A town divided, fans pick sides to celebrate Sept. 7

It’s time for fans of Iowa and Iowa State to show their true colors, by dressing up in their favorite school colors and taking part in the third annual Cy-Hawk Rivalry on Sumner Ave., Thursday, Sept. 7, between 2-11 p.m. on Sumner Avenue.
Hosting the event will be the Humboldt Dakota City Chamber of Commerce, along with WHO-HD Channel 13, home of RVTV, and the Iowa Corn Growers Cy-Hawk Series.
This will be the second time RVTV has chosen Humboldt as a destination for its TV event, after having a good time in 2015.
“Last year we concentrated on local bands and entertainment. I sent over 20 videos, pictures and messages to SoundOff Nation (the WHO-TV sports call-in show),” H/DC Chamber Director Jenna Mulford said.
That evidently got the attention of the WHO-TV sports crew and the powers that be at the station. On April 27, RVTV member and “Iowa Nice Guy” Scott Siepker was the featured speaker at the Humboldt/Dakota City Chamber of Commerce annual meeting. At the end of May Mulford received notice that Humboldt had been chosen as one of the RVTV caravan stops during the Cy-Hawk rivalry week, leading up to the big football game Sept. 9, between Iowa State and Iowa, at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames.
Mulford said perhaps Siepker will reprise his character Professor Von Humboldt, telling a little about Humboldt’s history in a tongue in cheek fashion.
Mulford said information about a feature event for the celebration will be forthcoming and some details will be withheld, in order to surprise attendees of the Cy-Hawk Rivalry on Sumner.
The Humboldt City Council recently approved street closures for the event from Sumner Avenue at 6th Street on the east and a to be determined location on the west, as well as north and south alleys on Taft Street and 8th Street.
Citizens should note that while the activities do not begin until 2 p.m., the streets will be closed off from 10 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 7.
There will be a Kids Zone set up in Parley Finch Plaza Park from 4-9 p.m., with toddler inflatables in the park and older children inflatables on the east side of Sumner Avenue at the intersection with 6th Street, operating from 4-8:30 p.m. Building Families and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach will be sponsoring kids games for toddlers through elementary school age.
There will be some fund-raising groups in the children’s play area, the Congregational United Church of Christ will have a food stand, fund-raising for youth ministries, PEO will have a stand and the Humboldt Lions Club with their snow cone machine will all be there.
Sumner Avenue retail stores will be open with merchants in front of their stores with sales and specials for walk-in traffic.
Some bigger sponsors will have tents in the area. Mulford said she knows First State Bank will be offering Iowa and Iowa State tattoos. Other tent sponsors will have product displays and giveaways.
MoJo Productions will be providing disc jockey sounds as a backdrop for this year’s activities from 2-7 p.m.

IV Play
The band for this year’s event is IV Play of Mankato, MN. The group has actually been around since 1999, and bills themselves as the premier rock band in Minnesota.
Band members themselves have come from far and wide to play in the group. Keyboardist, guitarist and vocalist Lantz Dale hails from southern Texas. Jeremy Poland on guitar and vocals is originally from Alabama. Erich Winter on drums is from Blue Earth, MN, Tyler Dylla is an original founder of the group and plays fiddle, guitar and sings. Bassist and vocalist Wes Bollingmo is the band’s newest member, joining IV Play in 2015.
The group plays an eclectic mix of music, everything from arena rock and hair band songs of the 1980s to grunge rock to modern pop and country hits. A sampling of music includes tunes from such diverse artists as Bruno Mars, Motley Crue, Styxx, Lady Gaga and Keith Urban. They will be performing on the fair stage on Sumner Avenue from 7-11 p.m. on Sept. 7. People who want to listen to a sampling of their music can catch them at the Storm Lake Marina on Saturday, Sept. 2, at 9 p.m.
“Nearly all of our sponsors from last year have recommitted, so that’s been awesome, whether it be sponsoring the kid’s zone or getting the entertainment downtown, or sponsoring their own vendor/business,” Mulford said.
Businesses can still get onboard as a sponsor, with levels ranging from $150 to $400.
There will be nine food and beverage vendors and all are local, the Chamber director said.
“There will be a wide array of food and beverage choices, all centered around tailgating,” Mulford said.
Local bars along Sumner Avenue will be providing adult beverages and drink specials during the band concert. The Humboldt City Council has closed the portion of Sumner Avenue during the event, to allow the consumption of alcohol on the closed street.
There will be a corn hole bags tournament beginning at 7 p.m., with pre-registration and $20 entry fee per two-person team required. There will be a 24-team limit, with registration on a first come, first served basis. Teams are encouraged to pre-register and pay their $20 entry fee as soon as possible to guarantee their spot in the tournament. People can do so by stopping by the Humboldt/Dakota City Chamber Welcome Center at 627 Sumner Ave.
In addition to the first and second cash prizes, there will be four $25 gas cards from the Humboldt County Chapter of the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Live streaming
There will be a heavy media presence at the event. The Humboldt/Dakota City Chamber is working with Red Noise 6 to provide a live stream of the event on its Humboldt/Dakota City Chamber Facebook page.
The Murph and Andy Show, featuring WHO sports personalities Keith Murphy and Andy Fales will air live from Humboldt on AM 1460 KXNO from 2-4 p.m. KHBT, 97.7 The Bolt will be broadcasting from downtown from 3-5 p.m.
And RVTV will have their live cut-ins during the 4, 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.
“We have had great support from the Humboldt Community School District,” Mulford related.
“The drill team, cheerleaders, football team and marching band will all be participating and there will be a community pep rally and relay race for the high schoolers,” Mulford said.
Plans are also being finalized for a “Welcome to Humboldt,” gathering by the community down the Sumner Avenue Hill sometime mid-to-late morning to welcome the RVTV crew to town. Details will be finalized.
There will also be chance for community members to meet the RVTV crew on Friday, Sept. 8, for a breakfast at Miller’s Landing at 9 a.m. The Dutch treat breakfast is open to interested members of the public.
A special additional downtown event this year will be an open house of the Community Visioning plan put together by members of the Humboldt Community Visioning Committee with assistance from the Iowa Living Roadways Trust, Trees Forever, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and the Bolton and Menk Engineers.
The open house will be from 3-5 p.m. at the Iowa State University Extension Office, for people to view and comment upon plans for downtown, trail and other transportation enhancements. There will be a brief community presentation planned for 3:30 p.m. that afternoon.
“There will also be special events downtown, surprises and prizes throughout the day,” Mulford said.
Activities will cap off with a fireworks display over the Des Moines River at 10:15 p.m., to coincide with the final sports broadcast of the evening from Humboldt. The Humboldt City Council approved the pyrotechnic discharge by a licensed and authorized person at a special city council meeting last Friday.
“We are looking for a lot of people to show their spirit for Iowa State and Iowa by wearing their favorite team colors and participating in the Cy-Hawk Rivalry on Sumner on Sept. 7,” Mulford said.