PANORA, Iowa, February 13, 2011 – In this final week before the annual banquet of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association, it’s clear that there are going to be exceptional items and opportunities available at the live and silent auctions to be held at the event.

The banquet will be held Saturday, February 19, at the Lake Panorama National Conference Center, with a social time at 6 p.m. and a full meal served at 7 p.m.  Besides the auctions, there will also be a few fun raffles.  All proceeds support the work of the RRVT Association, marketing and promoting the trail and its communities.  The evening also features a guest speaker — former Iowa first lady and cycling enthusiast Christie Vilsack, and you can read more about her in another story on this Internet site.

In the next day or so, we plan to have a complete listing of auction items that you will be able to access right here in this story, so that you can be well acquainted with what will be available at the banquet.

In the meantime, we’ll highlight some of the items here.

You will be able to bid on a package that includes four tickets to April 2 performance at the Des Moines Civic Center of legendary comedian Bill Cosby, complete with dinner at Biaggi’s Italian restaurant and an overnight stay at the West Des Moines Marriott Hotel.

Also available will be condo stays in Colorado, Arizona and the Lake of the Ozarks, the latter one being for a group of several couples.  There are also overnight stays offered at a half-dozen B&Bs in the vicinity of the trail.

The Dallas County Conservation Board is offering a two-night stay in one of the brand new cabins that have now been completed at Sportsman Park, located almost trailside just east of Dawson.  The cabins are each 14 feet by 18 feet and can sleep five. There are two sets of bunk beds in each cabin, and a larger bed that can sleep two.  Each cabin also has a bathroom, shower and sink.  Each also has a microwave oven and a small refrigerator.  And the cabins have both heat and air-conditioning.

The Greene County Conservation Board is sponsoring an unusual recreation package with two nights’ free camping at beautiful Spring Lake County Park, two 18-hole green fees on local golf courses and two day passes on the RRVT.

There will be two 12-foot kayaks auctioned, each with a $100 gift certificate to buy paddles and life jackets.

Jim Miller, of Waukee, a member of the board of directors of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association, is shown here picking out a colorful 12-foot-long kayak at the Scheels sporting goods store in West Des Moines. Scheels and the Greene County Conservation Board are helping the association offer two of these kayaks, plus paddles and life jackets, as featured items in the auction at the fourth annual membership banquet.

And three touring bicycles will be available – a Trek, a Giant and a Schwinn.

In an unusual first-time offering, Jerry Kluver, the Hy-Vee nursery centers’ landscaping expert seen regularly on KCCI-TV, is donating a yard and garden consultation.

Another KCCI-TV News regular, cartoonist Brian Duffy, has given us another original piece of art that features the RRVT.  Duffy was the speaker at the RRVT banquet two years ago.

In other offerings for those who love art, Jefferson photographer David Ausberger has a gorgeous framed color photograph of the Jefferson Depot and RRVT at the north trailhead.  Jefferson stained glass artist Tammie Sobkowiak offers a beautiful 12-inch-square piece of her work.  And Dallas Center artist Scott Deaver has an artistic metalcraft bell.

There will be a golf package with an overnight stay at Lake Panorama National Resort.

A “Feasting along the Trail” package has dining gift certificates for restaurants all along the trail — and beyond.

There is a lunch for two available with Michael Gartner, owner of the Iowa Cubs professional baseball team in Des Moines, with the meal at the Cub Club — and it comes with two game tickets.

There’s another lunch for two being offered, too.  The veteran Iowa State University radio broadcast team of John Walters and Eric Heft will meet you in Ames or Des Moines, buy lunch for you and a pal, tell their favorite broadcasting stories and talk Cyclone athletics with you.

RRVT Association board member Allan Sieck and his wife Carol Sieck are offering an elegant dinner for eight at their beautiful farm home southwest of Rippey.

The Des Moines Zoo is offering a special package there, too, and it includes “a private giraffe feeding”!

There is a “total tailgate” package that includes a table with umbrella, full cooler, a grill, an apron & utensils, a “Mr. Heater” space heater for your tailgate area, and $100 cash for game tickets.

Mitch Hambleton, who is mayor of Dallas Center and a talented beer brewer, offers one of his beer brewing sessions.

There is a Lake Panorama package that includes a pontoon boat ride on the lake, an overnight at the Lakeside Inn and a $30 gift card for The Port restaurant.

The Guthrie County Conservation Board is again offering four of its popular bluebird houses.

speaking of birds, Dr. David and Lisa Jaskey, of Jefferson, are offering a 25-gallon tub of bird feeding supplies.

And there are GPS units, RRVT apparel from Sew Inspirational and Sweatshirts by LJS, 12 pork roasts, bicycle tune-ups, two free entries to the Hy-Vee Triathlon, two VIP hospitality passes to the Hy-Vee Triathlon, and much more.

Again, in the next day or so, we hope to have a complete listing of auction items that you will be able to access from this story.

You can buy banquet tickets online on this Internet site, or by calling RRVT Association board members Carla & Chuck Offenburger at (515) 386-5488.  Or you can contact any of the other board members — Daniel Willrich, Mike Wallace, Jim Miller, Jon Doll, Cindy Jensen, Bob German, Kevin Wilbeck, Karen Sievers, Joe Hanner, Mark Vukovich, Clark Smith, Dan Towers, Allan Sieck and Butch Niebuhr.