Category: Midway Route Coordinator News

Greetings Run For the Wall Family!

I am please to announce that the plans for the All Routes Reunion, hosted by Midway have been completed and the information will be included in this newsletter. But first, I will take care of a little Midway business.

After discussing with our ARC and our Hawgwash fund raiser sponsor, it was decided that our Midway family will continue to send donations out even though our route was cancelled again this year.
$2,000 was sent to support Milan Elementary, another $2,000 to support Falcon Children’s Home and $1,000 to support Final Salute for our homeless women veterans. I thank all of you who supported our fundraising efforts.

As a reminder, our hotel raffle will be held on May 7th. The drawing for the $1,000 prize will be recorded and posted on our Facebook page. Good luck to everyone and thanks for purchasing your raffle tickets.

We are in need of an Assistant Arizona State Coordinator capable of taking care of things in the Lake Havasu area. if interested please contact me at ken.dugas@rftw.us.

Now let’s talk about the amazing plans for the Reunion! We will be calling this years event the “Sunbright Veterans Memorial Tour of Honor“
A brief history of the Sunbright  Veterans Memorial. 
Sunbright, TN is a small rural  community in the Northeast corner of Morgan County. Mr. Charles Webb, a Vietnam Veteran, dreamed of the day Sunbright could properly honor the 830 Veterans of Sunbright. His dream of erecting a Veteran’s Memorial has taken thousands of countless hours of planning and fundraising. The challenge of erecting a worthy Memorial requires tens of  thousands of dollars which was very difficult for this small community. Mr. Webb with the support of his wife, Joann, began organizing activities and events to raise money doing bake sales, yard sales, and various fundraisers. As the community came together, enough money was raised to first erect an 80′ flagpole, followed by the brick monument and service branch flags. Although construction has progressed for several years the humble and dedicated persistence of Mr. Webb has continued to propel this Memorial to completion and dedication Memorial Day 2021.  The community is so excited and honored that our group will be going to their small, humble town to visit and pay our respects at their memorial.

This reunion will be a traveling reunion and we are in need of a volunteer to be our combination chase/hydration truck. If you can help, please contact our TN State Coordinator, Ron “Sky” King at ron.king@rftw.us.

The hotel blocks are open for reservations. The registration and agenda for the reunion is on our RFTW.US website under the Midway hub. The link is: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfSddvZrKfLGD_n5nMunmyvPROznSUU6srGHcnpcjujUiB24Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

It is important to book your rooms and register for the reunion ASAP. The hotels will increase our blocks as long as rooms are available. We also need head counts for food and activities, so the sooner you register and make your reservations the better it is for our planning. With this said, please note that you will be able to register at the door should your planning require.

Hope to see as many of you as possible at all the reunions. Safe riding to all of you who will be on the road for Memorial Day.

Have I told you lately?……………..I love my RFTW family!
Ken “Six String” Dugas
Midway Route Coordinator

Hotel info and Reunion agenda below:

Sunbright Veterans Memorial Tour of Honor – Hosted by Midway Route
2 July – 5 July, 2021

Come join the fun in Tennessee over 4^th July weekend.  We will be riding half way across the State of Tennessee.  Planned activities include two wreath laying ceremonies, Song Writers Night Out, Moonshine Harley Davidson Dealer party, and ride to Cookeville for dinner and 2^nd largest firework show in Tennessee, and visit to Sunbright Veterans Memorial and Brushy Mountain Prison, open evenings in Memphis and Nashville, and – and – and.

Hotel reservation blocks are open and closes 5 June 2021.

Memphis, TN (2 July 2021)
Crown Plaza Memphis Downtown
300 N. Second Street., Memphis, TN 38103
Reservation Number: 1-901-525-1800 or 1-800-2CROWNE
Group Rate: $119.00 (Plus $3.00 Parking Per Room)
Group Name: Run-For-The-Wall Veterans Reunion 2021

Franklin, TN (3 July 2021)
Drury Plaza Hotel
1874 West McEwen Ave., Franklin, TN 37067
Reservation Number:  1-800-325-0720
Group Number:  2437401  (Rate $127.00)
Group Name:  Veteran’s Reunion, Run-For-The-Wall

Cookeville, TN (4 & 5 July 2021)
Country Inn & Suites
1151 S. Jefferson Ave., Cookeville, TN 38506
Reservation Number:  1-931-525-6668
Group Rate $85.00
Group Name:  Reunion Run-For-The-Wall

Agenda

Friday, 2 July
1500 – 1700           Lobby Registration (Registration $35.00 ea)
1730 – 1800          Rider Meeting Hotel Parking Lot
1800 – until           Dinner On Your Own Downtown Or Beale Street Music and Blues!

