The 26th annual WHO Tractor Ride goes through Tama-Toledo on Tuesday, June 20. PHOTO BY MICHAEL D. DAVIS

Traffic in and around parts of Grundy, Marshall and Tama counties moved a little slower last week Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday thanks to the approximately 320 tractors — some vintage, some modern — cruising through the area as part of the 26th annual WHO Tractor Ride, sponsored by the namesake Des Moines-based AM radio station.

Local officials were thrilled when Marshalltown was announced as the host city for the event back in February, and it’s given the riders — some of whom hail from around the area, others from across Iowa and even other states — a chance to see what Marshall, Tama and Grundy counties have to offer.

After the riders congregated at the Central Iowa Fairgrounds on Sunday evening, they headed north on Monday, first to Gladbrook, then Beaman, Conrad, Liscomb and Albion before making one of the most memorable stops of the week at the Iowa Veterans Home. There, they had a chance to thank those who had served — as was noted, many of the riders were also veterans themselves and received recognition during a short presentation in front of the Sheeler Administration Building — and hear from Commandant Todd Jacobus, who was grateful they made IVH a stop along the ride.

Jacobus provided some history, facts and figures about IVH, which has served over 20,000 veterans and their spouses and caregivers since its inception in 1887 and is currently occupied by just under 400 residents — including five World War II veterans and 169 who served in Vietnam.

“We, the staff of the Iowa Veterans Home, get the privilege of providing and fulfilling the promise that the American people made to our veterans when they stood up and took the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic,” Jacobus said. “So it’s quite an awesome responsibility that we have, and it’s truly an opportunity that we have to provide the very best in terms of quality of service.”

Tractors with the WHO Tractor Ride go past construction on Highway 63 in Tama while a group of Sunny Hill Care Center residents observe the tractorcade on Tuesday, June 20. PHOTO BY MICHAEL D. DAVIS

The veteran riders were also presented with magnets they could attach to their tractors courtesy of American Legion Charles Horton Post 739, which is comprised entirely of IVH residents and staff. Scott Knock of WHO Radio, who served as an organizer of the event, said the ride had never specifically honored veterans in the past, but once they knew Marshalltown would be the host city, it made perfect sense to do so.

“Doing something for the veterans has always been a priority for me. I just knew it needed to be done right,” Knock said. “When the opportunity came for us to visit Marshalltown, there was no doubt that incorporating a stop at the Iowa Veterans Home was gonna be a necessity. We have a lot of veterans on our ride. It’s important to us (because) they’re passionate about Iowa. They’re passionate about the United States, so being able to do this was a blast.”

Marshalltown Area Chamber of Commerce Tourism Director Dylan Does appreciated the opportunity to show off IVH to an audience who might not otherwise be aware of the facility.

“I think Marshalltown is unique in our ability (to provide) what I would call red, white and blue travel. There’s a lot of things unique to Marshalltown that honor the veterans, including the Veterans Home, the F-4 (fighter jet) and the Freedom Rock,” Does said. “But when you look at the residents and the people I’ve talked to from across the country, this is a highlight for them. Walking in (with) kind of wide open eyes like ‘I had no idea.’ You go through this little gate, and you come out to 150 acres of some of the most beautiful land in Central Iowa.”

Although many of the riders do hail from the immediate area, Knock said 12 states and 85 Iowa counties were represented in all, and a lot of them are seeing Marshalltown and the smaller communities surrounding it for the first time.

WHO Tractor Ride participants who were Veterans received magnets of appreciation from the American Legion Charles Horton Post 739, which is comprised entirely of IVH residents and staff. PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY

“It’s just the beautiful rolling landscape of Iowa and the agriculture. Farm is what makes Iowa Iowa, and we’re just really passionate about it,” he said.

Carl Payne, who hails from the small southern Illinois community of Ridgway, was one of the out of state riders, and he relished the chance to check out the Iowa landscape for the second time, with nothing but the air between himself and the thousands of acres of corn and soybean fields.

“It’s real nice. We like to travel on two or three day trips. It makes it worth our while to go see new territory, so when we get a chance, we go different places,” Payne said. “I’m a farmer. (I like to see) different types of ground, how crops are looking, different farmsteads.”

Payne was then put on the spot with an especially difficult question: how does Iowa’s farm ground compare to Illinois?

“We’ve got some real good, and we’ve got some real rough (land). We’re in the southern part where it’s hilly, and we’ve got a lot of bottomland too,” he said. “I know you’ve got a lot of rolling ground, but your rolling ground’s better than ours. We’ve got some good land down there too, but this is some nice land up here.”

Residents and staff of the Iowa Veterans Home wave at one of the approximately 320 participants in the WHO Tractor Ride as he passes by the Dack Care Facility on Monday, June 19, in Marshalltown. PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY

While most of the riders were men in their 50s and 60s, the Tractor Ride also included some younger participants like 20-year-old Thomas Supper of Norwalk, who said he’s loved tractors since his grandfather took him out on rides at a young age.

“I just fell in love with it ever since, and it was a joy going to grandpa’s house,” he said. “All around, it’s just something I enjoy, and I’m all up about getting old stuff up and running good.”

Because it’s his job to bring visitors to the area, Does is hopeful that some of the riders will make return trips to Marshalltown in the future.

“Yesterday, I was able to greet hundreds of people as they came in (and) handing out information about restaurants, but also different experiences. Really, when I look at Marshalltown, there are a ton of opportunities for people to come here,” he said. “We may not have 10 of something like a larger metro, but I always say our one of something is always better than anyone’s 10 of something. So really it’s promoting (and) telling that story of Marshalltown that I think sometimes we don’t tell loud enough and proud enough.”

The ride headed east from its headquarters at the fairgrounds on Tuesday, with stops at East Marshall High School in Le Grand, the Van Wall Implement north of Toledo, Union Grove Lake between Gladbrook and Garwin and GMG Elementary School in Green Mountain along the route. Wednesday was the third and final day of the ride and focused on the communities west of Marshalltown in Marshall County.

PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY