Waverly preps for massive music invasion

WAVERLY, Ia. – "The British are coming! The British are coming!"

So reads the sign outside Meyer Pharmacy in Waverly. Union Jack flags hang over the entrance.

Owners Ryan and Kate Frerichs aren't big Paul Revere enthusiasts. Instead, they and the rest of the northern Iowa town are preparing for the June 18-20 Gentlemen of the Road Stopover, one of four multiday festivals the Grammy-winning band Mumford & Sons is hosting in small towns around the country.

The Frerichses' pharmacy is just across the street from Wartburg College, where the festival featuring Mumford & Sons, My Morning Jacket, the Flaming Lips and others will be held.

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The point of the Gentlemen of the Road Stopover is to bring big-name bands to communities that don't normally see shows like this. In Chicago or Minneapolis, a show by Mumford & Sons and My Morning Jacket might just be another Tuesday night.

In Waverly it will be talked about for years.

Waverly has grappled with just how to present itself to the 15,000 to 20,000 music fans expected to swarm the town of around 10,000. Graham Garner, vice president for marketing and communication at Wartburg College, has come to this conclusion:

"What we learned .... is you have to celebrate who you are," Garner said. "People want to experience your town and your community."

Garner was among a delegation from Waverly that attended the June 5-6 Stopover in Seaside Heights, N.J., to learn from another community about how it experienced the event.

The two-day festival's stop in Waverly was announced in March. Since then, the town has been scrambling to figure out places for the crowds of fans swarming the area to eat, sleep, charge phones, buy last-minute supplies, have a beer and more.

Learning from other tour towns

The Frerichses were among those who were curious to see how other cities who have hosted the Stopover have fared. After talking to other towns, they stocked up on things like sunscreen, first-aid kids and rechargeable batteries. Their pharmacy will also have a charging station for phones.

Most of the activities will be focused around Wartburg College and the nearby downtown area on Bremer Avenue. Three blocks of Bremer will be closed off to cars and will feature a stage of local music late into the night. Many local shops and restaurants will stay open to serve the crowds.

"It will be a lot busier than an average weekend in Waverly, that's for sure," said Travis Toliver, executive director of the Waverly Chamber of Commerce. Toliver didn't want to try to guess a dollar amount that the festival might bring into Waverly. But after his city hosted an overnight RAGBRAI stop last year and Gentlemen of the Road this year, he hopes it will be on the radar for larger events.

The East Bremer Diner will be front and center for the free stage festivities, and general manager Matt Lamos said the restaurant is planning to focus on a limited menu that showcases the diner's specialties, including pork tenderloins and cheese frenchies (a battered grilled cheese sandwich) that can be served quickly to music fans.

Sub City, which is just behind where the downtown stage will be, also hopes to feed the masses. Its sign reads, "Why are you hiding us backstage when our food is so front row?"

Owner Jana Hinders didn't seem too stressed about the horde of music fans coming to town. She is planning to bring in family for extra staffing.

"Normally we close at 8 p.m., but for this I expect we'll be open until we run out of food," Hinders said.

Darren Siefken also plans to keep his shop, CrawDaddy Outdoors, open late. The shop sells tents and other camping gear. Siefken expects most campers will already have their gear, but he will stock extra rain gear and sunglasses and will plan to repair tent poles and patch tents.

Waverly's police department has just 16 officers, but Chief Richard Purcell is looking to bring in some help to monitor areas where crowds are expected.

"We've reached out to agencies within the county as well as from outside," Purcell said. "Last time I looked, we'll have at least 10 agencies represented. The most officers we'll have on duty at one time is about 50."

His objective is to make sure normal service to Waverly residents isn't disrupted while also dealing with the festival. Based on discussions with police departments in other Stopover cities, Purcell doesn't expect a high number of arrests.

"During RAGBRAI, we had four arrests, and they all occurred after midnight," Purcell said. "I think we're feeling this will go about the same."

Living with the Stopover

A row of houses lines Fifth Avenue next to the festival grounds. Karla Happel had never heard of Mumford & Sons before the Stopover was announced, and she still isn't familiar with their music, but she plans to spend the weekend camped out on her deck, listening from a distance.

Other than stocking up on supplies, Happel doesn't expect the Stopover to cause any big changes to her routine.

"I'll probably head to the store a few days before to make sure I have everything I need," Happel said. "I'm kind of excited; it's like I have front-row seats."

Herb Brown, 21, and three other Wartburg College students live a few doors down. No one is planning to attend the show, but they do see some opportunities to benefit from the event. Brown hopes the festival means his pizza delivery job is busy those nights. He and his roommates also plan to spend some time in the yard with a cooler — vending, not consuming.

"We figured we would take advantage of our location and make a few extra bucks selling water and soda," Brown said.

Come June 21, things will slowly start returning to normal. Bob Linz, owner/manager at the Other Place pizzeria has talked with restaurants in other Stopover towns and expects a busy lunch before the throngs of fans leave town.

"It's brought us all together and had us working toward a goal in a way we never have before," Wartburg's Garner said. "It's been a lot of work, but by the time this is over, I think we're going to wish we could do it all over again."

Gentlemen of the Road

Acts: Mumford & Sons, My Morning Jacket, the Flaming Lips, Jenny Lewis, Dawes, Blake Mills, Jeff the Brotherhood and more.

Where: Wartburg College and downtown Waverly.

When: June 18-20.

Cost: $199 (includes the downtown stage), $5 for the downtown stage only, or $85 for Friday, $125 for Saturday.

Info: gentlemenoftheroad.com