Vehicles from the era of its beginning make one last trip over the Black Hawk Bridge as it nears its end ...

To commemorate the closing of the Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing, a group of Model A automobile enthusiasts took “one last trip” over the bridge Monday, September 22.

Drivers of the vintage vehicles were members of the Hawk A Model A Ford Club, founded in January 1971 and based in Cedar Rapids. The non-profit organization is dedicated to preserving and promoting the 1928-1931 Ford Model A. “[The Black Hawk Bridge] opened in 1931, the last year of the Model A Ford production,” says Dennis Zuber, of Homestead (one of the Amana colonies), who started creating club tours with his wife, Elaine, in 2007. “With thousands of Model A [vehicles] crossing that bridge in those first few years, it was only fitting we celebrated with a Model A-crossing at the end.”

The Hawk A Model A Ford Club has 85 members, mostly living in East-Central Iowa but a few also residing in Texas, Georgia and Wisconsin. It has monthly tours, April through October. The 350-mile tour (which involved 14 cars and 25 people) that brought the cars to Lansing also included the Cassville Ferry crossing; Stonefield Village in Cassville, WI; a Mississippi River cruise on Maiden Voyage Tours, out of Marquette; the Earthmoving Legacy Center and Schera’s Algerian restaurant, both in Elkader; and Shrimp Down Yonder in New Vienna.

Monday morning, after driving to Lansing from Marquette and crossing the Black Hawk Bridge from the Iowa side of the river, the group turned around and immediately came back over the bridge (as pictured above in the surrounding photos) - then headed to New Albin, where Don and Pat Zoll hosted the group for lunch. After lunch, the group returned to Lansing for gas and a Horsfalls Variety Store visit. The group ended the day with a stop at the Driftless Area Education and Visitors Center and a driving tour of Yellow River State Forest near Harpers Ferry.

“Actually driving over [the bridge] was kind of sad,” Zuber says. “It’s such a different style of bridge - with the two very noticeable ‘bumps,’ and that hum of the tires that almost gave the Black Hawk a personality.”

The age of the bridge is almost exactly the age of Zuber’s Model A when his grandfather bought it new in August 1931, he adds. “That’s kind of neat.”

Ron Heim, of rural Lansing, is a member of the Hawk A Model A Ford Club. “I have loved the Model A ever since I was a little boy,” Heim says. “There was an old man who had one in his shed, and he let me play in it. I drove a lot of miles and never went anywhere; but those memories are just like yesterday.”

Heim says it was a great feeling to drive over the bridge in his classic car. “But,” he adds, “also a sad one, knowing that it’s about to be gone. We need to be there when they do the ribbon-cutting for the new one.”

Information about “Black Hawk Bridge Memorial Day” in Lansing, an all-day “farewell celebration” being scheduled for Saturday, October 11, can be found printed in this week's newspaper, and can also be found on the Lansing Iowa Facebook page. For more information about the Hawk A Model A Ford Club, visit hawkamodelaclub.org online.

Additional photos from this event are available in this week's newspaper. Pick up the Wednesday, October 1, 2025 print edition of The Standard or subscribe to our e-edition or print edition by clicking here.