DAVENPORT, IOWA (May 18, 2023) — “Each year we select a Veterans organization to receive $1000 just before the Kwik Star Criterium Ford Pro Men's race at 4:20 PM on Memorial Day. The Final Salute is this year's recipient. Lanae Strovers created The Final Salute to bury unclaimed veterans’ cremated remains with full honors,” announces John Harrington of the Quad Cities Bicycle club. “It’s her life’s cause and we want to help her this year.”
Lanae Strovers, Hamilton’s Southern Funeral Home Director located in Des Moines said, “We are deeply humbled to be considered for this year’s donation. This year alone we have laid to rest thirteen unclaimed, bringing the total to over 45 veterans laid to rest over the last six years.”
The Kwik Star Criterium started as the Moline Criterium in 1965 and has evolved over the years, eventually landing on Memorial Day in 1975. Since then, it has joined with other area races to form the Iowa Memorial Weekend Cycling Classic.
