Pair of Nebraska college students visit Allamakee County communities as part of their statewide Visit939Iowa tour

by Joe Moses

Several Allamakee County communities were early August stops for Visit939Iowa, a statewide tour by University of Nebraska at Omaha students Seth Varner and Austin Schneider. The college pair made stops in Waukon, Waterville, Lansing, New Albin and Harpers Ferry Thursday, August 5 as part of their statewide journey.

Last year, Varner and Schneider traveled throughout Nebraska on what was known as the Visit531Nebraska tour with stops at all 531 incorporated towns and communities over a three-month period during that summer. As part of the Nebraska tour, photos and town-specific details were shared on social media as Varner and Schneider continued their travels across the state, with the creation of a self-published book as a goal. Their book, “Visit531 Nebraska: Our Journey to Every Incorporated Town in the State”, documents their travels and shares photos and fun facts from each community and is available through their website.

Varner shared with The Standard that plans are in place for a similar self-published book documenting their Visit939Iowa tour with some initial design and photo layout having already begun and November 25 being the target date for that book to be available for sale. Varner added that due to the large collection of photos taken on this tour, not all will be published in the Visit939Iowa book but, similar to their Nebraska book, will include QR codes which can be scanned by a phone or other electronic device to access additional photo collections viewable online.

Varner further shared that the Iowa book will include information gathered relating to each community’s history, famous residents, landmarks and stories about the individuals met in each community during the tour. Varner said that he is thankful for the generosity and helpfulness of those met in each community during the Iowa tour with 780 communities visited as of August 10 and another 159 remaining of the 939 communities in Iowa.

When asked about notable locations and landmarks seen in Allamakee County, Varner discussed the Allamakee County Freedom Rock in Waukon as being an important stop on the tour with plans in place to visit all of the rocks on the 99-County Freedom Rock Tour, a statewide attraction honoring military veterans. Varner also noted other Waukon landmarks and attractions including the Allamakee County Courthouse, the County Historical Society Museum, the downtown business district and statues at Sweeney’s Village Farm & Home.

Relating to other stops within the county, Varner discussed traveling on the Great River Road and visiting Lansing, New Albin, Waterville and Harpers Ferry. Varner commented on the welcome signage in each community honoring local attractions, businesses and activities, with Granny Basketball (being noted on signs in both Lansing and Harpers Ferry) being a unique activity he was not aware of prior to visiting the area.

Similar to the Nebraska tour, Varner and Schneider have taken photos at various landmarks with an Energizer bunny plush toy. Varner explained that, “much like the Energizer bunny, we keep going and going with our tight travel schedule across the state,” often spending 45 minutes per community before traveling on to the next town.

With the encouragement of family and friends, Varner and Schneider used their successful Nebraska tour as a model allowing for their Iowa tour to be planned in much the same way. Varner shared that their route is typically mapped out in squares allowing them to visit multiple communities within a day.

Fundraising has been a big part of their planning process with their Visit939Iowa Facebook page, website at https://www.visit531nebraska.com and GoFundMe page at https://gofund.me/43b4173e being tools to stay connected with the public and to provide an opportunity for individuals and organizations to make financial gifts in support of their statewide tour. Visit939Iowa’s social media following continues to grow with their Facebook presence having over 30,000 followers as of the writing of this article.

Their Iowa tour has been budgeted at $5,000 to include $2,000 for gas, $2,000 for food and $1,000 for lodging. Varner shared that the lodging and food amounts budgeted could be switched, with lodging being the greater expense during this tour, so far. Varner said that funds raised beyond their original goal will assist with costs associated in publishing their Iowa book and that funds raised are being used for travel-related expenses which, in turn, support local businesses along the route.

Before attending the same university, Varner and Schneider have known each other since kindergarten having both grown up in the City of Wahoo, the county seat of Saunders County, located just 45 minutes west of Omaha, NE. Entering his junior year of college in the fall of 2021, Varner is majoring in marketing, sales and entrepreneurship with post-college plans to operate a travel industry-related business. Also entering his junior year, Schneider is a sales major with post-college plans to either work in medical sales or sports marketing.

Regarding future statewide tours, Varner noted that nothing has been decided beyond the Visit939Iowa tour. Varner would not rule out one more tour, mentioning South Dakota as an example with approximately 300 communities, which he described as a manageable number of visits for the college pair.