This program was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.

At VCU.

We've always been here for you.

You are and always will be our top priority.

We care about your financial health and we are here.

I am.

VCU is a proud supporter of Wqpt.

Public affairs programing on Wqpt is brought to you by the Singh Group at Merrill.

Serving the wealth management needs of clients in the region for over 35 years.

The bicyclists are back.

And hero streets latest story in the city's.

We'll.

The legendary story of Hero Street and Silver's.

A story of sacrifice involving the families who lived in this one neighborhood is being documented.

Once again, we'll talk to the award winning director behind the latest chapter in just a moment.

But first, getting ready for the races.

The 58th running of the Quad Cities Criterium just days away, the third of a trio of Memorial Day weekend races that starts at Burlington's Snake Alley, weeds over to Muscatine Weed Park and then ends in the village of East Davenport.

But it's just one of the big events sponsored by the Quad Cities Bicycle Club in the weeks ahead.

And John Harrington from the club joins us with more.

This year marks 11 years in the village of East Davenport.

I mean, this is a home that you're really.

You feel welcomed, and it's welcoming from day one.

We felt welcomed.

So we actually met with the village, organization.

And they welcomed us to the to the area.

And then our race director, Tom Schuler went door to door, both businesses and residential, to say, hey, I'm Tom, we've got a race coming to your town.

We hope that you'll support it.

And to to a person.

All have welcomed us.

The criterium is such a signature event for the Quad Cities, and in some ways really does help kick off, the summer season.

It does.

And, we're actually in the fourth race of the weekend.

So there's two races in Burlington.

One is a super flat one Friday night called Friday Night Lights.

And then there's the.

Less than flat one is the next one is the next one.

And world famous really Snake alley.

And then on Sunday is, the Muscatine race Wheat Park.

It's hilly too.

And so ours is the final of the weekend, and it too is hilly.

So, great race for criterium racers and fans.

I wanted to double check it.

Is the, how many years for the the criterium now?

We're on 58.

This is our 58th, and we are the second oldest race in the United States.

Well, in the Muscatine, race is like 40 some years as well.

I mean, we're talking about some real history with these bicycle races.

No question.

And, with our race director, Tom Schuler, he actually, coordinates the four races.

He helps.

He gets all the race directors together.

So we figure it out.

What days we're going to have them.

What times the events are going to be?

Have the same categories for prize list.

And one change that he made a few years ago.

Didn't get a lot of attention.

And that was making equal prizes for men and women.

Pros.

That's just within the last five years.

That's within the last five years.

Exactly right.

And it's not common.

So a lot of races are still big pots for the men's, smaller pots for the women.

But, he made it equal.

I remember when that was announced and when that was implemented.

And it was a big deal.

And it really is the way it should be.

It is.

And, so we as a result, we've attracted more women, which is great.

And coming back this year is Peta Mullins.

So she's a 12 time Australian national champion.

And she won, our race a couple of years ago.

She came in second.

Last year, a wonderful person.

And, she, I'm going to talk about host housing now because this is a a real draw to the race.

So my wife, runs the host housing program, and it's similar to what John Deere Classic does where people say, hey, my house is open.

I'm willing to put up a team or a single race or that kind of thing.

And, so we've probably got, I'd say 14, host houses this year.

And Peta has stayed, a good friends of ours house, and we've got the chance to be friends with her.

And, she'll be part of this year's race, too.

What is the draw for Criterium?

Because you think of it as just being local and regional.

Bicyclists.

It's more than that.

It's more, we get, teams from, Colorado and California and then from the East coast, and then we've got some international ones.

One of the draws that we had last year was, the the national championship races, that are held every year in the United States weren't held on Memorial Day.

They were held the week before.

And so we had some national champs show up at our races.

And you can tell because for one year, they're allowed to wear a jersey with the Stars and Stripes.

So we had two men and one woman that were crowned national champs the week before.

What do you like about the race route at the village or East Davenport?

Because we were talking earlier that, so many years it was it was in Belgian village area, which is relatively flat.

That was.

Yeah.

Rock Island district is very, very flat.

And now you're in an area that, even Bix runners would recognize in some ways.

Yes.

