Full Moon Touring Club cleans-up, praises MRT route

Members of the Full Moon Touring Club (FMTC) performed the spring session of the group's biannual roadside clean-up along the stretch of Great River Road (County Road X52) from Harpers Ferry to State Highway 76 the weekend of April 27-28. Pictured above, left to right, are club members Russell Whiteside of the Quad Cities, Steve Kolbach of the Yellow River Forest area, and Mark Alitz of Mason City at the starting point of their clean-up efforts, with Craig Leonard of the Quad Cities also contributing but not pictured. The club has performed its clean-up efforts in the fall and spring of each year for the past 17 years, many times extending their efforts from Effigy Mounds to Marquette and down the "Trail of Two Cities" between Marquette and McGregor, and even on to Pike's Peak State Park and its Legacy Trail. Over the years the club's members have included several local residents as well as some from as far away as the Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, Clear Lake and Mason City in Iowa and from Prairie du Chien and La Crosse in Wisconsin.
"The Full Moon Touring Club salutes the efforts of Allamakee County and the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) developers for following through with the legacy trail project throughout northeast Iowa in Allamakee County," said Kolbach on behalf of the Full Moon Touring Club in regard to completion of the section of the MRT project along Great River Road this past fall. "The FMTC's hopes are that the enthusiasm for safe passage for non-motorized Mississippi River Trail enthusiasts will continue to extend the efforts of the future development of the Clayton County 'hinge pin' of the Trail of Two Cities and the Legacy Trail proposed to connect the Crawford County, WI and Dubuque County, IA MRT trails. Job well done, Allamakee. We salute you, support you and honor your efforts. We will return this fall in late September to do it again. You can count on us." Submitted photo.