Members of New Era Lutheran Church in rural Muscatine County never pass up an opportunity to serve those who live in the community, or those who are just passing by.

This month marks the 41st consecutive year the church has celebrated its Ye Ole Country Store on the first Wednesday of October. The one-day event features sit-down and carryout meal options serving more than 700 neighbors and friends of the church, along with a craft sale with more than 30 vendors and a raffle.

Another annual event hosted by this congregation of around 50 worshipers is the New Era Dinner Theatre. For the past 25 years, as many as 800 people have attended the summer musicals and plays. Church members are involved in the direction of the performances, participate as some of the cast and help prepare the dinner for theatre-goers.

Congregation organizes, mobilizes
When it was announced that the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa for 2018 would be rolling past the front steps of the church on July 28, this small congregation had another opportunity to show off its hospitality. More than 10,000 bicycle riders participate in the annual weeklong ride across the state.

The Rev. Nate Montover works with the congregation at New Era Lutheran Church and is a veteran RAGBRI participant. “The idea of organizing a roadside stop on RAGBRI came from our congregation,” he says. “I knew they would do a wonderful job with their stop, but our church was very close to the end of the weeklong ride, and I know it’s extremely hard to make a compelling reason for riders to stop on the last day.”

New Era Lutheran Church is 49 miles from that day’s starting point in Iowa City, 16 miles from an organized stop in Wilton and just 19 miles to the end of the event in Davenport.

Recruiting volunteers
Four months before the big day in July, church members started planning how their stop would look and what services they would offer riders. Committees were formed to work on various needs for the day including securing food vendors, church facility management, entertainment, information center, medical, event financing, and recruiting and organizing volunteers.

“Listening to people who have experience with RAGBRI and who understand what the riders really want is a key to having a successful event,” says Shirley Petersen, one of the church’s co-chairs for this event. “Everyone pulled together to make the community of New Era a peaceful place for the bicyclists to rest on their journey.”

An estimated 2,500 riders took a break from the route and spent time at the church throughout the day, with the first riders stopping around 7:30 a.m. and the last riders coming by around 3:30 p.m. “I’m so proud of what our dedicated congregation did for the riders,” Montover says. “This was a perfect example of ‘Iowa nice’ as New Era members and friends put their hearts and effort into serving total strangers who had pushed themselves so hard all week and were tired and exhausted.”

Recipe for success
Here’s what made the New Era Lutheran Church stop one of the best roadside stops on RAGBRI this year:

• Planning, planning and more planning. The process started early and included input from RAGBRI event organizers to give a perspective on what to expect.

• Perfect weather with highs in the mid-70s also helped. This factor was out of the church’s control, but it did play a huge role in making the day enjoyable for everyone.

• Live music was offered. A local bluegrass band played throughout the day, and bikers could relax in the shade. New Era Church is in a park-like setting with 30 large oak trees providing plenty of cover from the sun. Thirteen tents were put up on the church grounds.

• Homemade pie and ice cream were a big hit. Kuhns Bakery from Drakesville set up a food stand and sold 1,200 slices of pie to riders. Another food vendor also offered turkey legs and sandwiches.

• A public-address system and emcee kept everyone informed. Randy Hermann, another church co-chairs for the event and himself an experienced RAGBRI rider, was the emcee providing updates and an occasional joke or two.   

• Muscatine melons grown on Muscatine Island were served. Along with watermelon, the church sold water, sport drinks, soft drinks, granola bars and bananas.

Sign-in book
Tours of the 111-year-old church and 108-year-old gymnasium were popular. Church members talked about the church’s history to more than 500 riders. Along with sign-in books inside the church and gym, a large 4-by-8-foot welcome sign was painted for riders to sign. By the end of the day, the entire sign was filled with rider and team names, some coming as far away as Israel, Sweden and England. 

Plenty of trash containers and portable bathrooms were available. Containers were placed throughout the grounds to collect plastic bottles and trash. Even with 10 portable bathrooms, the line was 20 to 25 people deep throughout the day.

A team of 30 volunteers hosted riders at New Era that day. Once the volunteers arrived, they were prepared to stay all day as vehicle traffic around the area was limited by the high volume of bikes.

Money raised helps church
New Era Lutheran Church partnered with Shepherd of the Cross Church in Muscatine to provide volunteer workers, with all proceeds earned from the event going to a mission trip and church maintenance fund.

Help also came from neighbors and friends, including residents who allowed volunteers to park in their yard. Also, the organization Friends of the Mill and staff from Wild Cat Den State Park assisted in hosting the large number of bicycle riders.

Leach is the public information officer with USDA Rural Development in Iowa and a regular feature story contributor to Wallaces Farmer.