Cities IG - 8-3-24

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Next up this Saturday Morning, Knowledge is Power, hosted by
Rob Kane of Citi's Insurance Group. If you have a
question for Rob and would like it answered on an
upcoming show, email him at r Kane at citiesig dot com.
And now Rob.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Kan Hi, everyone, and welcome to you Living in Leclair.
This is a periodic segment of Knowledge's Power made possible
through the generosity of Rob Kane in City's Insurance Group.
I'm Wayne Wally. I'm currently the president of the Leclair
Tourism Board and your host of Living in Leclair where
we talk about things about Leclair and what to do
in Leclair. You know, it's the first weekend in August.

(00:38):
And what happens the first weekend in August in Leclair. Well,
it's time for the Quad Cities British Auto Club to
host the Heartland British Autofest. This is on Saturday down
on the Levee. The car show goes from nine am
to three pm. Now, whether it's coincidence or not, it
turns out this is their thirty seventh annual Autofest. It's

(01:00):
also going to be the thirty seventh annual Tugfest and
that's going to be happening the following weekend or actually
on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, August Day through the tenth, so
thirty seven years twenty twenty four at thirty seven's the number.
So anyway, be prepared to come on down to downtown
Leclair into the levee to enjoy these different events that

(01:21):
we have coming up. But the British Car Show, you know,
you really get to see some of the area's best
examples of British cars for makers like Jaguar, MG Mini
and Triumph. You also have a DJ that's going to
provide music and make announcements. There's going to be plaques
to be awarded. It's going to be a very interesting
and nice day again down on the levee British cars

(01:44):
right on the Mississippi River. So come join us.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Down on the levee.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Now, when we return, we'll be talking more about Tugfest
other events that are coming up in Leclaire in August
and beyond, so stay tuned.

Speaker 4 (01:55):
Turning sixty five soon. It doesn't cost anything extra to
work with a well marked Let's work together to find
the right Medicare supplement plan for you. Call Rob Kane
with City's Insurance group in Leclair at five six three three,
five nine zero eight five four to talk about your
Medicare supplement options. Rob Kaine is a local authorized independent
agent for well Marked, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa.

(02:17):
To be eligible, you must reside in the service area
of the plan. Well Marked Medicare Supplement insurance plans are
not affiliated with any government agency.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Welcome back to Living Leclair, where today we're talking about
some of these great events that are coming up in
Leclair in the month of August and beyond. Well, we've
already talked a little bit about the Heartland British Car
Show that's coming back to Leclair and it's their thirty
seventh annual event and you'll be able to see plenty
of great British cars down in the Levee on Saturday,

(02:45):
August third. But the big, big, big event for Leclair
starts on Thursday, August eighth, and that's the three day
festival known as Tugfest. It's also going to be the
thirty seventh annual year the Tugfest is happening. Techfest was
long in nineteen eighty seven and has been going strong
ever since. And here we are in the thirty seventh year. Now,

(03:06):
this is a very very unique event in that traffic
on the Mississippi River on Saturday will be halted for
three hours while a twenty seven hundred foot rope that
weighs six hundred and eighty pounds is stretched across the
Mississippi and different teams in Port Byron, Illinois and in LaClaire,

(03:26):
Iowa pull as much rope to their side as they
can in a grueling three minute test of endurance and strength.
It's something to see. If you're cheering for Illinois, come
on out. It's nothing. You know, you've got to be
able to cheer on your team, and I know the support.
Hearing the yells and screams gives you more strength to

(03:48):
really keep pulling on that rope for three minutes. So
let's come on out and support our Leclair teams this year.
Or if you're on the Illinois side, you know, be
sure and have fun over there too. They've had some
great teams in the past and have really sort of
dominated Tugfest over the last several years, although last year
by putting an excavator in a barge in the middle
of the river and keeping the rope out of the water.

