WIT Rally Had $1.3M Impact on Forest City

Steve Bakke misses something about the old days of the Winnebago-Itasca national rallies held each July in Forest City, Iowa .

“I miss the days when they wouldn’t let them in the rally grounds early,” Bakke told the Forest City Summit. “These little villages of RVs would pop up all over town.”

Bakke completed its 41st year last week. While RVs are now allowed on the grounds in early July, it wasn’t so long ago when “any piece of green space, from Pammel Park to the airport, was packed with RVs,” Forest City Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Kathy Rollefson said.

Forest City and the WIT rally have had nuances in a 40-year relationship whether its the villages all over town, the long lines of RVs that used to wait on each side of U.S. Highway 69 before the rally grounds opened early or the economic exchange between the community and the rally.

Fifty-six local residents worked at the rally this year, said Sheila Davis, manager of investor and public relations at  Winnebago Industries Inc.

Some of those 56 locals worked during pre-rally events and or during the rally or both, Davis said.

“The scheduled varied depending on the job,” Davis said.

Dan Rust of Forest City worked his first rally. Rust was employeed in youth activities. Rally youth participated in a variety of events from making crafts on the grounds to attending movies at the local theater.

“It’s just fun…” Rust, a high school student, said. “I like it a lot. I will probably be back next year.”

Michelle Bunger and Deb Buffington also worked with youth.

“I enjoy working with kids,” Bunger said.

Bunger is a teacher and Buffington is a daycare provider.

Bunger was at her first rally and Buffington had worked prior rallies.

“It’s fun to see kids over the years,” Buffington said. Some have returned in successive years and she’s been able to see them grow up, Buffington said.

It was common during the past few weeks to see rally participants on the streets and inside Forest City businesses.

Beth Bilyeu of Forest City Economic Development, has estimated the economic impact of the rally, pre-rally and post-rally at $1.3 million. Bilyeu has said the number may be conservative but it’s based on turning each dollar over one time and then, at 80 percent of each dollar, the second time it’s turned over.

WIT participants were easily identified by the yellow placecards most wore in a lanyard around their necks or pinned to a shirt.

“They’re always wonderful,” said Sally of Sally’s restaurant in Forest City. “I had a lot of first timers this year, they get told by others to come here.”

“We love seeing them each year,” said Sue Anne Hadacek, the manager of The Quilted Forest in Forest City.

WIT rally participants not only shopped in the store but some took a class at the store, Hadacek said.

Mary Jo Boman, the daughter of John K. and Luise Hanson, founders of Winnebago Industries, said the rally is always a special time.

“He’d be extremely pleased,” Boman said of how the rally had grown over the years. “He loved to be around people and hear their input. He and mom liked to be involved in the rally, always.”