And, the one thing that we like about it is, is that the course is fan friendly by, having the hill in it.

You've got a slower portion of the course, and so fans get the chance to be along the course, and especially at the very top, where the racers are grinding their way to the very top.

So you get to see them working really hard as opposed to just flashing by on the corners.

So it's a different, different, a appreciation for the fans.

And you have different types of races throughout the day.

Not only is it, men and women age groups as well, and different, even different styles of biking.

Yeah.

Two that come to mind.

One is, the cooler Electric Kids race.

So it's it's you say.

Well, it's not competitive.

Oh, no, those kids are just hyper competitive.

They cannot wait.

And so we've got a three year old one and a four and five year old one and that kind of thing.

And then mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, those are the loudest cheers during the whole day where the parents are cheering on their kids.

Another race that we've added is we've brought a running race, to the event.

And so, it's the running wild mile, and they actually do a mile, so it's like a lap and a quarter or something like that.

The winning time last year was like four minutes and 20s.

Right.

So there's they're cruising.

Yeah.

So there's some really good runners that come out on the course as well.

So a lot of fun.

What do we what do you like about the tradition of the criterium?

That it's a tradition.

So I'll give you an example.

So, a prior race director gave me, a, eight foot wide photograph, two foot tall.

So do you want this?

I said love to have it.

And it was one of the corners when it was in the village, across the river.

And so I put it in my office, and I can't tell you how many people have come into my office.

Oh, I sat on that corner.

Or I race that day, and then they'll tell me about what happened and just add a little bit more about history.

Our current race director won there twice.

In the 80s.

It's it's really become, because we're talking about bicycling as a race.

But bicycling in the Quad Cities has, has grown because you're a member of the Quad Cities, bicycle Club.

And there are so many different activities that the club does in order.

You have women's rides.

You you you schedule rides throughout, Scott County.

The organization has really helped grow bicycling in the area.

It has.

And so I think we have about 200 rides throughout the year.

So these are volunteers that lead the rides, plot out the route, and they're for all, abilities.

Abilities.

You know, whether you're an A and a B rider, which you're riding 20 miles an hour or you're a leisure rider, and you're just out there going 10 or 11 miles an hour.

On some of the rides now we have riders with their e-bikes, and so we welcome those.

And so, I'll give you another example.

The tour of Mississippi River Valley, which we do want to talk about.

Yes.

Right.

We're holding it this year.

First week in June, and this will be our first year where we welcome e-bike riders.

And whether they're pedaling and getting assistance or it's a total e-bike.

We welcome them because they're riders as well.

The tour of the Mississippi Valley.

It is the 46th annual, tour.

I think some people don't even know it exists.

That's true.

We were off the map for a couple of years because, the team that that ran it had run it too long.

They retired.

We thank them for their service.

And it took a while to find a new race director.

A new ride director.

Be honest.

So, we're back at it again this year, and, it'll go up to Dubuque again.

We'll have dinner and the the world famous beer garden at, Loris, and then, come on back the next day.

Total of 108 miles going up about 90 miles coming back.

How many people take part in that?

And let's be honest.

That becomes a great, you know, a bonding experience.

I was going to say a great fraternity, but it's men and women, of course, but but it becomes this bonding event.

It is a bonding event.

And, I've got friends to this day where we met each other on Tom Roth.

And the bonding comes from suffering together, going up the hills into the view.

And then the next day, going up the same hills, coming home sore from the day before.

So, yes, it is a bonding experience.

Glen Dodge, you say, I'll never do this again.

And then the next year you do it.

No, I've never said that again.

You just have to put it out of your mind and keep battling.

The key also is weather, of course.

And that really does impact, who takes part?

But tell me about the registration and how you get involved in that.

Yeah.

So registration, just go to the quad Cities Bicycle Club website, qq, bcc.org, qq, BBQ dawg, and it'll lead you right to, Tom Roth.

And one of the great things about Tom Roth is one, it's a well plotted out route over quiet roads.

So, you know, you're going to be safer than just going on your normal roads.

And two, there are ten rest stops.

So six the first day, for the second day.

And at those rest stops you get great food.

