Rally in the Valley draws a growing crowd on a cool September Saturday
Don Harrold, Executive Editor
editor@enterprisepub.com
The Missouri Valley Rally ran Sept. 11–13 in Missouri Valley, opening Friday with Scoop the Loop on Erie Street and closing Sunday with breakfast at the Eagles Club. Saturday at Missouri Valley City Park was the center of it.
Saturday started overcast, windy, and cooler than usual — somewhere in the high 50s to low 60s. It felt more like October was near than August just ended. Turnout was slow early. By the time we left a few hours later, there were no events or food trucks without people in front of them.
The DockDogs competition drew a steady crowd. Foxy Lady and Oo-La-La were fun to watch. The dogs who got high and went far were the best of them.
At the DockDogs pool I saw a young black girl watching with her white grandmother, who had pink hair. Not long ago you'd have gone a long time without seeing those three things in one place. Saturday it was just a girl, with her grandma, watching dogs — as it should be.
The car, truck, and motorcycle show was a small group from across all years. My favorite was Steve Bode's 1956 Bel Air. An emcee worked the crowd from a joke book, dad jokes, funny in that they were pretty lame.
Little Ponys LLC brought the horse-painting pen, where kids and adults could literally paint horses. The booth is owned by Dusty Ganzhorn, who started it after her own daughter's unicorn-themed birthday party, where guests painted the horses. Other parents called afterward asking if they could have that at their kids' parties, too.
Mostly it was children painting — young, happy children. I told one little boy, Elijah Pille, who was talking to me as I took pictures, "Why don't you paint the horse?"
"It's too big!" he said. Earnestly amazed is how I would describe him.
The petting zoo animals came from Pixie's Pony Tales, LLC, named for Amber's first pony. Amber, 12, and Adrian, 13, worked the pen with Violet, a one-year-old highland-dexter cross calf, along with an alpaca, a sheep, some goats, and two rabbits. Around the back of the trailer were two small ponies.
The Pet Paw-Rade brought people with pets on leashes, including goats. The goats' owners were laughing.
Callie Seaton of Wildlife Encounters of Nebraska, a Gretna-based nonprofit, presented twice on Saturday. She held a parrot at the start. At the end she had an armadillo named Meatball that kids were allowed to pet. I am not a kid at 58. I petted him too. The shell was smooth, hard, and cold.
I got a banana milk iced drink from the Rise and Grind truck. It was mellow, not too sweet, and very banana forward.
I also met Mike Brinkman of the Loess Hills Boxing Club in person for the first time. I saw a truck pull in with "Loess Hills Boxing" on the side, and since I'd interviewed Mike by Zoom the week before, I assumed the truck belonged to him or his wife. My guess turned out to be correct. I talked with Misty Brinkman at the truck, and later saw Misty and Mike walking through the event.
Jeannie Wortman of the Missouri Valley Chamber of Commerce said, "We are very pleased with the great crowd turnout this year," and added, "The MoValley Rally was first established in 2022, and each year we have seen an increase in the attendance. There is a tremendous interest in the Wildlife Encounters educational program. Last years attendance was so good we decided to offer it twice on Saturday, once in the morning and again in the afternoon, with a little change in the animals that were shown at each presentation. It's an event that is not only educational, but is also appealing to both adults and kids. As we put next year's schedule together, I'm sure that we will offer two presentations again."
Food vendors reported the same.
"In speaking to the food vendors, they were pleased with the turnout," Wortman said. "Johnny Ricco's Pizza was sold out before the end of the day and asked to be invited back for next year's event. We want to support local business, so we try to invite food vendors from the surrounding area as much as possible."
Bob Hudson came from Lyons, Nebraska, after seeing a Facebook post looking for Nebraska vendors. A large and soft-spoken man with a background in welding, he sold handmade knives and axes, priced reasonably. He works from bar stock forged in Pakistan and cuts the knife designs himself, and he talked about the different woods he uses for the handles, including pakkawood. He said the day was decent in terms of profitability.
The planning committee meets in a couple of weeks. "By then, we will have had a chance to hear comments from the attendees, the vendors, and our volunteers on what went well, what new ideas can be introduced, etc.," Wortman said. "Our planners meet each month and begin prepping for 2027 in October. We already have some suggestions and are open to hearing even more!"
My wife and I came back Sunday morning for breakfast at the Eagles Club. Tracy Skelton of Hair Flyers salon was there. Turri Colglazier, Missouri Valley City Administrator, was at the register when we paid at 9:30 a.m.
The Rally in the Valley was a success. If you have kids, you need to bring them next year. The placement of the event — off the highway, in the valley, with plenty of shade and open spaces — made it an easy stroll from event to event. Kids will love DockDogs, painting horses, and the ability to ride a pony on an early fall day.
An absolute win for the city, for kids, and for a 58-year-old newspaper editor who enjoyed being reminded how to take it slow on a Saturday holding hands with my wife.
