An exercise in hospitality

Aug. 1, 2016

Washington, Iowa

To the Editor:

As Friday?s RAGBRAI experience becomes part of Washington?s history, I have been reflecting on how we shaped this event and how it shaped us.

The first things that RAGBRAI director, T.J. Juskiewicz, explained to the volunteer Washington RAGBRAI organizers in February were 1) have fun, 2) don?t be greedy. ?Have fun? was challenging to do all the time, but it was a powerful frame of reference for how we went about months of preparation for and executing RAGBRAI on Friday.

T.J. explained that ?don?t be greedy? means no one individual should try to take control of RAGBRAI. It?s a team effort with no CEO, and I am proud of how the dozens of leaders and hundreds of volunteers were committed to working together, and toward our goal of hosting a fabulous event. RAGBRAI was a wonderful community-building experience that brought together many people who had not worked together before. I hope these relationships and bonds help the community to collaborate and achieve even more in the future.

T.J.?s second meaning of ?don?t be greedy? is to not see RAGBRAI as primarily a moneymaking opportunity. T.J. reminded us over and over that successful RAGBRAI towns were able to put the Community first. I saw this commitment to Community from so many Washington people, groups, and businesses.

RAGBRAI is truly an exercise in hospitality. Throughout the 15,000 riders? brief stay, Washingtonians? real reward was to hear (or read on Facebook) that ?your town is so friendly,? and ?the town square is beautiful,? and ?we had the best meal of the week,? and ?things were so organized,? and ?we had a great time in Washington ? you guys did it right.? We heard these comments, and many more, over and over. RAGBRAI riders returned our hospitality by leaving almost no sign of their passing. Campgrounds, parks, and backyards were clean and tidy on Saturday morning.

Many things didn?t go perfectly during RAGBRAI, but the overwhelmingly positive and gracious reactions of the riders are the lasting currency that Washington earned this past weekend.

Thank you, Washington. We showed the thousands of RAGBRAI riders from across the nation that we are a caring and hospitable community. We set the bar high.

Ed Raber