(04:10):
It was a very competitive tugfest where if I remember correctly,
Leclair was able to win four of the eleven tugs,
not enough to be declared the winner of Tugfest, but
again it made it much more competitive. But anyway, getting
back to Tugfest and what goes on Thursday is Family Night,
free admission to the levee and Leclair and its Riskban
Night where you can get unlimited rides when you buy

(04:33):
a thirty dollars wristband. Now, the carnival vendors and the
beverage tent all open at five thirty pm. The Leclair
Civic Club on the south end of the pavilion will
also be hosting bingo and then at six point thirty.
This year there's also a bags tournament on the north
end of the levee and we have live music going
from seven to eleven pm. So that's what's going on

(04:54):
on Thursday. When we get into Friday, that's always a
very interesting day for tugfestare because in Leclair we have
the Tugfest Parade. It's really a great parade that goes
down different roads. It comes on down Wisconsin. It starts
at the Leclair fire Station. Plenty of candy gets tossed

(05:15):
along the way, So if you're going to be a spectator,
be sure and bring a bag to pick up all
the candy that all the parade participants are tossing out
to to the people that are there, the crowds that
line the streets, it's really a great, great time. The
Grand Parade starts at six pm. The theme this year
is Stars and Stripes, a salute to America. So let's

(05:36):
come on out and cheer those parade participants and get
some candy now. Also on Friday, the carnival vendors and
beverage tent will open from six and go to ten pm.
The Leclair Civic Club will continue to do bingo on
Friday from six to ten. There's also live music from
the Dirt Rockers at eight thirty, but at nine thirty
is probably one of the best fireworks shows you'll ever see.

(05:58):
Fireworks are being shot off from a barge on the
Mississippi River. You have these great fireworks that are lighting
up the sky, lighting up the river. You get the reflections.
It's really an amazing sight to see. And for a
small town and for a one of a kind festival,
this is also a very impressive, one of a kind

(06:18):
fireworks show. I mean every year that I've lived in
the Claire, which is now about eighteen years. Boy, it's
hard to find parking.

Speaker 4 (06:27):
You know.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
You got to get down there a little early to
find a good parking spot downtown or somewhere along the
river so that you can claim your spot to sit
and watch the fireworks when they happen. And it starts
at nine point thirty and the fireworks show is usually
at least a half an hour. Again, it's a spectacular
thing to see. If you love fireworks, you won't want
to miss this. Now, when we get to Saturday, that's

(06:50):
when it's actual Tugfest day. But there are other things
happening as well. The Leclaire Civic Club is going to
be putting on a community Tugfest breakfast. I gotta admit
the Leclaire Civic Club puts out a great spread. It's
a great breakfast, well worth the ten dollars admission fee.
You can buy tickets in advance for eight dollars, but
ten dollars for a full breakfast, and it's great. It

(07:14):
is something very very worthwhile to be involved in. Now
we also have a little kids tug going on. There's
a sign up that begins at nine point thirty and
the kids tug happens at ten am on the north
end of the levee. The vendors and beverage tents will
open at eleven am. Bingo will be going on again
on the south end for the Leclaire Civic Club. But
then at noon to three pm it's Leclaire versus Port

(07:37):
Pyn at the tug pit. Now again there will be
eleven teams they'll be tugging. They'll be proctors or people
who measured on both sides to check to make sure
everything's accurate when they do their three minute tug. Now
it's amazing to watch these teams get ready and then
run as hard as they can, holding onto this rope,

(07:58):
and then hitting the point where you've gone as far
as you can, and then digging in to hold on,
and then at different points trying to do a tug
to pull the rope more to your side, and again
you have to hold on for three minutes, and at
the end of three minutes they measure to see how
much rope came to your side. They measure the same
on Port Byron. They discuss and you immediately know who

