Before I get to that final race story and results, and the story of the end of the four year run of the National Kidney Foundation's Heartland Tour for a Cure, I want to share with you some thoughts on a few of the drivers that I have not yet talked about in this multi part story.
I started watching Bruce Hanford race in 1981 when he would tow his Late Model down from Davenport every Saturday night to race at 34 Raceway. I remember wondering why it was that he would not race closer to home until I found out that his wife Carol was from Burlington. I got to know Bruce the following year when I started working for Larry Kemp at 34 and we have been good friends ever since. To this day I enjoy talking to Bruce about racing because he is a driver who has always been able to take a step back and see the big picture when it came to running a race track, or a racing series. Many of the decisions that I made in regard to how the NKF Tour was presented came from those conversations and it was great to have him win the 1999 Modified title.
The 2000 Modified champion Ron Barker was at the height of an illustrious career at the time and I am confident that if he would have had the opportunity, he would have been very successful on a major touring series such as the USMTS. His full time job kept him close to home though and he was quick to point out that the "twelve best finishes" method of doing the points was a big reason that he followed the Tour whenever he could. Even though he considered himself to be a part-time racer, he was a true professional and always a threat to win when he pulled through the gate.
The 2000 Hobby Stock Champion Dan Hanselman loved the fact his division was given the opportunity to race on a Tour that paid out a nice point fund. As the 1997 IMCA Super Nationals champion Dan was a big supporter of the NKF Tour from the moment that the first press release hit the Hawekeye Racing News. "if there is anything myself or my family can do to help out, don't hesitate to call me." Dan's biggest ask of me was to get the Hobby Stocks back in to Knoxville and I was glad to make that happen as one of the final events of the Tour.
The 2001 Modified champion Darin Thye has been one of my best friends in racing or away from racing since his Pro Stock days in the early 1990's. Even to this day I always make it a point to go visit Darin at the trailer after a night of racing knowing that no matter how good or bad the night may have gone, he will still be smiling, laughing and ready to have fun with friends. He and his father Bill were an amazing team and they had great success in both the Pro Stock and Modified and I am so glad that they were able to win the championship together. Darin lost his father suddenly in 2009 and he will be the first to admit that his performance on the track dropped off considerably after that. But now I am seeing that same championship level of teamwork developing between Darin and his son Dugan who is an up and coming driver in the winged Sprint Car ranks and I look forward to watching their success and enjoying a beer with them after each night for years to come.
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| Darin Thye in victory lane with his son Dugan - Photo by Dana Royer from Dugan's Facebook page |
Rod Miller was fifty-one years old when he captured the 2001 Hobby Stock championship and we affectionately called him "Grandpa Rod". He was mild mannered and always greeted you with a smile, but he was a fierce competitor on the track and I believe that Rod became a much better racer by chasing the Tour and going to such a wide variety of tracks. He finished second in the 1999 points and third on the 2000 Tour so I will admit that I was cheering for him from day one to take the 2001 title. Rod will tell you that best part of racing the Tour was all of the great friends that he made along the way. Let's just say that Rod made it easy to become his friend.
There are so many other drivers and crew members that I became friends with through the four years of running the Tour that it would be impossible to list them all without leaving somebody off, so just know how much I appreciated your support during that time and how great it is to still see you at the track today!
I also want to thank all of the volunteers who came out to help us at all of the tracks that we visited. You were there because you knew first hand what the individuals and families of those fighting kidney disease went through on a daily basis and you wanted to do whatever you could to help improve their lives. Even if that meant going to a hot, or cold night at a dusty, dirty, noisy race track to sell 50/50 tickets. I especially want to thank the staff at the Southeast Renal Dialysis Unit here in my hometown of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. First it was Sheila Kiesey leading the team and later Mary Liechty, but they were always willing to jump in and support the NKF Tour every chance that they could and those two were fantastic when it came time to do pre-event interviews on the area radio stations. The races that we held at Burlington, Donnellson, Columbus Junction and Bloomfield all benefited the Southeast Renal Dialysis Units and its three locations and I think that Judy Sanders worked events at all four tracks. Other volunteers that I have listed from there include Monica Wesely, Melissa Simmons, Cindy Lloyd, Kris Fuller, Jolene Walljasper, Sue Schinstock, Delaney Richards, Gail Thompson and Michelle Rosell.