Friendly people fill up your water bottle with, Gatorade and whatnot.

And we typically have them, on the side of the road where there are shady trees.

So you can actually, on a really hot day, just sit there, relax, be there with your friends, and then go to each other on to get back on the bike.

So, you know, you do need that.

I want to talk.

One last year is safety.

I know the Quad Cities Bicycle Club was very, active and very, supportive, of the Hands-Free legislation, that that requires, that requires that you don't look at your, your phone device while driving.

It's a bicycle club, of course, is very concerned about that.

You're happy with the legislation?

And how important is that?

Yeah.

Very happy with the legislation.

I'll tell you a personal story.

So, last year, a little known crosswalk protection bill was signed, and a few of us helped get that across.

And, my wife and I got invited to the signing to be there with Governor Reynolds to sign it.

And it basically gave protection for riders, runners crossing the, the, crosswalk, because in the actual legislation, it only referred to walkers.

So they had to just tweak it and put in a few more words.

So my wife and I attended the the signing.

We're standing next to Governor Reynolds.

She turned to us, gave us some pens, and I said, I hope we see you here next year to, sign hands free.

And she said, I don't know why that hasn't been passed.

When I was a senator, I tried to get it passed.

I couldn't get it passed.

And so, here we are.

It got signed and all of us riders have had experience where somebody's texting or they're busy on their phone and we've been buzzed or we've been hit or almost hit.

So I'm thrilled.

That'll go into effect on July 1st.

Are the streets?

Are the roads becoming more friendly for bicyclists?

No.

In Bettendorf, where I live, I used to ride on the roads all the time, and I don't any longer.

I use the bike path, or I ride gravel roads.

And the reason is, is that one you've got distracted driving and two, you've got population growth, so there's more traffic.

So, we've had to migrate onto bike paths in Davenport and in Bettendorf.

Bike paths are great.

So, we can do that, but we've had to do that just for those reasons, because I think of, you've seen that they've painted more lines.

Yeah.

They make it very clear that this is a bike lane.

Has that helped?

Oh, for sure it's helped.

But, even still, there's just distracted drivers that are.

They don't see you or they're doing their own thing.

Whatever.

So we've also talked about the fact that, the Quad Cities are so centrally located.

East west, routes.

Now, more development of North-South routes.

These more national or regional, bike rides, throughout the area.

We've seen that grow, greatly over the last few years.

Yeah, that's a great question.

I've, been on rides where I've seen people with all our packs on their bike and, you know that they're going cross-country and they're on what's called the Mississippi River trail.

And that's part of the, nationwide trail going across the United States.

And so I've stopped and talked with those folks.

And, they say we really enjoy this area because the trail is here.

We're safe on it.

And the scenery is just beautiful.

And then you've got Iowa nice as well, where they get, invited into people's homes for a night or grab a shower or whatever, because bicycling used to be just something that some people did.

It really has.

I mean, let's be honest, bicycling was huge when you're a kid, and then when you grow older, it becomes less so, and then somehow it gets revived.

It does.

And, you know, we don't have a Lance Armstrong out there getting people out there, but I've noticed the bike paths getting busier and busier and, two things.

One, see more families out there, which is fantastic.

People are off the couch there.

They're out there, being with each other.

And another thing that's attracted people is the new I-74 bridge.

I can't tell you how many families I see.

And I mean multi-generational, you know, grandma, mom and kids, out there walking to the center of the bridge to see it.

And how many riders there are now that will do a loop, in Iowa and Illinois.

Using the Arsenal Bridge or Centennial, to build it or facilitated.

And they shall come.

Right.

So many different ways.

Well, and I'll give you another example.

So the I-80 bridge is going to be replaced at some point.

And there was a survey that was put out that asked what amenity or what do you think of this and that, what amenity should be added.

So we put out the word to our club members and said, this is a chance to get another, bike path on it, just like the I-70 four.

And so a lot of us voted for that.

Now it turns out that the design will include that.

And so a friend of mine was at a meeting with, Iowa D.O.T.

engineers and said, this is fantastic, that this, bike lane is being added.

How did you guys decide?

And he said, because you voted for it.

