Pulling it together: LeClaire Tug Fest board issues statement on 36th annual Tug Fest dispute

LECLAIRE, Iowa, and PORT BYRON, ILL. (KWQC) - The annual Tug Fest is a staple event in both LeClaire and Port Byron every August. But this year, it could look different.

On Monday LeClaire Tug Fest officials issued a statement saying:

“As of [Monday], the negotiation table is still open for discussion about serious changes to our beloved river pull. We have set a deadline of March 15 for these talks and we remain hopeful that our two teams can come to an acceptable agreement in that time. Rest assured that no matter what, the LeClaire, Iowa Tug Fest 2023 will be open for business,” LeClaire Tug Fest Board President Kari Long said.

In October 2022, the LeClaire Tug Fest team gave the Port Byron team an ultimatum in an effort to even the playing field of the annual Tug of War contest that stretches across the Mississippi River.

According to the Public Relations Director for LeClaire Tug Fest, Brandon Smith, the LeClaire team proposed the idea of swapping sides of the river due to the current of the river always working against those on the Iowa side.

“In the last decade, we’ve never won in Iowa,” Smith said. “So that’s the first thing right there. There’s something needs to change there, we need to figure that out. And our last negotiation with them was, let’s just go ahead and have all 11 teams switch sides, they bring theirs over here, we’ll bring ours over there.”

According to the president of the Port Byron Tug Fest, Tammy Knapp, they wanted nothing to do with that proposal.

“That’s not a good thing for each side of the river to do. People from Illinois want to watch Illinois pullers,” Knapp said. “[They] don’t want to watch Iowa pullers. There’s events in the whole weekend, especially that day that the tuggers partake in besides the actual pull, you can’t do that there in Iowa. They think it’s the current. But when I asked them, Do you have a proof for any kind of studies or anything? They say no, they don’t need to, they just know.”

Both sides are prepared to do the event on their own side of the river if it comes to that, but coming to an agreement is something both sides are pulling for.

“That’d be awesome, Smith said. “So we can start playing and keep it on the river for this year.”

Both LeClaire and Port Byron released statements regarding the issue.

The LeClaire, Iowa Tug Fest Board and Committee announced today that negotiations to update the only Tug-Of-War competition to span the Mississippi River have reached an impass. Both sides of the festival have noticed a marked drop in attendance over the last several years. Iowa’s take on this is that the vastly different currents on each side of the Mississippi River make it impossible to have a fair and even competition. Illinois disagrees, saying that the current does not matter and does not affect the outcome of the pulls in any way.
“Of course we all want to win...that’s the nature of this beast but most importantly we want this event to keep going for the next 36 plus years. We want to pass this over to our grandchildren and watch them have as much fun planning and preparing for this as we have. If we continue on as we have been, I fear that Tug Fest, as we know it, will die” said Kari Long, President of the LeClaire, Iowa Tug Fest Board. “This event is bigger than us…it’s bigger than just our Boards and Committees. We need to reignite the excitement in this event and make it better for both cities! This festival cannot continue as a one sided competition or we will all end up losing in the long run!”
Initially, the Iowa team asked to change sides for all 11 pulls which was met with a hard and fast “NO” from Illinois.
“After listening to our pullers, Tug Masters, team sponsors and our loyal fans, we have reached out to team Illinois and requested that Tug Fest be treated like every other sport where no team has the home field advantage at all times. We stand behind our decision and we are ready to move forward with our plan B if negotiations fall through” commented Matt Thoene, Vice President of the Iowa Board.
As of today, neither side has presented a plan that was acceptable to the opposition. With the break down in discussions, Team Iowa has decided to proceed with planning a tug-of-war competition on land.
“Of course we will come back to the table to chat with Team Illinois if they are willing to talk about legitimate changes. We need changes that will benefit the festival as a whole. Until then, we have to move forward with our planning schedule. We truly hoped that we could find some sort of compromise that would be acceptable for both sides but unfortunately, to this point, it has not happened” said Long.
LeClaire Tug Fest team statement

First thing to note. The Port Byron Tug Fest committee and tuggers are ready to have a festival like we have been doing since 1987.
In a meeting with LeClaire held on Oct 10, 2022 we were given an ultimatum by the Iowa committee. Switch all tug teams, Iowa pulls in Illinois or "we are not pulling".
Illinois does not believe there is a reason to change sides. We have listened to the reasoning they talk about but do not agree with their assumptions. There have been times Iowa has won the event and/or pulls. There are many other reasons that things are going the way they have been.
The Iowa tug pit has been totally changed multiple times. Their tug pit material is made up of lime, that is what we've been told, this is not good for tuggers to pull on. It ends up being like pulling on gravel which can be seen in the pictures they post. We have offered to help them with their tug pit issues and even help train their tuggers. The Illinois tuggers have been training better and better every year, enough that the old saying of "it's the worst 3 minutes of your life" is no longer true. The Illinois Tug Masters and the 11 tug captains create and train their teams so much that they are ready that day to put their best to the test.
The spectators on the Illinois side do not want to see Iowa in our pit. They show up to see and cheer for their Illinois teams and family members. There are also other events that our tuggers attend in Port Byron that they will not be able to see/participate in if they are in Iowa. One big one is our kids tug which has grown to several hundred kids. A lot of these kids' parents are current and past Illinois tuggers.
These are just a few of the reasons we are ready to have a festival and tug of war across the Mississippi River as we have been since 1987.
There are a few things in their press release that need to be corrected and/or explained.
They had this press release created and to the paper before we ever had a meeting tonight. How did they quote things from tonight's meeting before we ever had the meeting? The "home field advantage" was never spoke of before tonight and there was never any negotiations brought up by Iowa before tonight's meeting. Last we knew it was, their way or the highway,all teams switch states to pull or else.
They also refer to “break down in discussions” in the press release before we had a meeting. How do they know that? We hadn’t had a meeting yet. This is very one sided as usual but of course there are 2 sides to every story. Please also include the Illinois side.
Tammy Knapp, President of the Port Byron Tug Fest

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