Several of those listed above along with my wife Christine were on hand to work at the 2001 Shiverfest event that would be the final race in the four year run of the NKF Tour and they did a bang up job as the final tally for the day saw $2,348 going to help the patients at the Southeast Renal Dialysis Units. Plus, Bruce Hanford donated $225 to Genesis East Medical Center Dialysis in his hometown of Davenport to bring the total to $2,573. That team of volunteers, and many others would continue to help us out at Shiverfest for eight more years as Terry, Jenni and I continued to hold the event as a fundraiser for the Dialysis Units.
Here is the story and results from Shiverfest 2001 with bonus coverage of the other classes as well.
Hanford, Johnson and Miller Among Shiverfest Winners At Donnellson
Donnellson,
Iowa – For the second straight year
Mother Nature blessed the racers and fans at the Lee County Speedway’s
Shiverfest event with sunny skies and warm October temperatures producing an
evening full of fun and action. Bruce Hanford, Greg Johnson, Jeremy Miller,
David Sugars and the team of Jeff DeLonjay and Herb Murray all found victory
lane, while Darin Thye made a stellar run to edge out Dan Chapman for the NKF
Heartland Tour Modified championship.
The Heartland Tour Modified finale had plenty of drama with three drivers in the hunt for the Tour championship, two drivers contending for the $1,000 Southern Bonus and two more drivers fighting it out for the $500 Northwest Bonus. Tony Fraise came from the second row to lead lap one of the twenty-lap race before title contender Dan Chapman eased past on lap two. With a win Chapman would force point leader Darin Thye to finish second to earn the Tour championship and with Thye starting in row nine, everything was looking good for the Clarence, Iowa, driver. As Chapman pulled away Thye fought his way to the front and on a lap ten caution he found himself in the seventh spot for the restart. The yellow also wiped out Chapman’s lead and he now had to deal with the 1999 Tour champion Bruce Hanford. Hanford applied the pressure and on lap fourteen moved by Chapman for the lead. With Chapman now in second Thye needed to finish in fourth to tie and third to win, and with just three laps remaining he was able to get by Boone McLaughlin for that third spot. At the checkers it was Hanford taking the win and the $1,000 Southern Bonus, Chapman was second and Thye was third giving the Burlington driver the Tour championship by four points. The third title contender, John Bull, had problems early and wound up fourteenth at the finish. Kevin Pospisil’s 18th place run was good enough to earn the $500 Northwest Bonus and Deb Jacobsmeier from the Mt. Pleasant Wal Mart store pulled out the chip of Craig Reetz for the $1,000 Wal Mart Feature Winner’s Bonus.
Cody Townsend and Jim Lampe were early leaders in the NKF Hobby Stock feature before Travis Sherwood took the point on lap four. Greg Johnson stayed with the leader and on the final lap he was able to takeover the top spot down the backstretch for the lead and the victory. Sherwood was the runner-up with Tony Becerra third. Mike Jones came from eighteenth to finish fourth while Jeff Soper completed the top five. Rod Miller of Eldon was crowned the 2001 NKF Hobby Stock champion after the event.
Jeremy Miller powered away from Jim Lynch for the win in the Stock Car main event. Jason Cook, Brad Holtkamp and Phil McClure filled out the top five. In Roadrunner action David Sugars came from third to first on the final lap for the victory, while DeLonjay and Murray held off the persistent challenge of Jarrod Richie and Jason Heck for the Buddy Car checkers.
Shiverfest must again be considered a complete success as over $2,000 was raised for the Southeast Renal Dialysis Units in Mt. Pleasant, Burlington and Keokuk.
Results
Heartland Tour
Modifieds
1st
Heat – 1. Tom Goble, Burlington 2. Tony Fraise, Montrose 3. Darin Duffy,
Hazleton 4. Jamie Aikey, Cedar Falls
2nd
Heat – 1. Bruce Hanford, Davenport 2. Dan Helm, Milan IL 3. John Bull, Rock
Island IL 4. Gary Dreyer, Fowler IL
3rd
Heat – 1. Dan Chapman, Clarence 2. Jim Roach, Kahoka MO 3. Jack Stotts, Trenton
MO 4. Kelly Bartz, Quincy IL
4th
Heat – 1. Boone McLaughlin, Mediapolis 2. Cory Richards, Burlington 3. Jeff Gerhardt,
Niota IL 4. Troy Cordes, Dewar
Scott’s
Quality Seeds B-Mains
1st
– 1. Darin Thye, Burlington 2. Ron Barker, Dubuque 3. Jim Lynch, Bloomfield 4.