(08:21):
has won that particular tug. Again, eleven teams first side,
they get six winners, they're going to be declared the
winner of Tugfest and win the Alabaster Eagle Trophy. Now,
Port Byron has been pretty dominant over the last gosh,
I want to say, the last decade. But Leclaire last year,
with a little adjustment, we actually pulled the rope out

(08:43):
of the of the water, used a barge and an
excavator to hold the rope up so that you were
really pulling on rope and the current of the river
was having no impact on the rope. What happened, well,
it didn't change the final result entirely, but Leclair was
able to win four of the hugs out of the eleven,
making it a much more competitive event. So we'll see

(09:04):
what happens this year. There's been lots of training going
on and I know the Port Byron side does the
same thing. And by the way, you know, if you
want to check it out, go across the river, if
you live in the Clare or if you live in
Port Byron or near Port Byron on the Illinois side,
there's lots of different events going on over there too.
So again, it's a wonderful weekend for us in the

(09:24):
Quad Cities area or north of the Quad Cities, that is,
with Leclair and Port Byron. It's a time to come
out and enjoy it. It's a great summertime tradition. So
join us at tech Fest this year. Now we're going
to take a short break and when we come back,
we'll talk about some of the other great events that
will be happening in Leclaire soon.

Speaker 5 (09:44):
Hi, this is Rob Gain and I just want to
remind you it's all there in Leclair.

Speaker 6 (09:49):
It's been over a decade strong for one of television's
most popular history loving partnerships. American Pickers may be the
hit show on the History Channel, but antique archaeology holds
a special place in the hearts of Leclair locals, including
show host Mike Wolfe. For him, the most beautiful aspects
of picking are usually the least attractive. We're talking dirty fingernails,

(10:11):
rust covered metal, and even those tough negotiations with strong
willed owners and collectors. All these bits and pieces work
together to create this everlasting story of how closely tied
are present is to history's past.

Speaker 3 (10:24):
That's right, it's all there in Leclair. We can't wait
to see you.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
Welcome back to you living in Leclair. Where today we're
talking about a lot of the different events that happen
in Leclaire. And you know, the Levy being right on
the water is a great venue and a great spot
for car shows. You know, we talked earlier about the
Heartland British Car Show happening today on August third, but
also in August there is the annual Vets on the River. Now,

(10:50):
this is a fantastic event that again it benefits a
lot of different or it benefits veterans, you know, it's
vets for vets. Vets on the River is something to
come and check out. It's also a pretty amazing event
to just be in downtown Leclaire early in the morning.
This is going to be on Saturday, August twenty fourth.

(11:11):
And when you get downtown and you're just watching, there
are all these corvettes driving into town. It's an amazing site.
As they go and they turn to get down to
the levee and register and get their parking spots, and
it's pretty cool. The thing about Vets on the River
is that again it is put on by four Vets

(11:35):
and it's a nonprofit in Leclaire. Now, what they do
is they sponsor this event, they make it happen and
it's a spectacular thing. Again, they're expecting more than two
hundred and fifty corvettes to show up again this year,
which makes it one of those events that is just
something you're not going to see. There's all these wonderful

(11:55):
corvettes that are lined up on the levee. Different things happen,
but you know, it's four Vets is a nonprofit organization.
All the money raised from Vets on the River is
going to be donated to the Quad Cities Veterans organizations.
You know, if you wanted to have your core vette in,
you would have needed to register online. But you know,

(12:17):
pre registration runs through August fifteenth. Now there is a
full schedule of events that's going to be happening. I
mean again, eight am, the gates open for vet parking.
There are things that are specifically for the participants. At
ten thirty the levey opens to spectators and again it's
free for spectators. Big Dave and Holly's is going to
be serving lunch, so be sure and come down and

(12:39):
support Big Dave and Holly, and you never know what
type of stuff Holly's going to be cooking up that
you're going to want to buy. Now, at ten to
fifteen am it's the call to assemble, and then there
is a color Guards ceremony at ten thirty am for
vets on the River, and then at three pm you
have your awards presentation. There's also a fifty to fifty drawing,
there's raffle items, there's a silent auction, there's all sorts

