Anderson Funeral Homes Owner Jody Anderson, in addition to being an Army veteran, is also a RAGBRAI veteran with a whopping total of 16 rides under his belt. He can still distinctly remember his first one back in 2004 for what are now obvious reasons: Marshalltown was an overnight stop, and Anderson, who was still living in his hometown of Clinton at the time, acquainted himself with the downtown area and slept in Anson Park. Less than a decade later, the community became his home.

“It’s kind of ironic that I drove right by this funeral home, and eight years later, I ended up owning it,” he said. “I’m trying to make sure the community gets involved and we support it because I realize, as an individual who’s ridden many times, how much revenue it brings to the town.”

Marshalltown is set to serve as an overnight stop for just the second time since 2004 on Wednesday, July 22 — the last one, in 2012, was affected significantly by a major storm — and as an avid rider with a business along the route, Anderson decided he had to go above and beyond, commissioning revered local artist Missy Sharer Pieters to repaint the M outside of his building with a distinct RAGBRAI flair.

“I just happened to be mowing grass one day and walked by my ‘M’ and said, ‘That needs a fresh paint job,’ and what better way to do it with RAGBRAI coming to town?” he asked. “And then we’re gonna go ahead and get it repainted again for Oktemberfest and probably a military veteran, America theme. Typically, you don’t want to redo it twice a year, but in this case I’m going to.”

Sharer Pieters told the T-R she isn’t an avid cyclist but considers RAGBRAI one of Iowa’s most “glorious” traditions allowing so many communities of all sizes to showcase why their town is a gem in Iowa.

“As a lifelong Iowan, there are probably three events I can think of in my 50+ years in this state- the State Fair, the Iowa Girls High School Basketball Tournament, and RAGBRAI that really bring the pride of each tiny town to a big stage,” she said. “I was flattered that Jody requested my skills (a second time) to breathe new life into his M. We collaborated and came up with the bike and sunflower design so it could stand a short test of time, even after the event rolls through. And you know me- it’s gotta have bright colors in it if I am the artist! I hope the riders look at the M as the buzz by and smile.”

As for his own plans this year, Anderson intends to head over to Boone Tuesday night to spend time with his team and ride part of the day Wednesday from Boone to Marshalltown before hitching a ride back, and with most of the downtown area essentially being shut down for the day, he’s decided to host a fundraiser for Iowa River Hospice at the Funeral Home building, located at 405 W. Main St.

The idea came to him through his own service as an IRH board member, so he reached out to Executive Director Shauna Callaway, who he commended for her own fundraising efforts since taking over the role, and offered the use of his facility along the primary route.

“I just instantly thought that if I can’t operate my business that day and I’m right on the route, why not give a local organization the opportunity to do a fundraiser?” he asked.

They’ll be serving a meal of hot dogs, chips, bananas and Crumbl cookies with drinks, games and a cooling station outside, and the proceeds will go toward a renovation of the hospice house that was built in 2009 — painting, new lighting in the patient rooms and new furniture in the patient rooms.

“Iowa River is just a gem in this community, and it functions because of all the support in the community. And it touches so many lives in some way, directly or indirectly, throughout the years, so it just has a lot of support, which continues to make it such a great organization,” Callaway said. “So this is just another opportunity.”

The meal will start at 10 a.m. and run until they’re out of food. With thousands upon thousands of riders slated to make their way through Marshalltown on that day, Anderson and Callaway look forward to greeting them with a smile, a bottle of water and a bite to eat.

“You hear so much negativity about ‘Oh, I don’t want to be involved with RAGBRAI because of the traffic and everything else.’ They clean up after themselves, (and) they’re just the most giving people,” Anderson said.

Contact Robert Maharry at (641) 753-6611 ext. 255 or rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.