Dan DeMey, Denison 5. David Holder, Clarence MO 6. Jon Orwig, Chariton 7. Jon
Passick, Waterloo 8. Jim Powell, Hannibal MO 9. Michael Irwin, Keokuk
2nd
– 1. Paul Lawson, Fort Madison 2. Dave Hemsted, Lone Tree 3. Kit Hovey, Fort
Dodge 4. Joe Hooper, Camp Point IL 5. Robbie Kincade, Trenton MO 6. Kevin
Pospisil, Worthington MN 7. Jardin Fuller, Memphis MO 8. Charles Baker, Labelle
MO 9. Michael Larson, Hannibal MO 10. Darin Weisinger, Mendon IL 11. Jim
Kuhlmeier, Fort Madison
A-Main
– 1. Hanford 2. Chapman 3. Thye 4. McLaughlin 5. Barker 6. Lynch 7. Fraise 8.
Duffy 9. Roach 10. Gerhardt 11. Goble 12. DeMey 13. Stotts 14. Bull 15. Dreyer
16. Hemsted 17. Hovey 18. Pospisil 19. Aikey 20. Richards 21. Lawson 22. Cordes
23. Bartz 24. Helm
Heartland Tour
Hobby Stocks
1st
Heat – 1. Bobby Greene, Tracy 2. Jim Lampe, Carroll 3. Ben Cloke, Douds 4. Matt
Burgtorf, Quincy IL
2nd
Heat – 1. Greg Johnson, Burlington 2. Rod Miller, Eldon 3. Cody Townsend,
Bloomfield 4. Robbie Rains, Bonaparte
3rd
Heat – 1. Gary White, Hamilton IL 2. Rodger Dresden, Keokuk 3. Travis Sherwood,
Ottumwa 4. Kirk Kinsley, Wapello
4th
Heat – 1. Tony Becerra, Carthage IL 2. Kris Walker, Oskaloosa 3. Jeff Soper,
Alexandria MO 4. Chad Krogmeier, Burlington
Scott’s
Quality Seeds B-Mains:
1st
– 1. Bruce Summers, Hamilton IL 2. Tim Breuer, Oquawka IL 3. Rocky Fosdyck,
Selma 4. Robert Kephart, Donnellson 5. Zach Sobaski, Washington 6. Patrick
Profeta, Hamilton IL
2nd
– 1. Mike Jones, Waukon 2. David Breuer, Burlington 3. Mark Holt, Memphis MO 4.
Robert Warner, Fort Madison 5. Bob Lynch, Ottumwa 6. Steve Landgrebe, Oskaloosa
A-Main
– 1. Johnson 2. Sherwood 3. Becerra 4. Jones 5. Soper 6. Lampe 7. D. Breuer 8.
Walker 9. Greene 10. Krogmeier 11. Cloke 12. Miller 13. T. Breuer 14. Fosdyck
15. Kinsley 16. Burgtorf 17. White 18. Holt 19. Rains 20. Mike Hiller,
Dunkerton 21. Tim Staley, Muscatine 22. Summers 23. Townsend 24. Dresden
Stock Cars
A-Main – 1. Jeremy Miller, Batavia 2. Jim Lynch,
Bloomfield 3. Jason Cook, Mt. Pleasant 4. Brad Holtkamp, Mt. Pleasant 5. Phil
McClure, Floris 6. David Boyd, Conesville 7. Ryan Meyer, Wayland 8. Jim Redman,
Lockridge 9. Harley Hill, Wayland MO 10. Josh Walker, Mystic 11. Jerry Pilcher,
Ottumwa 12. Mike McClure, Bloomfield 13. Jerry McElderry, Altoona 14. Matt
Greiner, Washington 15. Dennis Harwood, Mt. Pleasant 16. Lonnie Taylor,
Bloomfield 17. Ryan Reece, Columbus IL 18. Mike Walrod, DeSoto 19. Jeremy
Dooley, Plano 20. Randy McClure, Eldon 21. Chris Hawkins, Drakesville 22. Bert
McDaniel, Eldon 23. Don Kanselaar, Centerville
Buddy Cars
A-Main – 1. Jeff DeLonjay/Herb Murray 2. Jarrod
Richie/Jason Heck 3. Lance Stott/Paul Kropf 4. Tim Gerleman/Ray Tedrow 5. John
& Jenni Peterson 6. Roger & Jeremy Brockett 7. Kris Smothers/J.J. Fleck
8. Jeff & Darren Skow
Road Runners
A-Main – 1. David Sugars 2. T.J. Newberry 3. Ed Balmer 4. Chris Wibbell 5. Richard Bank 6. David Burdette 7. Justin Hamilton 8. Jim Wilsey
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| Craig Reetz was the winner of the $1,000 Wal Mart Feature Winners Bonus drawing |
In the weeks leading up to this final race of the NKF Tour there was a lot going on behind the scenes. In August I had told XYZ that I would not be running the Tour for the NKF again in 2002 due to the lack of a title sponsor and XYZ then told me that it was probably for the best because the national office of the National Kidney Foundation had notified the Iowa affiliate that it would need to send 25% of the funds raised to the national office.
