By Sue Brockway

 

The Tyson Team at Missouri Valley

There are few things that make traveling through Iowa  at the end of July in this heat and humidity worthwhile.  However, the people of Missouri Valley have been WONDERFUL!
Whenever 20,000 plus people converge on a small town, you can expect a little chaos and crabbiness in this weather.  Not the case here……people are so kind and after a visit to a local bank this morning, I was greeted and asked my life story.  I transacted my business and bought a great cookbook for $12.00 that includes local recipes and baking tips.
Next on to the car wash where I met 30 campers setting up their tents for tonight, night one of the official start of RAGBRAI.  Small and large towns across the state are going to welcome thousands of travelers from all 50 states and assorted countries.  We will eat pie, baked goods and have a little home cooking at every stop.  But we will have fun as we do it. 
Today, our team grilled hot dogs for the proverbial “free lunch”.  Hundreds of riders grabbed a dog as they registered for the hottest bike ride in Iowa!
Which brings us to today’s team member of the day, Dave Hinojosa from Joslin, Illinois.  Dave has been a Tyson team member since 1994 when he started on the production floor.  He became a production trainer, and then transferred to maintenance, his real love.  After being a maintenance trainer for 4 years, he has recently been promoted to a supervisor.  He and his wife of 16 years, Angela; have a 7 year old daughter names Chloe.  Dave is traveling with us along the entire RAGBRAI route to keep us and our equipment organized. 
Our team members make RAGBRAI possible.  I hope you join us each day and see who is helping us raise money to help end childhood hunger.  I guarantee you will see someone you know.

To see complete coverage of the RAGBRAI week, go to http://hungerrelief.tyson.com/blog/2008/7/16/tyson_team_members_to_raise_m.aspx