The Trans Iowa Stories:The Template

A Guitar Ted Productions series

NOTE-  This is the basic template for the series, "Trans Iowa Stories". Please let me know if you have any suggestions or comments!

 The layout on this series may be in flux for a bit depending upon how I feel the thing develops. I won't be stuck to what I am laying out here today, so if anyone feels strongly enough about something, please leave a comment. I will seriously consider any suggestion that is reasonable.

With that said, yesterday I posted that this would be about the people, and I still feel that is the most interesting facet of Trans Iowa. I think I am going to kind of break down the story into "eras" of Trans Iowa. There were some people that figure heavily into the T.I. story but maybe weren't along for the entire fourteen years of it. In fact, hardly anyone crosses that time span. There were folks that did have some good runs and were integral parts of the T.I. story. Some were parts of the earliest ones, some in the middle years, and some at the end.

Then there were people that were a big part of this story that never were part of the event proper, or maybe only were in one Trans Iowa. Influencers, helpers, and supporters which without them, Trans Iowa wouldn't have existed or wouldn't have been what it was.

So, here is a bit of an outline with some names of people that I am thinking about. If any readers out there have any names they think I am missing, once again- please suggest those names in the comments. I'm splitting up the "eras" as well in this and anyone that disagrees can let me know what they think there also. Keep in mind that some of the people span eras, and I am not repeating names here. It keeps things simpler for me that way. So, you will notice less names at the end than in the middle.

The Beginnings: 2004-2006

• Mike Curiak, Jeff Kerkove, Richard "Deke" Gosen, Russ Clarke, Dave and Linda Kerkove, The Lalonde Brothers, Ira Ryan, Ward Budweg, The People of Hawarden, Patrick Humenny, Joel Dyke, Jim Cummins

The Growing Up Years: 2007-2009

• Steve Fuller, The Slender Fungus, David Pals, Jason Boucher, Corey, Cornbread" Godfrey, Zach Dundas, Joe Meiser, John Gorilla, Team Polska, Gary Cale, The Lincoln Crew, Trans Iowa Radio's Beginnings, Technology Intrusions, Dave Nice, Ben Shockey, Charlie Farrow, Tim Ek, David Story, Ken Yokanovich, Charles Parsons, Brian Dukek, The Braun Brothers, Jeremy Fry, Volunteers
  

Forged In Tears: 2010-2012

• Matt Gersib, Eric Brunt, Sean Mailen, Mike Johnson, Jana Vavra, Jay & Tracey Petervary, Dennis Grelk, Jay Barre, Mark Johnson, Sheryl Parmely, Craig Cooper, The Grinnell Steakhouse, Rob Versteegh, Jeff Frings, George Keslin, Wally Kilburg, Andrea Cohen, Sam Auen, 
  

Fine Tuning The Beast: 2013-2015

• Greg Gleason, Ben Welnak, Riding Gravel, Monica Sattler, Tony McGrane, Will Ritchie/WTB,  Josh Lederman/Lederman Bail Bonds, Sarah Cooper, International riders

The End Of An Era: 2016-2018

• Dan Hughes, Walter Zitz, Bob Moural/Cumming Tap, Jon Duke

So, that is by no means a definitive list, but it is obviously a huge list of people and the stories connected with them will take an enormous amount of time to tell. Along with the people will come the stories about the weather, the efforts, the relationships, the sponsors, the logistics, and everything the people brought to the table to make Trans Iowa a success story. Some folks will fall under a certain heading, like Volunteers. I think I could write a book just about them.

I'll try my hand at a start this Sunday, and then next Sunday. I'll take up the story involving the beginnings of Trans Iowa and why certain people were important to the story. I will likely reference any of the "Trans Iowa Tales" posts already written as companion reads to my entries as I don't want to cover the same ground twice unless I have new things to say. Keep in mind- there were 46 of those posts alone!

See ya this Sunday!