The extremely little town of Bolan, Iowa does not want to be forgotten. Town residents are having a bike ride on Saturday, Sept. 14 to raise funds for landscaping and to erect a lighted flag pole near the now closed Bolan Store. Longtime resident, Lori Willert is the volunteer driving force behind the Bolan Bike Ride.

"Last year after Sept. 11, all 16 of the residents put up American flags. We decided we wanted something more permanent like a flag pole. With the flag pole we needed to do landscaping and the flag pole has to be lighted so it can be seen at night. We knew this would cost quite a bit. I had gone on bike rides in Forrest City and have rode in RAGBRAI the last 17 years. I was familiar with

bike rides and decided to hold one," said Willert.

Willert contacted the other residents and close surrounding neighbors and they all said, sure they would help her.

She held an organizational meeting last March and the site for the flag pole was agreed upon by the former owner of the Bolan Store, Elmo Jahr before he died.

"We got 12 sponsors to back us on this bike ride. We will have T-shirts for all the riders and as of this past weekend we had 32 riders registered. Many people that will be riding haven't registered yet," said Willert.

The Bolan Bike Ride begins in Bolan which is located west of St. Ansgar on County Road A-38. Registration begins at 8 a.m. at the Bolan Methodist Church. The ride begins at 9 a.m. The first route is a 12-mile loop to Grafton, then a 26 mile route from Carpenter to Grafton, finally a 42-mile route through Carpenter, St. Ansgar and Grafton. Registration is $15 after Sept. 1. This includes a short-sleeve T -shirt, map, marked routes, support vehicle, ticket for a slice of pie with ice cream and

a beverage.

"The pies will be made by Paradise Pizza of St. Ansgar. We will also be serving maid rites. We plan to have the landscaping and flag pole up by summer 2003," said Willert.

The residents of Bolan

were acclaimed in 1989 when the entire population appeared as guests on "Late Night With David Letterman" because they held the first ever Stand-Still Parade during a two-day Centennial Celebration.

"A surprising amount of traffic travels through Bolan. We all support each other here," said Willert.