By Jan Gammon, LHHB Coordinator, Prairie Rivers of Iowa
Seen in the 2018 Fall Newsletter

After the very long winter and very short spring, the Byway is gearing up for summer activities. We do not know of any communities that are celebrating their 125th or 150th this year, but have been told the City of Carroll and the City of Stanwood are planning activities for their 2019 celebrations. Let Jan Gammon know if you know of a community celebrating this year.

RAGBRAI, the annual bike road across Iowa, will be traveling through several Lincoln Highway towns July 22-28. We are currently planning on having an information table at Reed-Niland in Colo and maybe in other towns as well. The overnight towns are Denison, Jefferson, and Ames. The ride will also travel through Scranton, Grand Junction, Nevada, and State Center. The ride, in past years, has drawn 20,000+ bikers and even more manning sag wagons or as supporting people. It is quite an event in Iowa. We will take pictures!

The Iowa Byways will again have a booth at the State Fair. In 2018, the DOT is celebrating 20 years of the Byway program in Iowa. The booth is under the grandstands and has very good traffic. This is the third year of doing this and we have given out about 800 Lincoln Highway information Guides and 3,000 Iowa Byways booklets each year.

The Byway is working with the ILHA on interpretive panels at the east entrance to Jefferson on 3 smaller panels that will surround an original Boy Scout marker. Another 3 panels have also been designed for the Lions Club Tree Park outside of Grand Junction that explains the I-Beam that has been salvaged from the old overpass and details information about the nearby new overpass that carries Highway 30 over the Lincoln Highway. Other interpretive panels are being discussed in Montour and Tama.

We have submitted several grants to assist with restoration projects at Preston’s Station Historic District in Belle Plaine and Youngville in rural Benton County and will share information about them as they are funded. The Byway has developed a Junior Explorer Booklet and is selling ads for participating project businesses. It will certainly be a busy summer!