Local 249 MC Mud Fest: Fun for a good cause
By Cecelia Davis
During the unforeseen lay-off, the motorcycle committee have been keeping busy with hosting an amazing Spring Fling celebration. They originally set the date for the event for May 22 but mother-nature had other plans, so they decided to reschedule the event for May 29. Only then, was it fitting to rename the event to “Mud Fest”.
“It was a really good turn-out for being as muddy and drizzly as it was. It was muddy enough to get your truck and trailer stuck.” says Amanda Lawrence, who is part of the recreation committee.
The motorcycle committee invited anyone and everyone that possessed an ATV, side by side, and dirt bikes to venture out to the South Big Creek Ranch, located in Gallatin, Missouri. The intention behind this incredible festival was to provide funds to be donated to Heather Findley, who is only a 6 years old, who currently suffers from stage 3 kidney cancer and Jeff Johnson, who has stage 3 colon cancer.
Josh Curtis, the motorcycle committee chairman, had the honor to present the proceeds gathered to Heather personally at the Union Hall.
“It never gets old being able to bless an individual, especially a child! That’s our future. If we don’t invest in them and show them some good in the world, how can we expect it to continue or multiply,” Josh said.
The parents of Heather were delighted with the generous donation as the medical bills were increasing as Heather is scheduled for another round of chemotherapy.
“Heather has something a lot of us could learn from. Even on her bad days, she wears a smile and is happy! We, as adults, get so angry over the simplest things. This girl is fighting for her life and continues to be happy and thankful to be alive. She also looks forward to good days where she can play and just be a kid.”
Joshua was also able to donate the other half of the proceeds to Jeff Johnson. At the moment Jeff is courageously battling chemotherapy, so they had to make a special trip to Jeff due to his lack of mobility.
The Mud Fest was loaded with multiple activities for all ages. There were scavenger hunts with a pot of gold for the grand prize, bounce houses, duck derby in the near-by creek and even a silent auction with a chance to win some amazing items. The recreation committee also conducted a cornhole tournament and had some incredible raffle prizes.
The raffle items that the Motorcycle and Veterans committee provided at the festival was two Remington rifles and a ravishing ATV! The two lucky winners that won the rifles were Robert Rhoades and Stephan Brown. The lucky winner of the ATV raffle will be announced in nex–t month’s paper.
If your belly started grumbling after discovering all of the exciting activities, there were a couple of food vendors to soothe those aches, such as, “Lip Smacking BBQ” and delicious “My-Ty’s Snow Cones” and shaved Ice.
After an exhausting yet adventurous day, the UAW family gathered together to listen to some majestic beats performed live by, “Split Decision” as they watched the sun set on the fun filled spring day.