As plans continue to take shape for the upcoming “All Wheels Welcome” RAGBRAI overnight stop in Marshalltown on Wednesday, July 22, the leaders of the RAGBRAI Marshalltown executive committee hosted a pair of meetings — one for businesses and nonprofits and another for the general public — at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Monday evening.

Marshalltown RAGBRAI Co-Chair John Hall, who serves as president and CEO of the Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce, reiterated several times during the public portion of the meeting that the plans are still subject to change based on feedback from the community and the RAGBRAI team. He noted that the RAGBRAI organization will provide about $50,000 in “seed money” but predicted that all in all, it would be about a $250,000 endeavor between fundraising, vendor fees and beer garden and merchandise sales with the goal of at the bare minimum breaking even.

“We hope that it goes tremendously well, and if it does, our intention is to seed the next RAGBRAI with a holdover looking at somewhere around $25,000 that, basically, we hold for them next time we host RAGBRAI,” he said. “And then, the remainder of the proceeds, we will look to distribute back to the community to local nonprofits and organizations that are, in particular, helping us out with RAGBRAI.”

He added that none of that money will go toward administrative or overhead costs for organizations like the Chamber or the Marshalltown Central Business District (MCBD), and financials will be published regularly in the spirit of transparency. Fellow Executive Committee member Carol Webb, the Marshalltown city administrator, then discussed the route, which will come in from State Center and Lamoille on West Main Street Wednesday and go out on East Main Street Thursday morning en route to Green Mountain. The main public campground will be located in the Linn Creek District near Mega-10 Park and the Y along with a quiet campground at Lenihan Intermediate School and an RV area around the high school. The remaining campgrounds around town will all be chartered, and a full map will be released at some point in the near future. The leaders at the meeting also made a renewed push for residents to sign up as hosts for riders in need of lodging for the night.

The vendors and entertainment will all be set up around the downtown area with music expected to begin around 1 or 2 p.m. Once the public meeting concluded, Hall, Webb and fellow executive committee members Danielle Lekin, Deirdre Gruendler and Kyley Leger spoke to the T-R about where things stand and the biggest needs between now and July 22.

“It’s already exciting just to see how much collaboration there is in our community, and we’ve got tons of participation from the school district and the city and people are really getting involved,” Gruendler said.

Leger added that the biggest need right now is housing, and they can always use more volunteers. Lekin said she is excited to show off the transformation of the downtown area and all of the unique businesses in the community, and Webb noted that while several road projects will still be in progress, it should still be a great day.

“I think we’re gonna put our better foot forward on hosting our wonderful event for the riders, and all signs indicate we’re gonna do a great job of it,” Webb said.

As the riders leave town, Hall concluded, they’ll get the opportunity to see the still in progress expansion at MARSHALLTOWN Company — along with the world’s largest hand trowel sculpture — and pass by Lennox Industries, another of Marshalltown’s most iconic and oldest employers.

To learn more, visit https://www.marshalltownragbrai.com/.