RRVT Association board member from Dallas Center who was chairman of the banquet committee, and auctioneer Chad Daughety, of Daugherty Auction & Real Estate in Adel.
 Send your comments to carla@Offenburger.com or chuck@Offenburger.com Along Our Way Archives
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