“Cruisin’ for a Cause” benefits local Special Olympics

 

[July 17, 2018] 

LINCOLN 

On Saturday the parking lot and surrounding areas at Logan Lanes was filled. There was no big bowling tourney going on though, but rather, “the place to be” was outside, enjoying all the great components of a very important fundraiser. Logan Lanes had generously given over their parking lot as well as a section inside the bowling alley to the Lincoln Park District Special Olympics group for a ‘Cruisin’ for a Cause” car show and day of food and fun.

Among the many activities were bounce houses, face painting, a three-part auto show that included motorcycles, jeeps and trucks and cars. Cars in the show ranged from classics and antiques to a dolled-up “shortbus” to one wild hot rod drag car and a modified dirt car.

Jeeps and trucks were well represented, with some of those vehicle owners coming in from Decatur. The biggest of big showed up around noon, as Ron’s Towing brought out one of their big wreckers.

In the motorcycle category, no one was disappointed with the variety as the bikes lined up for everyone to enjoy.

As visitors made their way around all the vehicles, they had the opportunity to choose their favorite in one or more categories and vote for the people’s choice to be recognized at the end of the day.

The event began at 11 a.m. and ran until 3 p.m., making it a perfect time for a pulled pork fundraiser as well. Food was prepared by Sugar Creek Bar-B-Que with food and utensil donations from Paulus Farms and Wal-Mart. Several folks came out just to enjoy the food that was served by volunteers as well as some of the members of the Special Olympics teams.

Inside the bowling alley was a raffle for some great gift baskets. To top off the raffle, all kids received one free raffle ticket, and there were a variety of bicycles in the mix, assuring that at least four kids were going to go home with new bikes on Saturday evening.

Throughout the day a healthy crowd came through, walking about and admiring the cars and visiting with their owners, playing the games and enjoying the music that was provided by DJ Dinger.

The fundraising portion of the day included a small entry fee for the vehicles in the show, donations were accepted for the inflatables and face painting, and food sales. Admission to the event was free to all.

The funds raised from the event will be used by the LPD Special Olympics leaders for the purchase of equipment for the team, uniforms as needed, and food and travel expense for athletes to go to competitions.

The event was made possible through the cooperative efforts of the United Riders Motorcycle Club, LPD coaches and District Special Olympics staff.

At the end of the day, Rick Hennessey shared his thoughts about the fundraiser, “Wow, and thank you to everyone is all we can say. We can never thank anyone enough.

“When United Riders found out that Lincoln lost the Polar Plunge we all agreed to help the local team with a fundraiser to supplement the lost revenue.

“We met with the regional director and local coaches for several months to discuss and plan an event. We were thrown a few curveballs along the way during planning, and everyone stepped up and covered any need that we had. All the members reached out to ties we had with the community and asked for support with overwhelming results. It just proves how great the community is and how much we support all of our athletes.

“I wish to thank everyone who donated and volunteered. We were a little hesitant at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning when Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating. But when it was time to setup up the rain had stopped and provided the many volunteers a nice breeze during setup. The weather cooperated greatly the rest of the day, and with the tent there was shade and a slight breeze for people to enjoy some good food, great friends and see some chrome.

“We congratulate the winners of each class, but with everyone’s generosity, the real winners are our local athletes.

“Thank you, everyone! It looks like this may become an annual event.”

[Nila Smith]