RAGBRAI

Parkersburg, Ia. – Kenny Seifert rolled up to Aplington-Parkersburg High School by himself today, his teammates long gone, and stopped at a chain-link fence.

Wade Vantrease, of Stow, Ohio, purchases a raffle ticket for an Aplington-Parkersburg football helmet autographed by NFL players (and former A-P players) Brad Meester, Aaron Kampman, Jared DeVries and Casey Wiegmann. Vantrease is a high school football coach in Ohio. All proceeds from the raffle benefit the Ed Thomas Family Foundation. (Christopher Gannon/The Register)

The veteran high school athletic director gazed from his bicycle at Ed Thomas Field. The Sacred Acre. The memorial for a man he never knew, but still respected.

“It gives you goose bumps, to see it,” said Seifert, who heads the athletics program at Moberly High School in Missouri. “I had to come here. It’s beautiful.”

Parkersburg welcomed the 10,000 cyclists on the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa with sweet corn, a blues band and a statue built from bicycle parts. A man on stilts, dressed as Uncle Sam, waded into the crowd. Most riders partied on Third Street, and moved on.

But a steady trickle of bikers ventured off the formal route to visit the school where Thomas coached before he was killed by a former player in June 2009. Other riders — many from out of state — spun through the neighborhoods rebuilt after a tornado destroyed the southern third of Parkersburg in May 2008.

Steve Sawyer poked a digital camera through the football field fence. He laced his fingers through the chain links, and shook his head. Silence hung in the air, about a quarter-mile from the downtown party.

“What a sad, sad story,” said Sawyer, of Arlington Heights, Ill. “It’s still numbing to me, even though I didn’t know him. I made it a point to come here and see this.”

Wade Vantrease pedaled into town shortly before 10 a.m. and hopped off in the RAGBRAI crowd. The rider from Stow , Ohio, had seen the Thomas family accept an ESPY award for courage two weeks ago and was eager to see Parkersburg in person.

The night before, Vantrease — a football coach himself — logged on to YouTube and watched footage of the tornado in Parkersburg.

“This town is just incredible,” he said. “It’s really something. The signs on the way in were awesome. I could hardly wait to get here.”

Vantrease spotted a canopy for the Ed Thomas Family Foundation, created after the longtime coach was killed. On the table sat a red Aplington-Parkersburg Falcon football helmet, signed by the four NFL players who grew up in Parkersburg and played for Thomas. Three volunteers were selling raffle tickets. Vantrease walked up and put down a dollar.

“If I win this helmet,” he said, “I’ll donate it back, so you can raffle it again.”

Residents acknowledged both tragedies with several signs on the 23-mile ride from Clarksville, part of the fifth day of the seven-day RAGBRAI.

But every row of signs ended with the same slogan: “Parkersburg. Upward. Onward. Forward.”

Riders who visited the Ed Thomas memorial plaque said they were amazed that a town so battered by past tragedies could hold such a colorful party.

Earl and Maggie DeVries sat on lawn chairs on Third Street this morning, in the shade, as the riders rolled past. The rural Aplington couple watched the crowd, pointed at the funny-looking bikes and chuckled. It was nice, at last, to see Parkersburg in the spotlight for a celebration.

— Grant Schulte