Orange City, Iowa — For at least 24 hours one day this summer, the population of Orange City is going to swell significantly, and the Orange City Police Department aims to be ready.
On Saturday, July 22, thousands of people will descend on the Dutch town for the annual RAGBRAI bike ride, which this year starts in Orange City.
Orange City Police Chief Jim Pottebaum tells us that planning for their part of the event is underway.
Pottebaum says that while the city does have the very popular Tulip Festival every year in May, (This year it’s May 18-20) and many people come to town to see it, the RAGBRAI crowd will be an order of magnitude greater.
He says that many towns who have hosted RAGBRAI have called in reserve officers and asked for help from departments in other areas.
Pottebaum tells us he’s no stranger to RAGBRAI as he’s assisted in Le Mars and Sheldon when they were overnight towns. Orange City has been a pass-through town in 1975, 1993, 1996, 2002, 2005 and 2012, but this will be the first time the city will serve as the starting town. He says when they served as a pass-through town, the focus was on traffic safety and getting the riders through safely. He says that will be a portion of their duties this time, but with riders staying overnight, there will be many other areas of focus as well.
