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 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.
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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] |
