DALLAS CENTER, Iowa, October  18, 2011 — This central Iowa community of 1,600 officially became a “trail town” on Saturday, October 15, when the grand oening was held on a new 5.5-mile section of the Raccoon River Valley Trail between Waukee and here.  More than 70 people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony held about midway between the two towns, where the new concrete trail crosses a gravel road.  And most of those people rode bicycles to get there, with sizable groups riding together from Dallas Center and from Waukee.

The mayors of the two towns — Bill Peard of Waukee and Mitch Hambleton of Dallas Center — used a large pair of scissors to cut the ribbon opening the trail.

“It’s taken a long time to get this done,”  Mike Wallace, the Dallas County Conservation director, told the crowd.  “But about a week ago, our board approved a contract to build the trail on from Forest Park (just south of Perry) to Minburn, and then in 2012 we plan to complete the rest of the new trail from Minburn to Dallas Center, and from Dawson to Herndon.  At that point, we will then have the longest loop trail in the nation.  I think then we’ll all agree that it’s been worth waiting for.”

Total mileage of the RRVT then will be 89 miles, with the loop itself totaling 72 miles.

Chuck Offenburger, a member of the board of directors of the RRVT Association, served as emcee.  He announced that when all that trail work is completed, “we’re going to celebrate in a really big way — we’re all going to go to Jamaica!”  Then he acknowledged he was referring to the west central Iowa town of Jamaica (pop. 237), one of the towns that will be on the new trail loop.

You can see more about the ceremony in the photos and captions below here.

Bicyclists rode from both Dallas Center and Waukee for the ribbon-cutting, which was held on the trail about midway between the towns. Here, just rolling in from Dallas Center, are Brian Myers (left), Mayor Mitch Hambleton (right) and several others in the background.

Laura and Forrest Ridgway, of West Des Moines, are shown here leading a group of bicyclists who pedaled in from Waukee for the ribbon-cutting.

Chuck Offenburger, of Cooper, a member of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association board of directors, is shown here serving as master of ceremonies for the brief program that preceded the ribbon-cutting.

Among the officials on hand at the grand opening of the new section of trail were (left to right) Jim Miller of the Dallas County Conservation Board; Mark Hanson of the Dallas County Board of Supervisors; Daniel Willrich and Gary Stevens of the Dallas Center city council; Waukee Mayor Bill Peard; Dallas Center Mayor Mitch Hambleton; Mike Wallace, the Dallas County Conservation director; Bob German and Carla Offenburger of the Raccoon River Valley Trail Association board of directors, and Glen Vondra of the Dallas County Conservation Board.

More than 70 people attended the ceremony, and most of them rode bicycles to it. Nearly all gathered for this photo to commemorate the ribbon-cutting by Waukee Mayor Bill Peard (in purple) and Dallas Center Mayor Mitch Hambleton (in blue), who can be seen in the middle of the group. The youngster out front of the crowd on her bicycle is Ella McCarthy, 8, of Adel, who said she is a frequent rider on the RRVT in her community.

Just after the ceremony ended and most people were pedaling away on their bicycles, rider Greg Johnson, of Waukee, discovered his bike had a flat tire. Forrest Ridgway, who owns the Bike World stores in the Des Moines area, showed that even though he doesn’t spend much time on repairs any more, he still knows how to change a bike tire.