West Milton’s Awesome Run For Just For Kids
Monday, July 25, 2005
Submitted by: Jennifer Wilson
This past Saturday was the West Milton Eagles poker run to benefit the Just for Kids foundation. This is the
second Poker Run out of West Milton that we have attended and let me tell you….WEST MILTON KNOWS HOW TO PUT ON A POKER RUN!
Saturday started off with a great breakfast buffet from 9-12. The sausage gravy was awesome. There were plenty of door prizes displayed as well as a chance to win a leather jacket and a Harley Davidson phone. There were vendors set up outside so the ladies could do a little shopping before we left.
As it came time to get organized to leave, it was announced that there were 205 bikes signed up at that time. I think the members of the Eagles Bike Club were sh---ing their pants over the turn out that they did NOT expect.
We finally got everyone rounded up and headed out to the Piqua F.O.E. We wound around through the cornfields and what a sight is was to see. Many residents along the way even came out of their houses to see what all the fuss was about. As we rolled into the parking lot in Piqua the sea of bikes lined up was very impressive. As we all stuffed into the lodge, I think we exceeded their occupancy limit. We picked up a few more bikes before we headed out to the Versailles F.O.E.
The stretch was a little long but we all made it. We overtook the street and bikes lined up around the corners. The town of Versailles didn’t know what hit them. We had a nice break and while there, I made a new friend. His name is JC. To see this little boy, in a wheelchair from Cerebral Palsy, made me feel good and touched my heart. I knew the money we were raising would be used to put a smile on JC and other children’s faces. In speaking with JC’s parents, I learned that this was the second year that JC went along on the run, in his parents Jeep. We then headed for Greenville.
There again, it was quite a stretch but a good stretch it was. As we pulled into Greenville we passed the famous Made-Rite’s and thought, “They would die if we all pulled in there.” As we walked into the F.O.E. lodge they had a small chopper that will be raffled off at the upcoming event on the weekend of Aug. 6. I know I’ll be buying tickets for that bike for our 11 year old. We headed back to West Milton about 5 and took 571 all the way.
Once back at the F.O.E. in West Milton we had Sloppy Joe’s waiting on us. I talked to Sissy who prepared the Sloppy Joe’s and she told me that while we were gone she had to go buy more to fix because the turn out that they had. They gave away door prizes and held the raffles for about 3 hours. Everyone had a good time and a smile on their face. One gentleman won an auction for a dew rag. He spent well over $300 and realized that it was identical to the one on his head. He decided to get the kids’ names that were there from Just for Kids and draw a name for that dew rag. The young man that received that dew rag had the biggest smile on his face.
This run was the best I had ever been on. At each stop there was a 50/50 drawing and a raffle. The winner of the overall 50/50 drawing won over $300. No one broke down or wrecked which is always a good thing and over $3870 was raised for a wonderful group of special children. I over heard many members of the West Milton Eagles bike club ask, “How are we going to top this next year?” I believe that they are already making plans now.
The West Milton Eagles (#3621) is located at 2270 S. Miami St., West Milton, OH. 45338 and can be reached by calling (937) 698-6009 or email miltonunion.foe {AT} gte.net. The Aerie meets on the first and third Thursday at 8:00 P.M and the Auxiliary meets on the first and third Monday at 7:30 P.M.
More pictures of this event can be found in the biker pics gallery.
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