And so that has really lit a fire with our, membership, especially since the Centennial Bridge is going to be replaced at some point.

There's already discussion between Iowa and Illinois to do that.

So we're going to get our votes in again, to get that, bike path on, on it as well.

Which is such a family friendly amenity for the city.

Our thanks to John Harrington of the Quad Cities Bicycle Club.

Registration for the Quad Cities Criterium is open right now, and you can also register on the day of the races by heading to the village theater in the Village of East Davenport.

Hero Street is an historic gem in the cities.

It received its name in 1968 to honor 57 servicemen from 33 families who served the country from World War two to the Vietnam War.

Six died in the World War, two died in Korea.

Fourth Wall Films has done a series of hero street documentaries, and all four of them will be retiring during a special day long broadcast on Wqpt is set for Sunday, May 25th, and we're joined by Emmy Award winning fourth wall documentary director Kelly Rundle, who is also working on the latest chapter of the Hero Street story.

You have been working and and studying and telling the story of Hero Street for years.

Why is it such a draw to you?

Yeah, we started attempting to tell a story in 2012.

We went to Hero Street and, filmed Memorial Day observances, but I didn't, you know, although I grew up here.

Went to, United Township High School, went to school with kids who were related to the heroes.

I never heard about the hero Street story.

We left the community here at the Quad Cities and were gone for almost 25 years before we returned, and that's when I heard about it.

And the story, of course, is a terrific, local Quad City story, Illinois history story.

But it's also a really terrific American history story.

So we're always looking for stories that have a local or regional following but deserve a wider, deserve wider recognition and a wider audience.

And the story is that it's about eight men, of course, and we tell their personal stories, but it's those eight men represent, others, many thousands of others who served well.

It's also a story of heritage, because Hero Street is in a neighborhood that was densely, Hispanic.

It almost not by accident either.

That was tell me about that.

Because the thing about Hero Street, when I think about Hero Street, I think of of Hispanic men who were entering World War Two and served the country at a time when, you may not have given Hispanic people any credit.

Yes, it's an American immigration story.

I mean, in so many ways, the parents of most of the heroes were, of course, in Mexico.

They were caught in, in the vise of, the Mexican Revolution.

And, they, came here because there was a manpower shortage.

And so the U.S. government sent trains down to Mexico to bring workers back.

And so they were kind of filling those jobs while, American men were fighting during World War One.

And then around the time of the Great Depression, people were saying, well, those folks are living in these boxcar, communities in the rail yard, and they're not paying taxes, so we need to get them out of there.

So they set aside in Silvis, Street.

That was a former dump site.

And that second street in Silvis, Illinois.

And then the families moved there.

Some of them moved their boxcars there and built homes.

Right.

Even now, you could go to Hero Street if you could peel back some of that, siding, you would find under 4 or 5 of those homes.

You'd find those boxcars you've told now, four Hero Street stories.

Tell me about that.

I mean, because you would think for for a documentary and that you do one story and that's it.

But you are known for making series and updates.

Yeah.

On this particular story, we struggled with, funding.

We've struggled with funding for this project more than any other subject.

We've, tried and, we had the good fortune of getting a call.

Well, initially we thought we'd do a feature length and tell the story of all eight.

Could not fund that.

And so it was just a chance.

Phone call from Wqpt.

And the Illinois Arts Council had offered a grant.

And for a visually creative, documentary.

And at the time, they didn't have an idea, but they knew about the Hero Street thing.

They knew it wouldn't tell the whole story.

But, Laura Adams said, well, what could we tell some part of the story?

And I had just reviewed or Tammy and I just reviewed letters from, the Sandoval family, dozens of letters.

And so we remembered we were thinking about those letters and how interesting they are to look at during the World War Two area.

There was a duffel bag full of these letters.

What a treasure.

So visually interesting.

Nobody writes letters anymore.

The stamps are interesting.

They're on base stationery.

Very colorful, interesting, beautiful handwriting.

And a very personal telling of, you know, one soldier's story.

So we settled on Frank Sandoval because we had a full set of letters from the time he was inducted until just a month before he was killed in combat.

So we were able to tell his story, basically through his his own words, his own letters home hard.

Hard to make anything less powerful than that.

