The big day is almost here

   Julie Winter-Havel sat in her office at the Blue Iris and went through her list.   Vendors? Check.   Information booths? Check.   Volunteers? Check.   T-shirts? Check.   On and on the list went, and then she was asked about the weather, and the New Hampton RAGBRAI Committee co-chairwoman laughed.   “Look, if I could guarantee 80 and sunny,” she said, “I probably wouldn’t have to run this flower shop, would I?”‘   Yet, as crazy as the preparations have been for Thursday’s invasion of bicyclists have been, Winter-Havel said if there’s one word she’d use to describe her work on the committee, it is blessed.   “To see so many people come together to showcase our community,” she said, “it’s just been amazing. I really do feel blessed. People have really stepped up.”   And the same can be said of the numerous volunteers in Ionia, Lawler and Protivin who will literally welcome thousands of visitors to Chickasaw County as the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa makes its way from a Wednesday overnight stop in Charles City to Crestwood.
   The rest of the story may be found in the July 25 Tribune.