(13:02):
of things going on again to raise money for veterans.
Now the people that have entered their cars registered their cars,
they're eligible to win awards, so there will be C
Class Veterans Choice Awards and Leclair's Mayor's Choice Award as well.
And at the end of the event there is always
the very heartwarming donation presentation to Vietnam veterans. Again with

(13:26):
more than two hundred and fifty cars showing up, it
is usually a very significant donation that is going to
these veteran organizations. And if you can come down and
cheer everybody on and you know, take part, have fun,
enjoy again all these corvettes all on the river in
one day. Now again it goes to just how great

(13:47):
the Leclair Levy is as a spot to show off cars.
Now the British Car Show and that's on the river
both happened in August. But you know, there's also something
called Cars and Coffee that happens on I believe it's
the third Saturday of every month. I mean, the next
one is going to be happening on Saturday, August seventeenth.

(14:10):
There's also another one coming up September twenty. First, this
goes from eleven am down on the levee where anybody
can come just come down and show off your car,
pop it out, have a cup of coffee, you know,
talk to your other you know whatever you want to
call yourselves, gear heads, collectors, whatever. It's a nice time
to just come out, hang out on the levee, enjoy

(14:32):
the ambiance of being right on the Mississippi River and
showing off your vehicle. It's it's a great, great time.
So again, let's consider all these different events on the
levee to enjoy here in August in September with more
to come, and we're going to talk about what's more
to come after the break.

Speaker 4 (14:50):
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(15:11):
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Speaker 2 (15:29):
Welcome back to Living Maclair, where again we're talking about
all these great things you can do in Leclair down
on the levee, and I haven't even talked about the
great time you can have downtown by you know, enjoying
and taking advantage of these great boutique shops and gift
stores that are available downtown. You have different restaurants, you
have Libations Lane where you can go to Green Tree Brewery.

(15:51):
You can go to the Mississippi Distillery, you can go
to Wide River Winery. There's one oh nine. Food Wise,
you've got Loss Amigos and Lahara Dura for Mexican food.
You have Laara Gaza for Italian tusc and you have
Happy Joe's offering great stuff. You've got the Popcorn Store,
and you now have Shelley's Sweet Sensations down on the

(16:11):
south side of Cody Road at one oh six South
Cody Road, where Shelley is cooking up breakfast sandwiches and
lunch sandwiches as well as all these great treats from cheesecakes, cupcakes, cookies,
all sorts of stuff. So wander around downtown, you know,
come on down anytime. Some stores are open seven days

(16:32):
a week. Others may be closed on Monday or Tuesday.
But again there's always something to do, always something you
can find in downtown Leclair. Now Levy Wise, once we
get through all these events that are happening in August,
we get to October. Now October is when the Leclair
Fallfest happens. This is now being put on by the

(16:55):
Optimist Club here in Leclair, and there are plenty of
vendors down on the levee all set up. There's some
food vendors, there are hearts, crafts, all sorts of different things.
It's a worthwhile fall fest to come to to see
if you can find some cool stuff, maybe as Christmas gifts,
things to decorate your home, and things to prepare for

(17:16):
and enjoy. Celebrating the fall season again an event that
used to be called AppleFest. It was usually held up
at the old Welcome Center that was up on the
hill past McDonald's on Eagle Ridge Road. But since the
Welcome Center closed several years ago, the Optimist Club is

(17:37):
the one that jumped on to put on this fall
festival and it really is again another great event and
great use of the Levey here in Leclair. Now. Also
in addition, in October, the Shopkeepers or the Leclair Marketing
Alliance is putting together again another Fall Market Days. Now
Fall Market Days is probably going to happen in we

(18:00):
haven't set the specific date yet, but it may happen
either the weekend of October twelfth or October nineteenth. And
what we're going to do is you have different stores
that are going to be doing sidewalk sales, doing special events,
special things that will be going on to make your
shopping experience that much greater. And you can get a
quick jump on your Christmas shopping in October with that one.