Now it really was.

And then it kind of opened the door to the notion of telling this as a series of stories.

Each film would tell an ordinary soldier's, personal story, but also tell the audience something new about what Hero Street is all about.

Provide the context for that hero story, the war story, you know, behind all of that.

And then talk a little bit about the legacy, because there is very much a legacy of, of service coming out of that little street, somewhere between 100 and 200 service members, over the years, who have family ties to a block and a half long street in Silvis, and you're working on a fifth Hero Street.

We are, that will be premiering, at the Putnam Giant screen in November around Veterans Day.

Yes.

Yeah.

And that'll be the story of, John Munoz.

And that gets us into the Korean War.

Part of it.

Because two of the heroes, served during the Korean War.

How important is it for you to tell these stories?

Because they are people stories.

A lot of people are calling Heroes Street.

Obviously heroes.

I mean, the the the word is there.

Well, you know, you get excited about something you think is a great story and you just want to tell that story.

But there's a kind of a responsibility or a feeling of, of you really want to do the best you can because you're, in a way, speaking for someone who's no longer here.

Almost every story.

Yeah, almost every story we tell is that way.

And if I find myself sort of whining about how difficult it is to make these hero street films, I remind myself of how difficult it was for these young men to go and to serve, many of them, if not all of them in very difficult, conditions.

So I remind myself that I'm helping to tell their story, a story that they're not able to tell because they didn't make it home.

You have told a lot of interesting stories, and I do want to point out that you're going to be at the Quad City Botanical Center June 12th for the Amish incident, Wisconsin, versus Yoder, which is actually one of two Amish themed documentaries.

Yes.

That you've done.

Yeah.

And ended up being a two part thing Amish incident.

The Iowa there's an Iowa Amish incident that occurred in 65, 1965.

There was a famous photo that was carried around the world on the wire services of dramatic, of Amish children running into a cornfield to escape from, local school officials who were going to forced bus them, to town schools.

Well, Iowa resolve their, situation at the state level.

And some of the people who were involved in that incident relocated to New Glarus to kind of escape, you know, the controversy, which is in Wisconsin, near Madison, and then in New Glarus, we had a second Amish incident.

So that involved, trying to compel students to attend school after eighth grade and, that eventually, ended up in the US Supreme Court.

So the US Supreme Court case finding, plus the, compromise that happened in the state of Iowa, really developed the policy for how Amish folks are, how states work with them throughout the whole country.

And it's all based on that one photograph, which, as you said, incredibly powerful.

Yeah.

Just have a few moments left.

I know you're working on on a story that we were talking about earlier, because it's so interesting to me is The Peshtigo Fire, right, which was in northeastern Wisconsin.

For those who know, it's just a little bit west of, green Bay area.

It is of, unknown fire to so many people, but it was so devastating.

And why is it that people don't know about this?

I think it's because the great Chicago Fire, which was very famous and was deadly, drew all of the attention.

And it did so at the time because Wisconsin officials were on their way to help, the people suffering in Chicago, unaware that they had a much larger, much deadlier fire of their own in Peshtigo, which was a logging community.

You had a perfect storm of drought and, fire present.

And, 1.2 million acres burned somewhere between 1500 and 2500 people killed.

Still the deadliest wildfire in recorded history.

And nobody knows about it.

Almost nobody, almost no documentary comes out.

And I just find it so fascinating because of the, the irony that it happened.

Exactly at the same time as the same day.

Yeah.

Our thanks to Kelly Rundle of Fourth Wall Films.

Once again, Wqpt will air the four hero Street documentaries on Memorial Day weekend and you can watch them Sunday, May 25th right here on Wqpt public television.

On the air, on the radio, on the web, on your mobile device, and streaming on your computer.

Thanks for taking some time to join us.

As we talk about the issues on the city's.

IHMVCU, we've always been here for you.

You are and always will be our top priority.

We care about your financial health and we are here I am VCU is a proud supporter of Wqpt and Public Affairs.

Programing on Wqpt is brought to you by the Singh Group at Merrill, serving the wealth management needs of clients in the region for over 35 years.

This program was made possible by viewers like you.

Thank you.