Saturday, 3 July
0700 – 0800           Lobby Registration (Registration $35.00 ea)
0700 – 0850          Hot Breakfast @ Hotel
0900 – 0915          St Mary’s Catholic Church West Parking Lot (Rider Meeting)
0915 – 0925          Blessing of the Bikes
0930 – 1100          I-40 to Exit 108 Parkers Crossroad, TN State Veterans Cemetery
1100 – 1130          Lay Wreath (693 Wildersville Road, Wildersville, TN)
1140 – 1250          Parkers Crossroads City Park (Subway $7.00 ea.) (1:10 Lunch Stop)
1300 – 1330          Fuel Stop Marathon (Gas and GO)
1330 – 1540          Ride to Host Hotel, Drury Plaza, Franklin, TN
1715 – 1800          Lobby Reception / Registration
1830 – 1855          Stage & Ride to Kimbro’s ($10.00 ea. cover / pay as you go bar & food)
1900 – until           Song Writers @ Kimbro’s Pickin Parlor, Franklin, TN or On Your Own

Sunday, 4 July 2020
0800 – 0830           Lobby Registration (Registration $35.00 ea)
0700 – 0900          Hot Breakfast @ Drury Plaza Hotel
1030 – 1045          Rider Meeting Hotel Parking Lot
1050 – 1100          Hotel Parking Stage for ride to Moonshine Harley Davidson
1100 – 1110          Ride to Moonshine Harley Davidson (Free Lunch) Or Lunch On Your Own
1100 – 1300          Moonshine HD (2:00 Lunch)
1300 – 1310          Stage for ride to Cookeville, TN
1310 – 1530           VA Hospital Visit Murfreesboro, TN (1:00 Visit)
1530 – 1700          Arrive Leslie Town Center, Cookeville
1700 – 1900          Reception and Dinner Cookeville (Auction for Sunbright Veterans Memorial)
1940 – until          Stage Hotel Parking Lot then Move to Fireworks & Return (LEO Escort)

Monday, 5 July 2020
0800 – 0815           Lobby Registration (Registration $35.00 ea)
0700 – 0830          Hot Breakfast @ Hotel
0845 – 0900          Hotel Parking Stage (Rider Meeting)
0900 – 1030          Arrive Sunbright Veterans Memorial
1030 – 1115           Memorial Service Wreath Laying (01:00)
1115 – 1155          Arrive Brushy Mountain Prison/Distillery/Gift Shop
1155 – 1450          Brushy Mountain Lunch/Self Guided Tour  ($25.00 ea.)
1500 – 1530          Arrive Petro’s Marathon (00:30 Gas and Go)
1530 – 1705          Arrive Host Hotel (End of Mission) Dinner On Your Own

            Note: All times Central Daylight Time (Sunbright and Brushy Mountain are on Eastern Daylight Time)

Cost (each)
Registration                                                                                    $35.00
Subway Lunch City Park 3 July                                                 $7.00
Kimbro’s Picking Parlor (Optional)                                        $10.00
Brushy Mountain Prison Tour and Lunch                             $25.00

                                                                   Total:                  $77.00 or $67.00ea.

Register at RFTW online or at any overnight location each morning at the Hotel Lobby Registration Table.

Pay via Check by 25 June 2021 mail to:
                             Pam Dier for RFTW Reunion
                             8454 Florida Blvd.
                             Denham Springs,  LA   70726

Pay via PayPal by 25 June 2021:
rftw.pamdier@gmail.com
                             Send it as: Friends and Family or PayPal will take a portion.

Greetings Run for the Wall family!

