“To know Terry was to love him.” ~ Shirley Schmidt

There would be no Red White & Boom without the original vision of Terry Lunardi, the long-time Davenport restaurateur and community service leader who passed away in August, 2009.  It was at his insistence that families be treated to a free fireworks display shot over the Mississippi riverfront over eight years ago, and through his committee leadership, Red, White & Boom was born.  The event quickly became  the premier Independence Day celebration in the Quad-Cities.

Lunardi was involved in nearly every facet of community service from philanthropy, to simply to spending his daily time and energy improving the Quad-Cities first-hand.   To completely sum up Lunardi’s generosity in this short amount of space would be impossible; however, the following is a good window in to the number of lives he touched throughout our community with his huge smile and strong handshake.

Lunardi was an integral volunteer for The Handicapped Development Center, DavenportOne, Davenport Community Schools, Junior Achievement, Scott County Family YMCA, the Riverboat Development Authority, St. Ambrose University, Rotary Club, and countless other community organizations. Terry also helped launched the KLJG radio station at Garfield Elementary and was a critical leader in bringing Woodfire Grill to downtown Davenport.  Terry managed to work all of this in while running his popular Lunardi’s Italian Restaurant, and his Rock Island based business, Sports Avenue.

Lunardi was named the 2004 Family-Owned Small Business Champion of the Year for Iowa, the 2003 Volunteer of the Year for DavenportOne, the U.S. Department of Education Business Partner of the Year, and the Rotary Foundation Paul Harris Fellow.  In 2009, the Iowa Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce created the Terry Lunardi Community Leader Award in his honor.