Krug enthused by the pace of entries for Red Flag Tour

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Jeff Krug likes the progress thus far for the Fourth Annual Red Flag Horseless Carriage Tour, which originates in Mt. Pleasant.

?It is coming together well as usual,? said Krug. ?I think we are gaining some momentum.?

The president of the Red Flag board of directors said that registrations already are in double figures which ?is more than we?ve had other years at this stage.?

Iowa?s tour, one of only two of its kind in the United States, is patterned after a similar event in England. In November of 1896, British motoring changed with the passage of the ?Locomotives on the Highway Act.? The law raised the speed limit for ?light locomotives? from 4 miles-per-hour to 14 miles-per-hour and abolished the requirement the locomotive be proceeded by a man on foot with a red flag.

To celebrate, Lord Winchilseda burned a symbolic red flag and a tour of carriages from London to Brighton, England, was established. The tour continues to this day.

Hence, the idea was launched by Gerry Schnepf of Johnston, who is very active in state natural heritage and historical groups, to have a similar tour in Iowa, largely due to the proximity of New London and Brighton.

Two classes of vehicles will be included in the Sept. 23-26 event. The classes include:

Signature class ? vehicles 1908 or earlier; any 1 or 2 cylinder, team and/or electric vehicles and motorcycles up to and including 1915;

Second-generation class ? any four cylinder up to and including 1927 and any steam and or electric vehicle or motorcycle from 1916-1927.

Krug said the tour has quite a few new registrations and most of the registrations, thus far, are from out-of-state.

?We obviously want to gain out-of-state people but we would like to get more Iowa cars, too,? He said. Asked why Iowans have been slow to respond, Krug said he didn?t have any idea.

?Most of the registrants are new, and I like the looks of that,? he commented.

A few new wrinkles are planned this year, he noted. One is the changing of the route one day because of road construction on Franklin Avenue from Salem to the county line.

?We?re going to have the Thursday night movie again because that went over well last year,? Krug began. ?The participants have also said they would like to be more engaged with people from the county, so we are going to encourage them (participants) to bring their car and have breakfast in uptown Mt. Pleasant.

Speaker at the Saturday night banquet will be John Quam. Quam of San Francisco, Calif., who has either driven the tour or has had a car entered on the tour, will tell about his experience of driving around the world in 2014.

He is counting on another surge in registrations come August. He group sends out three mailers from April to mid- to late-July and he said each mailer generally brings a good response.

Red Flag also has a new website: redflagmotortour.com and the registrations form and other details are included on the website.

Gaining momentum, Krug said, can be both a blessing and curse. ?Each year it gets a little easier because this is the fourth year we are doing it. However, it also gets tougher each year because the tour becomes larger.?

Other officers on tour?s board of directors in addition to Krug are Mark Hempen, vice president; Jamie Collier, treasurer; and Don Pauley, secretary.

Comprising the remainder of the board are Rich Collins, Chuck Emry, Jim McDonald, Gerry Schnepf, George Chapman, Terry Miller and Phil Graber.