We are getting close to the time when we all should be preparing to head to Ontario for our RFTW XXXII mission. Unfortunately, we have to face the painful reality that our 2021 route has once again been cancelled. I know several of you will still be hitting the road to honor our heroes and keep the memory of all of those killed in action, and still unaccounted for missing in action and POWs. I wish you all safe travels. WE WILL NEVER FORGET! Let’s all do our part to keep this Memorial Day a special day of remembrance and appreciation no matter where we find ourselves this year. The most disappointing part of the cancellation of our 2021 route for me is the fact that I will not be able to spend this special time with my RFTW family and the communities and people who support us.

With that said, I hope to attend as many reunions as I can to be with all of you again. Two years is too long! I am pleased to announce that Midway will be hosting another “all routes” reunion over the 4th of July weekend. It will be in Tennessee again and will be a moving reunion. It will begin in Memphis on July 2nd, then Nashville area July 3rd, and Cookeville on the 4th with a bonus night and plans for July 5th. More details will be coming soon but I wanted to let everyone know about this so you can plan for this time for the reunion. I want to thank Ron King and Ed Butler for, once again, coordinating this years reunion. These guys are doing a great job! Registration information and details to come soon.

I will have the drawing for our $1000.00 hotel raffle on Friday May 7th at 13:00 central time. If you will be hitting the roads, you could win some extra travel money! I will record/video this drawing so that it can be witnessed by whoever would like to watch the drawing. There are only 24 entries so your chance of winning is pretty good! We raised $2,200 from this raffle so the winner will get $1,000 and the Midway Route will have $1,200 go towards our 2022 route.

Wishing you all safe travels, health and happiness!

Honor, Hope & Healing

Ken “Six String” Dugas
RFTW Midway Route Coordinator

Greetings RFTW family!

I am sorry to announce that our fundraising event for Saturday at Cajun Harley Davidson has been cancelled. Our sponsor, “Hawgwash” and our promotions team leader, Lane Flynn, were traveling from New Mexico for this event. The winter storm has made traveling too dangerous for them to come and I don’t think many bikes would want to be on the road Saturday. Even in South Louisiana it is 20 degrees right now! I wish my northern friends would come and get take their weather back home!

Most people just gave donations to us for our fundraising. I want to thank everyone who donated to our worthy cause. A few people made pledges of money per bike treated at the fundraiser. I want to be honest with all of you and let you know that no bikes will be treated Saturday and so we will not be collecting your pledge. If you would like to change your pledge to a donation, we will gladly accept your donations. To donate, you can send via paypal to rftw.pamdier@gmail.com or contact Lane Flynn at leflynn@aol.com.

I want to thank everyone for who worked so hard to put this fundraiser together, and Cajun HD for offering to host our event. We always do a good job at adapting and overcoming our obstacles, however, we cannot control the weather.

Update on our Hotel raffle:

We currently have 9 people entered for the $1000 drawing. We are $100 away from covering our cost. After that, 100% of the money raised goes directly to our Midway route. The free extra ticket per 5 bought promotion ends at the end of February. Purchase your raffle tickets now to take advantage of the free tickets.
A reminder of how this works:
Except for Ontario and Arlington, this fundraiser will pay for your hotels across the country!  The estimate for the hotel cost came out to be approximately $1,000.00, so the prize for this raffle will be $1,000.00!  Tam Tam Rickerson won our hotel raffle for 2020. Even though the route was cancelled, she won the $1,000 prize! Wouldn’t it be nice to have your hotel costs covered?  The cost per ticket is $10.00 or you can purchase 10 tickets for $50.00!  If you purchase $100.00 worth, you will get 25 tickets.  All money made from this raffle will be used for our Midway route and will help cover some fuel cost for our riders!  If you purchase 10 tickets or more before the end of February, you will receive 1 extra tickets (per 5 purchased) for free.  I ask that you support this if you are able.  The raffle tickets will be given to you in Ontario and the drawing will be in Hopewell, VA. 
If you would like to purchase Hotel Raffle tickets, please make check out to RFTW and send to:
Ken Dugas
9849 Loblolly Pines Lane
Denham Springs, La. 70726
You may also electronically send the money through Zelle.  Use my phone 225-405-2735.  Please send me an email at ken.dugas@rftw.us to let me know if you are sending money to me.

With much appreciation to everyone, Thank you!