(18:24):
And then you get to the last Saturday in October
before Halloween, and this year that is going to be
October twenty sixth, and that's going to be time for
the Witch's Walk. The Witch's Walk again is another wonderful
event in Leclair where kids and families can get dressed
up in costume. Come on down to the levee. There's

(18:46):
a couple of things going on the levee and for
at least two hours it's open trick or treating where
you can go all the way. People are parading up
and down Cody Road, stopping at the different businesses to
get their treat from the different business owners. It's such
a fun event. People are so creative in the costumes.
You'll be amazed what you see. Lots of great photo opportunities.

(19:08):
So again, another worthwhile, wonderful event happening in October on
in Leclaire in downtown Leclair. So be sure and join
us again. Start marking your calendar, make sure you don't
miss any of these events again to sort of recap.
We have Heartland British Car Show August third. We have
Vets on the River August twenty fourth. We have Cars

(19:30):
with Coffee happening August seventeenth, and again on September twenty first,
and again on October nineteenth. We have the Leclair Fall
Fast happening Sunday, October sixth on the levee. We have
Fall Market days coming up. There may be other things
that end up coming into play, and we'll be letting

(19:52):
you know about those as we hear about them and
as they are planned. But for right now, we're going
to take another break and we'll be back soon.

Speaker 5 (20:01):
Hi, this is Rob Kane, and I just want to
remind you it's all there in Leclair.

Speaker 6 (20:06):
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variety of spirits all share one thing, a keen understanding

(20:26):
of how to enjoy life with a brewery. Distillery and
winery all in a two block radius. There's no reason
to settle with just one spot for the evening. Consider
yourself lucky in Leclair with a trip down Libation's Lane.
Check out these local hotspots to start planning your visit
to Libation's Lane, including Green Tree Brewery, Mississippi River Distilling Company,

(20:47):
and Wide River Winery.

Speaker 3 (20:49):
That's right, it's all there in Leclair. We can't wait
to see you.

Speaker 2 (20:53):
Welcome back and into living in Mclair. Where this year
or this day, we've been talking about all the different
events that are coming up in the clay. You know,
we talked about what's going on in August and October.
You know, there's also November where you really have Shop
Small Saturday as an event that comes up on November thirtieth.
This was something that was started by American Express years ago.

(21:14):
It's an interesting event that brings people out to shop small.
But you know, don't just make Saturday, November thirtieth the
day you shop small and come to downtown Leclair. You
have several gift shops and boutiques with a wide variety
of inventory, different things you can find and buy, and
all of your shopkeepers in downtown Leclair. Try very hard

(21:36):
to stock and find the types of the types of
items that you can't find anywhere else. It's unique stuff.
And we also strive to be very competitive in our pricing.
You know, I can tell you from personal experience, since
my wife owns Anhattie's fancul Imporium, that we work very
hard to be very competitive in our pricing with the
chain stores like Target Walmart. We sometimes beat Walmart on

(22:00):
our prices. You wouldn't think he would find that in
a small town that some people thinks is only for
tourists to come downtown. No, come downtown to shop, check
us out, find great gifts for your families and friends.
So come on downtown. Now. The other thing I did
want to talk a little bit about today is the
Leclair Civic Club. Now, when we talked about Techfest, the

(22:22):
Leclaire Civic Club is and it's an organization that puts
on the different bingo events and they do have plenty
of bingo that's coming up at during Techfest for the
three nights, but it's not just all about bingo. The
Civic Club is a five h one c four nonprofit
organization and it has been it was founded in nineteen

(22:46):
thirty eight, so this year they are celebrating eighty six years.
The mission statement is to promote civic involvement through service
and projects which promote civic responsibility and education, cultural opportunities
for its residents, share work in the community, and other
activities to improve the quality of life in historic Leclaire.
Now meetings are on the fourth Tuesday of each month

(23:08):
at seven pm at the Civic Center. If you want
to join the Civic Club, it's eight dollars per year
and for information on how to join, all you have
to do is come to the next meeting. And it's
the policy of the Civic Club to invite all to
join this organization. Everybody, all ages. It doesn't matter race, color, religion, sex, age,
natural origin, disability, betteran status, political affiliation. We don't care.

