PANORA, Iowa, February 21, 2011 – More than 200 people attended the 4th annual membership banquet of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association, held Saturday, February 19, at the Lake Panorama National Resort Conference Center north of here.

Another story on this Internet site details the financial success of the event and also covers the speech of former Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack.

But here we’re giving you the story in 23 of the photos that were taken Saturday night by RRVT Association board member Chuck Offenburger, of Cooper,and association member Randy Jensen, of West Des Moines.  Enjoy the photos!

At RRVTAssociation’s 2011 banquet

Karen Sievers, of Panora, and Cindy Jensen, of West Des Moines, both members of the board of directors of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association, welcomed those attending the 4th membership banquet February 19 at the Lake Panorama National Resort Conference Center.

Pam German and Heather Willrich, both of Dallas Center, were checking in guests as they arrived for the banquet.

Christie Vilsack (left), the former First Lady of Iowa and a veteran bicyclist, was the speaker at the banquet and, beforehand, was welcomed by Mollie and Kevin Cooney, both news anchors on KCCI-TV in Des Moines. Kevin Cooney was last year’s banquet speaker, and he and Mollie attended this year as paying customers.

This group attending the RRVT Association banquet include Pam & Jeff Miller on the left, the Art Woodcocks of West Des Moines in the middle, and another couple whose names we’re still clarifying on the right.

Orville & Sharon Terry, of Panora, are shown here at the booth where they sold clothing that carries the RRVT logo. The Terrys are partners in Sew Inspirational, a Panora company that specializes in logo apparel.

Shown here are RRVT Association board member Karen Sievers (left) and Melinda Behn, who is director of the Waukee Chamber of Commerce. They are shown with a colorful display map the RRVT Association now uses at gatherings.

People attending the banquet are shown here going through the buffet line at the Lake Panorama National Resort Conference Center.

Steve Roe, of Des Moines, president of the Raccoon River Watershed Association, is waiting for a slice of excellent prime rib at the banquet.  The server is Mike Harris of the Lake Panorama National Resort Conference Center culinary team.

Carla Offenburger (left), president of the RRVT Association, is joined by Greene County Conservation director Dan Towers (in the dark shirt) in recognizing Jacque and Jim Andrew (right), of Jefferson. In the past year, Jim Andrew’s mother Alice Ann Andrew passed away and among her many bequests, left the RRVT Association 200 shares of McDonald’s restaurant stock valued at $15,196. Alice Andrew began riding a bicycle in the early 1970s when she was 57 years old and continued riding regularly until she was in her 90s, many times meeting her goal of riding 1,000 miles per year.

Here, Jim Andrew holds the enlarged stock certificate during the recognition at the RRVT Association banquet.  The Andrew gift to the association is being used to help pay for the new showers & restrooms building being constructed this spring at the trailside campground at the RRVT trailhead in Jefferson.  The $15,196 of the gift is not counted in the $17,776 that the RRVT banquet raised.

In one especially fun moment during the banquet, there was a quick “heads & tails” raffle when people paid $5 apiece to be in a contest in which, before coin flips, they’d either grab their heads or rear ends. After the coin was flipped, those who’d picked wrong were eliminated. The final two in the event were Andy Cullen (left), of Adel, and John Powell, of Perry. After a final coin flip, Cullen won $200, splitting with the RRVT Association the $400 that had been collected.

RRVT Association board members Jim Miller (left) and Jon Doll (right), both of Waukee, sell $10 chances on a new Trek bicycle to Bill Claman, of Dallas Center (center). All 50 spots in the raffle were purchased.

Two loyal RRVT users who were at the banquet are Dave and Mary Beidelman, of Panora.

Christie Vilsack, as she was beginning her speech at the banquet. She’s been a bicyclist most of her life, dating to her childhood in the southeast Iowa town of Mount Pleasant. “Growing up, I can’t remember a single adult around me who rode a bicycle,” she said, noting how much that has changed today. She said she intends to keep riding “as long as I’m able,” and she talked about what great tourist attractions Iowa has in its network of recreational trails and in the Des Moines Register’s RAGBRAI annual ride across the state.

When she was getting ready for her first RAGBRAI, the former First Lady of Iowa said, “I went on a ride one hot Sunday from Terrace Hill down the Great Western Trail to the town of Cumming. When I got back to Des Moines, I called Tom (her husband, who was then Governor Vilsack) and said, ‘Did you know the bar in Cumming is open on Sunday afternoons?’ And he said, ‘I thought you were training for RAGBRAI!’ I’ve been back there many times since then.”

Auctioneer Chad Daugherty, of Daugherty Auction Services in Adel and Stuart, launches the live auction of donated items at the RRVT banquet. To the left were two of the RRVT Association board members, Allan Sieck, of Rippey, and Mike Wallace, of Perry, acting as “ringmen” spotting bidders.

When the first of two 12-foot-long kayaks was going up for auction, it was paraded around the banquet room by RRVT Association board members Karen Sievers, of Panora, and Butch Niebuhr, of Perry.

RRVT Association board member Jim Miller walked through the banquet crowd displaying two of a dozen huge, 10-pound pork loins from Tyson Fresh Meats in Perry that were auctioned.

Cartoonist Brian Duffy (left) and Bike World store owner Forrest Ridgway, both of West Des Moines, are shown here together after Ridgway bought the original artwork Duffy contributed to the RRVT Association for use on the new bicycling jerseys the group is offering. Ridgway got both the framed picture and one of the jerseys when he was the successful bidder in the auction. The two men have been great friends and bicycle riding partners for years.

Shown here during the evening are (left to right) RRVT Association president Carla Offenburger, of Cooper; board member Bob German, of Dallas Center; guests Sharon and Brian Duffy, of West Des Moines, and board member Chuck Offenburger, of Cooper. Brian Duffy was the RRVT banquet guest speaker in 2009, and he and Sharon have returned to attend the two banquets held subsequently.

Alan and Kathy Lenz, partners in Lenz Auction Clerking, of Perry, volunteered their professional services to do the quick tabulations and accounting necessary at the conclusion of the banquet’s auctions.

Christie Vilsack stuck around after the banquet and talked with everyone who wanted to visit. Here she chats with Pat Knueven, of Urbandale.

Rachel Garst, of Coon Rapids, was another of those who had a good conversation at the banquet with Christie Vilsack.