I will be leaving Friday for Dallas to attend the Board of Directors meeting. I will write another newsletter with any updates that I have to share with you.

Stay Warm!

Ken “Six String” Dugas, Midway Route Coordinator

IMPORTANT CHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

Greetings Midway RFTW family!

The COVID pandemic has created some challenges for us.
I have a very important update to share with you.  Due to Covid, and possibly  the change in the pastor at the church, Forrest City will not be hosting our route.  Therefore, you need to cancel your reservations in Forrest City because we will not be staying there.
Our Day 5 stop will be moved from Forrest City to Memphis TN.  This will make for a long day, however, we were successful in our attempt to adapt and overcome!  Day one will still be our longest mileage day.
The host hotel will be the Crowne Plaza where we stayed for our reunion.  Please use the link below to book your rooms. 
Here is the  link to Crowne Plaza, they are ready to take reservations: block room name/info “Run For The Wall-  Memphis”
Run For The Wall – Memphis
If link does not work for you, call the hotel direct at 901-525-1800.
While booking through the link, you may see that the reservation is a no refund booking and that parking is $22.00/day.  Please do not concern yourself with this.  We have a signed contract in hand at a rate of $99.00 room and $3.00 parking.  The reservations can also be canceled 24 hours prior to the reservation.  The hotel has assured us that they will make this right for these reservations.
I am so proud of our Midway team.  We will adapt and overcome to make RFTW 2021 a great success.  We may have to navigate some curves but, with this team, we will overcome!

A couple of fundraiser updates:
We are getting close to our Feb 20th, Hawgwash Acrylic ” White Glass” bike protectant /sealant fundraiser at Cajun Harley Davidson in Louisiana. This is a pledged base fundraiser so you do not have to attend or live in the area to participate. We have a few people who have volunteered to collect pledges for us. Let me know if you would like to volunteer to do the same. Currently, we have raised more than $6K for our route. This is a great start but we do have a goal of $10k for this event. A little from many people adds up. If you would like to make a pledge or donation, please contact our Promotions Team leader, Lane Flynn at Leflynn@aol.com or myself at ken.dugas@rftw.us and we will be happy to take your pledges and/or donations. See my December #3 newsletter for more information.

The Hotel raffle is off to a slow start. We currently only have 3 people entered to win $1,000 to help cover their cost of hotels. Last year we had 36 people enter. Tam Tam won the $1,000 for 2020 and we raised enough money to cover more than a fuel stop for our route. I don’t know of any opportunity to win $1000 with 1 in 36 odds of winning . To date for 2021, you would have a 1 in 3 chance of winning $1000! We must have at least enough entries to cover the $1,000 prize. Let me refresh your memory of how this works:
Except for Ontario and Arlington, this fundraiser will pay for your hotels across the country!  The estimate for the hotel cost came out to be approximately $1,000.00, so the prize for this raffle will be $1,000.00!  Tam Tam Rickerson won our hotel raffle for 2020. Even though the route was cancelled, she won the $1,000 prize! Wouldn’t it be nice to have your hotel costs covered?  The cost per ticket is $10.00 or you can purchase 10 tickets for $50.00!  If you purchase $100.00 worth, you will get 25 tickets.  All money made from this raffle will be used for our Midway route and will help cover some fuel cost for our riders!  If you purchase 10 tickets or more before the end of February, you will receive 1 extra tickets (per 5 purchased) for free.  I ask that you support this if you are able.  The raffle tickets will be given to you in Ontario and the drawing will be in Hopewell, VA. 
If you would like to purchase Hotel Raffle tickets, please make check out to RFTW and send to:
Ken Dugas
9849 Loblolly Pines Lane
Denham Springs, La. 70726
You may also electronically send the money through Zelle.  Use my phone 225-405-2735.  Please send me an email at ken.dugas@rftw.us to let me know if you are sending money to me.

A big thank you to everyone who helps support or fundraisers for our route!

I will be attending the Board of Directors meeting in Dallas on Feb 19th & 20th. I will do my best to keep you all informed should there be anything I need to make you aware of.

I thank you all for your continued support.

I am tired of the planning and ready to ride.  Is it May yet?!!!!!!!

Honor, Hope and Healing

Ken “Six String” Dugas
RFTW Midway Route Coordinator

Happy New Year Midway family!