(23:33):
The Civic Club wants to assist nodes those in need.
We want to aid in the betterment of our community.
We want to provide leadership opportunities and social opportunities. We
operate and maintain the Leclaire Civic Center. You can meet
new people, socialized, make new friends. It is a very
interesting organization and there is a list of amazing projects

(23:54):
that the Leclaire Civic Club has done over its time
at the eighty six years. Now, one of the things
that you may not be aware of is that the
Leclair Civic Club is the co sponsor of Trivia Knight
in Leclair. Now, those Trivia Knights start up again in September.
So September twenty first, doors open at six pm, trivia

(24:16):
starts at seven pm at the Civic Center and all
of these Trivia Nights benefit different organizations that are looking
to raise money. You know, all it costs is ten
dollars to play. Your team is usually of eight people.
You can buy mulligans, you can buy double downs, you
can get involved in fifty to fifty ravels. Again, it's

(24:37):
come on down, have a great time, have fun playing
trivia and help these different organizations and the Claire raise money.
The Leclair marketing alliances that will be the first one
to benefit from the September twenty first one, but a
lot of these different Trivia Knights are benefiting a lot
of a wide variety of charities. So be sure and

(24:59):
be prepared to check out the schedule as Trivia Knights
will run from September through March, once a month at
the Leclaire Civic Center. And hey, don't forget the Civic
Center is also open for rent if you ever want
to have an event down there. And now we're going
to take another short break and then we'll be back.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
Hi.

Speaker 5 (25:16):
This is Rob Kane, and I just want to remind
you it's all there in Leclair.

Speaker 7 (25:20):
It's a beautiful morning for a cruise. Start your day
with a ninety minute long sightseeing cruise on the iconic
riverboat Twilight, located in Leclaire, Iowa. Your captain will provide
a brief history of the local wildlife and neighboring towns
while you enjoy the warm sun and refreshing breeze. Feel
free to purchase drinks on board or pack a quick
lunch to bring with you. Sightseeing cruises are available on

(25:43):
Memorial Day weekend and the third Saturday of the month
June through October. Need a little more time on the river.
The riverboat Twilight also offers one and two day tours
too unique boutiques. Oh yes, eat lunch, take a walk
down Cody Road. Hey there's always time for wine, then
for a night out.

Speaker 3 (26:01):
That's right, it's all there in Leclair. We can't wait
to see you.

Speaker 2 (26:04):
Welcome back to Living in Leclair. I'm Wayne Wally. I'm
currently president of Leclair Tourism Board. I've been your host
for Living in Mclair. I've been talking about all the
events and fun things you can do. Go downtown, support
your local businesses, come on down for all these different
events that are coming up. It's another thing that just
makes Leclair a great place to live. But take advantage

(26:25):
of these great resources and these great events, enjoy them,
enjoy them with your family. And again, I appreciate you listening.
And if you have ideas for other shows we can
do about different topics about living in theclare, all you
have to do is email me at WO Wa l
e Y at gmail. That's wo Wally at gmail. I

(26:45):
will look forward to look forward to hearing from you
and for today, this has been Living in Leclair.

Speaker 1 (26:53):
Thank you for listening to this week's edition of Knowledge
is Power with your host Rob Kaine. If you have
a question for Rob and would like it answered on
an upcoming show, email him at r Kane at citiesig
dot com. Please tune in again next Saturday morning.