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Veterans advocate, author plans return trip to Dixon

Sauk Valley Newspapers - 6/17/2017

DIXON ? A Pennsylvania man on a cross-country mission to promote awareness and raise funds for wounded veterans will be returning to the city at the end of the month.

In 2014, C. Ivan Stoltzfus, a retired real estate broker from Morgantown, Pennsylvania, decided to trek his 1948 John Deere tractor coast to coast from New Jersey to California to advocate for veterans.

He completed the 3,500 mile journey in 105 days, lugging his tractor and 24-foot trailer at about 15 mph, and stopping for a cookout at the Dixon VFW that May.

Stoltzfus published the book "A Dream to Reality: Changing Lives One Mile at a Time" last year and is continuing his national journey with a different route that takes him right through the Petunia Capital.

Jim Olsen, a friend of Stoltzfus and fellow tractor enthusiast who moved to Dixon about 6 months ago, said the trip is about more than raising funds for the Wounded Warrior Project to Stoltzfus. It's about honoring the countless individuals who have served or are serving the country, and the stories they carry.

"I think it's a really creative way to highlight how important it is to care for our veterans," he said. "The vision he has, the compassion and motivation he has to reach out to wounded heroes, is incredible."

Stoltzfus carries one of those stories on the tractor's dashboard in the form of a Purple Heart a veteran gifted him.

He will be having a book signing from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on June 30 at Books on First, 202 W. First St. and also be attending the Holland and Sons tractor show on July 1.

He will also be featured in the Petunia Festival's "Heroes of Our Community" parade at 1 p.m. on July 2.

"He's got a real heart," he said.