In hindsight now I wonder if that was even true, because the national offices had given the Tour an award in 1999 so it wasn't like they weren't already aware of what we were doing. And after the phantom meeting with US Cellular it should have been hard to believe anything that XYZ told me, but true or not that was just another reason to bring the Tour to an end.
Then I had one last blast from the past come during the summer of 2002 when I received a phone call from a new member on the Board of Directors for the Iowa affiliate of the NKF. Apparently after being terminated from the position of Executive Director, XYZ had told the Board that I still owed the NKF all of the entry fee money that I had collected over the four years of running the Tour. The entry fee money that had already been more than spent on travel expenses, championship plaques, postage and the point funds over the past two years due to the lack of sponsorship. I calmly asked the gentleman for a fax number and within minutes I was able to send him the three page document that had served as the original business plan for the Heartland Tour for a Cure from 1998. I never heard from him again.
My search for new employment was also going on behind the scenes and I can best tell that story now, plus what my racing plans were at that time as I did when the Back Stretch finally returned to Hawkeye Racing News in October of 2001.
Yes,
it has been awhile since the ol’ Back
Stretch has been here and it has to do with some theories I have about
talking about nothing but your own stuff. If you want more details, you’ll have
to pump editor Rob. Of course it is against those theories that these words
come before you today, because I’m primarily going to talk about me and what
I’ve been doing, and what I’m probably going to be doing, in order to hopefully
clear up any confusion. All that I’m thinking right now is “what a crummy lead
paragraph for a racing column”. So, if you are bored already, please move on to
some of the extensive coverage of the events held during the past week or check
out some of the great action photography that now graces these pages each
issue. Lance and all of the contributing photographers are doing a great job!
This all started last March when it became apparent that, for the second year in a row, the NKF Heartland Tour for a Cure would likely go without a “title sponsor”. The NKF had also repeated their concern with the liability aspect that goes along with dirt-track auto racing, plus there was a mention that a portion of the revenue raised at each event should be going to the national office rather than totally to the Dialysis Unit that had provided the volunteers to assist with the event. It was obvious that the NKF was not interested in continuing the Tour in 2002.
I wanted to “stay in racing” and with one of the finest sanctioning bodies anywhere located right here in Iowa, I made my situation known to IMCA’s Kathy Root. I was pleased that Kathy had an interest in adding me to the IMCA staff and, as the summer of 2001 unfolded, we were in contact from time-to-time to discuss the possibilities. As those of you who follow the NKF Tour know, the summer of 2001 was a busy one, as we presented thirty nights of racing in June, July and August, including one stretch of eighteen races in thirty-four nights. Now I know that as a parent your work schedule sometimes keeps you from seeing your children’s activities. But I missed too many baseball games this year and the problem is that you don’t realize how bad you feel about it until you get the report at midnight on a cell phone. “I pitched two innings for the JV team tonight.” “Hey Dad, I made a diving catch for the final out and we won by one!”
September came and I was thrilled to accept a position at IMCA as the Director of Track Relations. I would be in charge of recruiting and securing new tracks as well as assisting promoters who are already sanctioned. I was very excited about the position primarily because I knew that the base premise of IMCA, providing exciting economical weekly racing, is a proven success. Believe me, it is much easier to sell a good product to someone. Day one on the new job went well for me, but as day two unfolded something became clear to me that, for some stupid reason, never crossed my mind before. For me to achieve the results for IMCA that I would have expected from myself, I would have wanted to be on the road constantly, at trades shows, promoters workshops, and at racetracks throughout the United States. Obviously, this would not have meshed well with my desire to be here in Mt. Pleasant as my three wonderful children danced, sang, and played just about every sport that is offered to them. So after just two days, I regretfully resigned the position. So when you hear “rumor has it that Jeff Broeg is going to work for IMCA”, it wasn’t just a rumor. And, if you are a promoter who I think would benefit from being IMCA sanctioned on a weekly basis, don’t be surprised if I drop you a line this off-season to emphasize the benefits involved. I’ve had years of experience with these people, not just the two days that I was in the office, and I can guarantee you that Kathy Root, Brett Root, Rick Haefner, Kevin Yoder, Bill Martin, Tom Herbert and the entire staff at IMCA are doing everything they can to achieve the difficult task of balancing the goals of the promoters, drivers and fans alike. I’m just sorry that, at this time, I’m unable to be a part of the team.