I hope you had a nice New Year’s waving 2020 behind us. I wish you all a happy and blessed 2021!

I can’t help but have a sense of hope and excitement as we look forward to 2021 and see how many people have made their hotel reservations for our Run for the Wall mission. I have heard nothing but positive feedback about everyone’s hotel reservation experiences. I thank you all for your patience and professional representation of RFTW in dealing with the hotel’s staff. We are off to a great start to 2021 and we are working hard to finalize our route plans. This is the time of the year where our State Coordinators and their Assistants really start to finalize all the details for our route. I want to once again, express my appreciation to them and everyone for the work they do to make our mission a success.

Speaking of work, I want to remind everyone that we are having a zoom meeting to kick off our plans for the Feb. 20th fundraiser I have been telling you about. We are looking for people to help us obtain and collect pledges for this. We are having a Zoom video conference meeting tomorrow night (Monday 1/4/21) at 7:00pm central time. I invite anyone who would like to find out more about this or is willing to help to please join us for the meeting. The link for the meeting is listed below:
Run for the Wall is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: RFTW Midway fundraiser Zoom Meeting
Time: Jan 4, 2021 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/91930652782
Meeting ID: 919 3065 2782
One tap mobile
+16465588656,,91930652782# US (New York)
+13017158592,,91930652782# US (Washington D.C)

It is time to get busy and make Midway 2021 happen!

Thank you and Happy New Year,

Ken “Six String” Dugas
Route Coordinator, Midway 2020-2021

Hello Midway family!!!!

I hope you all had a blessed and merry Christmas and are looking forward to our 2021 Run for the Wall mission. Planning for our 2021 Midway route has been going on all year long and I am ready for us to get on the bikes and ride. It has been way too long!

I am sending this newsletter out to let everyone know that the Board of Directors will be publishing the hotel lists on our RFTW.US website for all routes on January 1st, 2021. Please be advised that all of the hotels have been instructed to not take any reservations on the Run for the Wall block of rooms until January 1st. I ask that when calling the hotels, you remember that you are representing RFTW. Please be patient and kind to the hotel workers. This should go without saying. However, every year, we seem to have a few issues come up concerning this. Remember that it has taken years of work for our hotel and state coordinators to develop good relationships with these people. One bad apple can destroy all of that work with one bad experience. I greatly appreciate everyone being good ambassadors for Run for the Wall. Remember, it should always be “mission before self”. Should you have any issues with a hotel, please contact me and I will have our Hotel Coordinator do his best to resolve any issues you may have. I want to personally and publicly thank our ARC, Jerry Wilkins, who is also our Hotel Coordinator, for all of the hard work he has done to get the hotels lined up for us. Fantastic job Jerry!

Speaking of hotels, I am excited to announce that we will hold the hotel raffle fundraiser again for 2021. It starts now and is something I think everyone will like and I hope will participate and support.  Many people want to donate to RFTW.  This is a way that you can do that and get something in return.  Except for Ontario and Arlington, this fundraiser will pay for your hotels across the country!  The estimate for the hotel cost came out to be approximately $1,000.00, so the prize for this raffle will be $1,000.00!  Tam Tam Rickerson won our 1st hotel raffle for 2020. Even though the route was cancelled, she won the $1,000 prize! Wouldn’t it be nice to have your hotel costs covered?  The cost per ticket is $10.00 or you can purchase 10 tickets for $50.00!  If you purchase $100.00 worth, you will get 25 tickets.  All money made from this raffle will be used for our Midway route and will help cover some fuel cost for our riders!  If you purchase 10 tickets or more before the end of February, you will receive 2 extra tickets (per 10) for free.  I ask that you support this if you are able.  The raffle tickets will be given to you in Ontario and the drawing will be in Hopewell, VA. 

If you would like to purchase Hotel Raffle tickets, please make check out to RFTW and send to:
Ken Dugas
9849 Loblolly Pines Lane
Denham Springs, La. 70726

You may also electronically send the money through Zelle.  Use my phone 225-405-2735.  Please send me an email at ken.dugas@rftw.us to let me know if you are sending money to me.

