'We had a blast,' Krug says

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Jeff Krug is worried the bar may be set too high.

Krug of Mt. Pleasant, president of the Red Flag Horseless Carriage Tour, which was hosted in Henry County Sept. 27-29, was thrilled (and maybe a tad relieved) with the event.

?We had a blast,? Krug said enthusiastically Monday morning. ?It was an awesome experience. It by far exceeded my expectations ? how smooth it ran, the weather, the support from communities and law enforcement. We just had a ball.?

Mark Hempen, vice president of the tour board, echoed Krug?s assessment. ?I thought it went very well. There were plenty of opportunities for visitors to experience the beauty of the counties. There were some wonderful people on this tour. I heard some very positive comments and it inspires you to work hard to make this an annual event.?

Hempen, who went on the tour Saturday, said the reception the tour received at the communities along the way was great. ?I was very pleased with the reception at New London and Brighton, and we saw a lot of people gathered on the side of the road as we passed.?

Barb Vandervort of Manitowoc, Wis., said she and her husband, Lynn, were persuaded by friends to come on the tour. She was glad she listened.

?It was fantastic,? she exclaimed Saturday afternoon after she and her husband parked their 1910 Brush. ?I didn?t know anything about Iowa. I love Iowa. The people were so friendly and accommodating.

?The food was great,? she continued. ?We absolutely loved it. It was a wonderful experience and so well organized. We were very impressed.?

Krug said he also heard remarks about the top-notch organization of the tour and said that is the exact reason the event was planned for two years. ?We wanted to do it as correctly as we could, so a lot of planning went into it.?

Fourteen vehicles from six states participated. Those vehicles included 29 participants and during the three days, the tour covered 180.1 miles, Krug said.

He reiterated that the tour will become an annual event ? always on the last weekend of September.

?We had a ball, and I am tickled to death (about how well the tour went),? Krug assessed. ?We had a lot of people say they will be back next year. I think we set the bar pretty high.?