The RAGBRAI committee having their usual meeting. PHOTO BY MICHAEL D. DAVIS

Last Wednesday, this reporter got a rare glimpse behind the curtain at the wizard’s bringing RAGBRAI to our community. A weekly meeting is held among the committee heads. Eight locals sit around a table planning out the event of Tama-Toledo’s summer.

Katherine Ollendieck of the Tama County Economic Development Commission sits metaphorically at the head of the table as the Executive. Toledo Mayor Brian Sokol and Chris Nelson head up the finance and fundraising. Toledo Public Works Director Kendall Jordan oversees public safety for the event, while Gary Bock supervises operations. Jill Kienzle and Marlys Upah are the two in charge of marketing and communications. Last but not least, Shayna Zmolek controls special events and projects.

All the committee members sat around a large conference table at the Reinig Center, and the word volunteers was on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Although volunteer sign-up has been available for a while now online, the committee is still in great need of more to enlist. Nearly a hundred more volunteers are needed by the committee for Tama-Toledo to have an amazing RAGBRAI experience. Positions are available all around the community; in multiple time slots. When you volunteer, you can pick your position, and pick your schedule, from those available. And currently, much is available.

One volunteer position that comes with a little perk is clean-up duty. Friday, the 28th, after the party is had and all the cyclists have ridden out of town, some locals are needed to get Tama-Toledo back to that sparkling clean it is the rest of the year. The aforementioned perk to this job that may not seem the most glamorous is that any money found by volunteer cleaners gets to be kept by volunteer cleaners. So, if you find a little green among those red plastic cups you’re picking up, that’s all yours baby.

The current estimation of registered RAGBRAI riders coming into town is now at a whopping 30,000. That is not including unregistered riders, families of the riders, and people simply coming to rock out to the killer music that will be playing. Upwards of 1,200 of those registered riders already have a host home ready and waiting here in the community. Others that will be visiting for the night will be directed to one of more than twenty campsites around Tama-Toledo. One thing the RAGBRAI committee was surprised to see was the number of RVs that are reported to be coming to town.

If you are worried about getting through town on the 27th and aren’t sure what things will look like, the official maps will soon be out. After being initially designed by the RAGBRAI Committee, the map went off to RAGBRAI’s official cartographer to be designed, and they are now being printed. Soon, you will be able to see what street is closed where and you’ll be able to plan accordingly. Buses will be out all day to take people around the community; from the tip of Tama to the top of Toledo. If public transportation isn’t your thing, then do what the committee will be doing, and saddle up a golf cart.

One thing that won’t be a problem on the fated Thursday is food. Over fifty vendors and counting are signed up to fill the bellies of thousands heading our way. This full-figured reporter’s stomach is already growling at the thought of all the mouth watering food that will be in Toledo Heights Park.

The weirdest thing that was mentioned at the RAGBRAI committee meeting was also one of the most necessary. Showers. Specifically, car wash showers. Yeah, you read that right, one Tama-Toledo car wash will be hijacked by a bunch of sweaty bikers in need of a good hose down. It’s a great idea for those smelly cyclists, but the next time I wash the car, if I see a hairy bar of soap, I’m outta there.

When this paper comes out on Thursday, July 13, it will be exactly two weeks until the 50th anniversary RAGBRAI ride comes into town. The eight wizards behind the curtain that have toiled away months and months on end to make this happen will finally see their work come to fruition in the happy faces of the visitors and in the over 500 porta potties dispersed around the community. The committee doesn’t just want Tama-Toledo to survive RAGBRAI; they want to make it a night to remember.