Red flag tour has 25 vehicles and counting

BY BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

With just a week remaining before the Fourth Annual Red Flag Horseless Carriage Tour, Jeff Krug, president of the tour?s board, is pumped.

?We already have more registrations than in the past and people continue to call and ask about it,? he said

Krug said about 25 cars are registered for the event and nearly 50 percent of the participants are first-time entrants. ?I?m still hoping for 30 cars,? he quickly added.

He said most of the people are from the surrounding states ? Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Missouri and Illinois ? but he has one driver coming from California.

John Quam, of San Francisco, Calif., has participated in nearly every tour, but missed last year?s event because he was participating in the recreation of the great race around the world, which occurred in 1908. Quam will be bringing the car he drove around the world.

The Red Flag Horseless Carriage Tour is taking a page out of England?s history. In 1896, England passed the ?Locomotives on the Highway Act.? The law raised the speed limit for light locomotives from four miles-per-hour to 14 miles per-hour and abolished the requirement that the vehicles be preceded by a man on foot. The former law also required the man on foot preceding the car to carry a red flag.

To commemorate passage of the new law, England hosted a London to Brighton car run. A symbolic red flag was burned to celebrate the event and show that the automobile was here to stay.

Since Iowa has two communities ? New London and Brighton ? with similar names, the idea was raised by Krug and others to have a similar tour here. There is only one other such tour in the United States.

Krug said one of the reasons the tour is gaining popularity is because of the hospitality of people along the tour route each of the three days ? Sept. 24-26.

?We continue to get stellar reviews from past participants,? he noted. ?They say it is one of the finest tours they?ve been on. I guess we keep over-producing.?

There are two classes of vehicles that will be participating. The first class is for cars from 1908 and earlier; the second class is for any one- and two-cylinder car, steam or electrical vehicle and motorcycle up to, and including, the year 1915.

Mt. Pleasant is the home base for the tour and cars will arrive on Wednesday, Sept. 23, for the beginning of the tour the next day. The first day of the tour will take motorists to the Geode State Park and back to Mt. Pleasant via Salem.

Prior to leaving Thursday, the drivers are encouraged to bring their vehicles to the Mt. Pleasant square while eating breakfast in Mt. Pleasant. The cars will be on display from 7:30 to 9:15 a.m.

Thursday night will feature another local event. Main Street Cinemas will be showing the movie, ?Eat My Dust,? with admission free to the tour participants and the community. Again, car owners will be encouraged to drive their vehicles to the theater.

Friday?s route takes the vehicles through Morning Sun to Wapello where they will tour Midwest Rod and Restoration ? a Wapello business specializing in the restoration of antique vehicles. The route back to Mt. Pleasant will pass through Yarmouth.

The New London to Brighton run is on Saturday, the final day of the event.

One of the highlights Saturday will be a stop in Wayland at approximately 1:45 p.m. ?Wayland really rolls out the red carpet for us,? Krug said.

This year is no exception. Those on the tour will be visiting Wayland, and Midwest Memories Museum, and the community is planning other activities. Larry Graber, of Wayland, will be milking one of his Dexter cows by hand. In addition to homemade ice cream served to those on the tour, Seth Wenger will be directing a folk singing choir from Iowa City.

Krug said that each year brings new memories. ?Every year it is a new venture with new friendships and relationships. We get a fantastic response from the communities. This is just as much about people as it is automobiles.?

For more information on the tour, visit the website: www.redflagmotortour.com.