If you weren’t in downtown Perry at all Saturday, you may have missed the thousands of people who descended upon the City while taking part in BACooN Ride 5.

Perry was once again an official bacon stop on the 71-mile bike ride on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. While in Perry, the riders were treated to bacon samples provided by Berkwood Farms, as well as bacon cheeseburgers, bacon chocolate chip cookies, Bloody Mary’s, and a beer garden provided by the Hotel Pattee. Hotel Pattee General Manager Aaron Lenz felt the event went without a hitch, and he learned some things about what the hotel and City are capable of. “It was a good turnout! Hot weather, good traffic everywhere, (it) really turned into an earlier day than we thought. But in the end, great turnout (and) everybody had some fun. I learned that we can throw a very successful party out in front of the hotel, with great community interaction and turnout.”

Lenz added, hosting events like the BACooN Ride are very beneficial in not only showing off Hotel Pattee, but also the City and people of Perry as a whole. “We saw probably somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 people come in through Perry. Most of them were from outside of Perry, I talked to several people that had never been to the hotel or the town. So (it was) great exposure for us as a whole community and not just a business.”

The Raccoon Valley Radio Little Big Red Radio was also in attendance for the BACooN Ride, as we broadcasted live, played music throughout the day, and provided public address services.