Scotty's Ride 2012 was yesterday

[Mikekoz13]

Scotty's Ride 2012 was yesterday. The weather was superb.... about 68 degrees and mostly sunny. This great weather brought out a BIG walk up crowd. Early estimates put the number of Bikes at 225.

The three children whose Families benefitted from the Ride were at the After Party. I spoke to the one young Family at length and found out that they live only a few miles from me. They have an adorable little boy, two years old with a lot of serious health issues. Most children that have what he has die at birth or shortly after.
I spoke to them about keeping their Spirits up, setting the bar high for their son, the Power of Prayer, and literally the Kindness of Strangers. They were so grateful for what Scotty's Ride was doing for their Family. The Dad lost his job because his employer told him "it's your job or dealing with you son's issues". I hope there is a special place in Hell for that guy.
The Dad also told me that he had lost most of his Friends because they didn't understand or were "afraid" to be around his son. I asked if I could call him just to get together for some coffee and to talk so he could just get things off his chest. He quickly handed me a card with his contact information and thanked me more than once for the kind offer.

About half way thru the evening, during a break by the band, Kerry (Scotty's Great Uncle that runs the event) went to the stage to draw the 50/50 for the evening. I quickly scooted up onto the stage and interrupted him by basically taking the microphone from him. I told that crowd that nobody there knew that I was going to do this but my wife. I then told them I was a Moderator on an internet Forum and that about a month ago I had asked if anyone might like to donate to the Ride. Then I started getting checks and one month later members of SlyBaldGuys were PROUD to donate a total of $440 to Scotty's Ride. The crowd literally roared. Kerry grabbed me and hugged me and Thanked me as I handed him the envelope that had these words written on it "Scotty's Ride from the SlyBaldGuys".
Both Kerry and his wife Valerie literally had their mouths hanging open. My wife was with Valerie when I did this and she said that Valerie was overwhelmed.

A little side note here....., Yesterday after the Ride portion of the event we came back home to drop off the Bike and get the car and my son. My son brought the mail in just before we left to go to the Party and he said "Hey Dad you have mail". But it wasn't a bill or junk mail.... it was ANOTHER donation for Scotty's Ride.... from BaldJoeG! That donation brought the total donation to $440 guys.

You guys ROCK! Please know that your donations went to three LOCAL Families with three really sick kids. I saw three VERY grateful Families yesterday walking around proudly with their kids.

[Laser Man]

Mike,

I'm really happy to hear Scotty's Ride was a success and we were able to help out a little

[-Doug-]

Glad to hear that the event was such a success!!!

[mrzed]

Emotional story.  Had a hard time reading it to the family and not having tears in my eyes and a choke in my throat.

[Sir Harry]

Glad everything went well! Honored to have played a small part....Count me in for next year too!

[Mikekoz13]

After I posted this thread this AM I went to Kerry and Valerie's farm to help clean up. Kerry told me that this was the BEST Scotty's Ride to date. Over $11,000 raised yesterday guys.... amazing and we got to be a part of it.

Kerry told me that there were a LOT of people with their hands very deep into their pockets yesterday. My wife sold Scotty's Ride T-Shirts in the AM and said that people were handing her 20 dollar bills for the $12 shirts and telling her to keep the change for Scotty's Kids.
The 50/50 drawing was for $485 (the other $485 went to Scotty's Ride) and it was donated back. The $300 poker hand winner donated all their money back.
One guy donated $500 and then later stopped Kerry and asked Kerry to hold his beer. He then reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, pulled out a $100 bill and said to Kerry, "I'll trade you this for that beer".
A couple that had never been to Scotty's Ride before stopped Kerry later in the day and told him that they had five kids. One of the kids had nearly diedd when they were young. They told Kerry that Scotty's Ride was amazing and asked who they could talk to about making a donation. Kerry said , Well that's me". They promptly made a $1000 donation.

The three Families who received this year's donations have already all signed up to volunteer next year.

Kerry said something to me when we were alone today that says it all for me.. and I quote:
"All year long people do things that make me wonder what the Hell is wrong with people..... and then we have Scotty's Ride".

By the way... I don't think I've ever mentioned that the Scotty's Ride motto is:
     "In the name of one child, we ride for many."

This is what Scotty's Ride is all about guys. This is why I love Scotty's Ride.

[Mikekoz13]

Kerry also asked that I extend his and Valerie's sincerest thanks to all of you.

[Mikekoz13]

Glad everything went well! Honored to have played a small part....Count me in for next year too!

There are already plans for something big next year for Scotty's Ride. There will be a raffle with only 2000 tickets available. The tickets will cost $10 each. This means ticket sales will raise $20,000.

$10,000 of that money will go to the winner of the drawing. The other $10,000 is going to be donated, in the name of Scotty, to the Saint Jude's Children's Hospital. This is in ADDITION to the usual donations that will STILL be given to local Families.

[TheSlyBear]

Must be kinda dusty in here.

[Mikekoz13]

Must be kinda dusty in here.

Huh???

[Mikekoz13]

Must be kinda dusty in here.

Huh???

OH! I think I got it. Dusty indeed.

[TheSlyBear]

What else could possibly make my eyes water suchly?