Oversized license plates used to greet RAGBRAI riders were stolen

Three enlarged Iowa license plates that were used to greet and guide RAGBRAI cyclists through Newton last week were stolen, and organizers want them back.

The day after riders and support teams left the meeting town on July 27, the Newton RAGBRAI group that organized the festivities announced the “upsetting news” on Facebook. During the morning cleanup, it was discovered three of the license plates “have grown legs and wandered off.”

Chantelle Lundberg, a member of Newton RAGBRAI, said she and her fellow volunteers in the hospitality committee came up with the idea for the license plates. In total, 19 license plates were posted throughout the route and featured unique phrases like “K BYE” and “HPYTHRS.”

Lundberg said, “I think it was a great addition to town. We were out and about on the route quite a bit. Or I was at least because I was in charge of all of the volunteers; I wanted to be sure I got to talk to everybody. We saw people getting off their bikes and getting pictures with them and trying to figure them out.”

In addition to the license plates, there were two oversized road signs featuring the theme “Get Your Kicks on Hwy 6.” Many of the license plates were biking themed and acknowledged the 50-year anniversary of RAGBRAI. The hospitality committee also came up with the idea to plant “flowers” downtown.

Of course these flowers were made of rebar and bicycle wheels, which were welded together by a local student and then spray-painted, Lundberg said.

There was also a blank license plate where riders and teams were encouraged to autograph or post their stickers onto. Volunteers are playing with the idea to use the oversized plate as a community art display in town, possibly at the future location of the downtown park and splash pad.

“Between that and the signs, we just got a really positive response from the community and from the riders,” she said. “It was fun! We just had fun with it.”

To know some of the license plates have not been returned is disappointing for Newton RAGBRAI volunteers, especially because there are proposals to auction them to raise money for charitable causes. Volunteers know two of the signs posted on the east side of town were stolen around 6 a.m. July 28.

Erin Yeager, who also served Newton RAGBRAI, received phone calls from individuals asking about the signs and if they could purchase them. Yeager said a woman from Davenport showed interest in purchasing one; she posed for pictures next to them with her mom during RAGBRAI.

“She thought it was a creative way to even just guide people through town,” Yeager said. “They thought it was really cool going through town and reading all of them. They thought the logo, the plate, the everything was amazing. If you look at the tag it also says 1973 to 2023.”

Lundberg added, “I still have people today reaching out to me about the flowers downtown.And we’ve had so many people reach out to us about the signs. So we thought why not try to do good for some nonprofit or a local organization or something and do an auction of sorts off of them. We have the interest out there.”

In the Newton RAGBRAI Facebook post, volunteers asked those who have the signs to please return them to Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 1115 E. 19th St. N., in Newton, no questions asked.

“Our committee had plans for them, and we’d love to have them back.”