That brings me to this point. During the Budweiser Nationals at Donnellson, $1,700 was raised for the Southeast Renal Dialysis Units. Over $3,000 went to the National Kidney Foundation from the Tour event held at Mike Henry’s Thunderhill Speedway in Mayetta, Kansas. The Dialysis Unit in Independence benefited from the generosity of Waterloo Tool Storage and the race fans at the Independence Motor Speedway to the tune of $1,710 and the fine folks at the Callaway Raceway in Fulton donated $1,000 to the Central Missouri Kidney Centers from their event. These are just some of the higher totals as every event has been important on our way to raising nearly $20,000 for Dialysis patients this year. At the “Tour for a Cure Weekend” at Knoxville we raised $2,242 for the Pella Hospital Dialysis Unit and when the volunteers from the unit heard that there would not likely be a Tour in 2002, they said, “This is one of our most successful fund-raisers! What can we do to help?” And, when Ralph Capitani told me that the “Tour for a Cure Weekend” was on the Knoxville Raceway schedule for September 20th and 21st of 2002, I decided to explore the possibilities. There will be some major changes if the Heartland Tour is to return next year, including a schedule that will have significantly fewer events on it. The nice thing is that at least one of my three children work with me at each race, so family will still come first. We’ll keep you updated on how it turns out. We’ll try to make the Back Stretch more of a priority in 2002 as well. Have a great off-season!
So yes, I was an IMCA employee for all of two days and if you want to know why my thoughts went toward spending time with my family, consider that even though I had accepted the position in late August my first day on the job was Monday, September 17th, 2001.
Knowing that I had the two day show at Knoxville, plus Shiverfest to serve as anchors I thought that whatever I would end up doing as a full-time job would still allow me to run up to a ten event series where the promoters could choose the charity that they wanted to donate the proceeds to. Obviously we would continue to benefit the Southeast Renal Dialysis Unit with Shiverfest and "Cappy" had indicated that he would support the Pella Dialysis Unit as well, and I thought that it would be interesting to see who the other tracks would choose. I sent out a proposal letter to a select group of promoters explaining the changes and why they were being made and then waited for their response.
In the meantime I put a wrap on the 2001 NKF Tour
2001 NKF Heartland Tour To Distribute $18,325 In Point Funds
And Bonuses
Mt. Pleasant IA –
The National Kidney Foundation Heartland Tour for a Cure recently completed a
very busy schedule and soon $18,325 in point funds and bonuses will be
distributed to Modified and Hobby Stock drivers throughout the Midwest.
Darin Thye of Burlington, Iowa, made an impressive run from seventeenth to third in the final event of the year to take the Modified title by just four points over Dan Chapman of Clarence, Iowa. In the Hobby Stocks it was all Rod Miller in 2001 as the veteran Eldon, Iowa, driver put together an impressive season and clinched the championship with several races left on the schedule.
The Wal Mart Feature Winners Bonus of $1,000 goes to Craig Reetz of Dunlap, Iowa. Bruce Hanford of Davenport, Iowa, nailed down the $1,000 Southern Bonus with his season-ending victory at Donnellson, and Worthington, Minnesota, driver Kevin Pospisil will collect the $500 Northwest Bonus. The $200 Hobby Stock Northwest Bonus will also be spent in Worthington as Rick Soules collected that prize and Bill Yeast of Knoxville, Iowa, earned the $300 Hawkeyeland Bonus sponsored in part by Happy Joe’s Pizza and Ice Cream Parlors.
The 2001 NKF Tour raised $19,300 for individuals and families affected by kidney disease and hopefully alerted several thousand race fans to the early warning signs of the disease. “We didn’t have a title sponsor for the second straight year,” stated Tour Director Jeff Broeg, “but once again we had the support of several businesses that helped make the Tour successful.” Sponsors included Scott’s Quality Seeds of Mt. Pleasant, the Mt. Pleasant Wal Mart store and Happy Joe’s. Racing related sponsors who distributed product certificates throughout the 2001 Tour were Midwest Motorsports, Race Mart, McDaniel Racing Enterprises, Real Racing Wheels, Kosiski Racing Products, Aero Race Wheels, AFCO Racing Products and Wayne Larson Racing Specialists.