Our State Coordinators and our Promotion team continue to work on donations and fundraising.   I really appreciate everyone’s efforts!  I want to have all the fuel for our route donated or prepaid for our riders.  It makes our fuel stops very efficient and is nice for our riders, especially in these difficult times. We cannot do this without good participation and support for our fundraisers. I thank you all in advance.

I am so excited that plans for our route are progressing well. We still have several stops to get finalized, but that is understandable with our State Coordinators having to deal with the Covid restrictions some people are dealing with. I hope to have our route finalized before too long. I will do my best to keep everyone updated. Thanks to all of our State Coordinators and their assistants for all the work they do all year long for us.

Santa brought “High Maintenance” a new back rest for her Freewheeler. I just installed it and she loves it. Remember that it is not too early to start thinking about preparing your bikes for our journey.

Have I told you lately?…………. I love my Midway family!

Is it May yet?

Honor, Hope & Healing

Ken “Six String” Dugas
Route Coordinator, Midway 2020-2021

Dear Midway Family,

I apologize, but I am needing to send another newsletter to address a change of plans for our fundraiser zoom meeting that was scheduled for Monday Dec. 21st. It was brought to my attention that the 21st is the night that the planets will be aligned to create the Christmas star. This will be a once in a lifetime event for us to see. Many people also have Holiday plans that conflict with the meeting schedule. After discussing with our fundraiser team, it has been decided that it would be better to reschedule the meeting after the 1st of the year. Therefore, we have rescheduled the meeting for Monday, January 4th at 7:00pm central time. We need help for this fundraiser! If you are interested in learning more about the fundraiser and/or will help us with this, please send me your email address and I will send you the zoom meeting invitation. My email is ken.dugas@rftw.us. Even if you sent a reply already, I ask that you please send another email so I have an updated list for the Jan 4th meeting.

To recap the fundraiser event: We will be treating up to 100 bikes with an acrylic coating for free! We will make money by collecting pledges based on how many bikes we apply the coating to. We need volunteers to help us get pledges and collect them. Anyone with RFTW can help with this because no matter where you live, you can collect the pledges for us. People will be able to pledge as little as $.10 (ten cents) per bike or $10.00. A pledge sheet will be provided that will have places for people to pledge in increments of $.10, $.25, $.50, $1.00 or more per bike. It is easy to see that the more people we have obtaining pledges, the more money we will be able to raise for our route and our mission. Our goal is to have a minimum of 25 people getting 25 pledges. A minimum of $0.10 pledged per bike, would raise $6,250.00 for Midway. You can do the math and see how much more we could raise with more people participating and pledging more than $0.10 per bike. This could be a BIG fundraiser for us and would only require a little effort and small donations being given by many people.

As you can imagine, this Covid pandemic situation has created unique challenges for me and our State Coordinators. Having a good fundraiser would help tremendously by allowing us to possibly help the people who have supported and hosted us over the years that may not have the funds to do so in 2021. It will also help us with fuel donations, charitable donations and other route costs. Midway has always been a route that feels like family. We work together to find solutions and overcome our challenges. We make a great team and I know, working together, we will make our 2021 RFTW run a success!

Thank you for your consideration and support.

Sincerely,

Ken “Six String” Dugas
Route Coordinator, Midway 2020-2021

Greetings RFTW Midway family!

Our 2021 planning is coming along well. We have completed the hotel and camping lists and the BOD will have the lists posted on January 1st.

All the pieces are coming together for what we hope to be our big fundraiser for 2021. We need help for this. No matter where you live, you can help! Our biggest need is getting volunteers to obtain and collect pledges for our 100 bike “White Glass” acrylic coat application fundraiser. A Zoom video conference meeting will be held Monday December 21st at 7:00 pm central time. We will give an overview of our plans and answer questions. If you are interested in finding out more information or are willing to help, please send me an email (ken.dugas@rftw.us) with your name, phone number and email address and I will email the meeting invite to you. a little help from a lot of people will go a long way in making this successful. We are hoping to raise money that can be used for our route’s needs, donations and fuel as we travel through all the states on our route.

If I do not see you on the meeting, I want to take the opportunity now to wish you and your families a blessed and very Merry Christmas season.

Is it May yet?

Honor, Hope & Healing

Sincerely,

Ken “Six String” Dugas
Midway Route Coordinator 2020-2021