There were forty-eight events on the 2001 Tour and nearly half of the money raised for the Dialysis Units came from ten of those events. “Those ten events all had something in common,” said Broeg. “They had good car counts running for a solid purse, they had the support of local sponsors and they all had good crowds in attendance. Everybody was a winner, the drivers, the fans, the promoter and the Dialysis Unit.” Broeg is using the common elements from those events to make changes for the 2002 Tour including a minimum purse structure for both divisions and a more common rules package for the Modifieds. “We won’t have as many races on the schedule next year,” stated Broeg, “but it pleases me to know that what we are proposing has proven successful on several occasions.” The 2002 Heartland Tour already has three exciting events to build a schedule around. The Tour will return to the Mighty Howard County Fair in Cresco on Thursday, June 27th. The 2nd Annual “Tour for a Cure Weekend” will be at the Knoxville Raceway on Friday and Saturday, September 20th and 21st, and the 4th Annual Shiverfest event in Donnellson will likely close out the Tour once again on October 19th, 2002.
The NKF Heartland Tour for a Cure is once again very proud to publicly show how its point funds and bonuses are to be distributed.
Modifieds Points Point Fund/Bonus
1. Darin Thye, Burlington IA 571 $2,500
2. Dan Chapman, Clarence IA 567 $1,750
3. John Bull, Rock Island IL 522 $1,250
4. Ron Barker, Dubuque IA 513 $1,000
5. Bruce Hanford, Davenport IA 501 $1,900*
6. Darin Duffy, Hazelton IA 491 $750
7. Corey Dripps, Cedar Falls IA 414 $600
8. Dan DeMey, Denison IA 272 $500
9. Tom Goble, Burlington IA 270 $450
10. Bob Dominacki, Bettendorf IA 258 $400
Craig Reetz, Dunlap IA $1,000**
Kevin Pospisil, Worthington MN $500***
* Includes $1,000 Southern Bonus
** Wal Mart Feature Winners Bonus
*** Northwest Bonus
Hobby Stocks Points Point Fund/Bonus
1. Rod Miller, Eldon IA 590 $1,000
2. Jim Lampe, Carroll IA 503 $875
3. Dan Hanselman, Algona IA 439 $750
4. Mike Grantham, Clarksville IA 361 $600
5. Kit Hovey, Fort Dodge IA 307 $500
6. Jeff Zehr, Manson IA 306 $400
7. David Smith, Lake City IA 276 $350
8. Matt Strassheim, Sperry IA 211 $300
9. Doug McCollough, Webster City IA 192 $250
10. Jeremy Moellers, Elma IA 175 $100
Kevin Donlan,
Mabel MN 175 $100
Bill Yeast, Knoxville IL $300*
Rick Soules, Worthington MN $200**
* Happy Joe’s Hawkeyeland Bonus
** Northwest Bonus
As you can see from the final paragraph in that story Tom Barnes was once again the first to respond to our Event Proposal for the new Tour in 2002 booking us for The Mighty Howard County Fair, but overall the response was tepid. I had been doing the morning news on air and selling advertising for KILJ while looking for other jobs and just prior to Thanksgiving I was given the opportunity to get back into the Direct Mail business as an Account Manager at Experian right here in my hometown of Mount Pleasant. With only four events on a potential 2002 Tour, I contacted Tom Barnes and Ralph Capitani to let them know that I was scrapping those plans.
After four years I was still not happy with how the changes in the Postal Service had put an end to my business in 1997, but it was a business that I knew and I would once again be working with some great people that I had known from the past. Even though the company has been through four name changes, I am now in my twentieth year of doing that job and while it keeps me very busy each and every day, it also gives me the flexibility and the where with all to be able to enjoy the sport that I love and tell you stories about it right here in the modern version of the Back Stretch.
As I noted in the first paragraph of this long story, I could not be prouder of what we accomplished with the NKF Tour and even though I had issues with one employee of the Iowa affiliate over the final two years, I will always stand up and encourage you to support the National Kidney Foundation. Just click that link to make a donation to benefit the NKF serving Iowa and Nebraska and support the individuals and families who are affected by kidney disease.
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