The Kerrville reunion is right around the corner. I am looking forward to being with our RFTW family again! The reunion is September 25-27. It is always a great reunion and I hope to see many of you there.
Midway has a new Assistant State Coordinator for North Carolina. Gary “Chief” Whaley has agreed to accept this position and I am so grateful to have him on our team. I thank him for volunteering for this important position. North Carolina has always been a challenging state for us because our route spends three days in this state. Bam Bam, Hawk and Goodwrench have always done a great job in North Carolina and I know Gary will be a great addition. Our State Coordinators are so critical to our mission and I thank all of them for everything they do for us. 2021 will be challenging for them. The Covid-19 restrictions and shutdowns have caused many businesses to go out of business. Our State Coordinators will have their hands full contacting everyone to see if they will be able to support our mission for 2021 and find alternative supporters and hosts when needed. Thank you, State Coordinators!!!!
All our Team Leaders will be working on filing their teams. Some Leadership positions will be setting up hotels, camp sites, planning our routes, coordinating with Law Enforcement, setting up fuel stops, preparing for registration, chase trucks, hydration, fund raising, etc…. It takes work by many people all year long to make our RFTW mission successful. I thank all our leadership and support people for everything they do. Working as a team is what makes our route successful. Thank you!
I am still working on wrapping up a few things from our 2020 plans. I look forward to continuing making progress for our 2021 route and will keep you updated as we move forward to completing RFTW XXXII.
Registration for 2021 is open. Remember, if you were registered for 2020, your registration has been forwarded to 2021. If you cannot make 2021 please make sure you cancel your registration. If you are not registered and plan to join us for 2021, please do so ASAP. Knowing how many to expect on the route really does help our planning.
Have I told you lately?……….. I love my RFTW family!
I would like to congratulate Mark “Mazz” Masman for his unanimous confirmation by the BOD as our new Oklahoma State Coordinator. Thank you “Mazz” for volunteering for this very important position. I know you will do an excellent job representing our mission. Dennis “Okie-D” Freie has done a remarkable job as our Oklahoma State Coordinator and has taken on this responsibility since the start of our Midway route. He will act as Mentor for our 2021 mission as needed. Thank you Okie-D for your support and dedication to our RFTW mission and our Midway Route. We will always be grateful for all you have done!
Registration for our 2021 RFTW mission is now open! If you were registered for 2020, you are automatically registered for 2021. If you were registered for 2020 and are not going to make the run in 2021, you need to cancel on our RFTW website. This is extremely important for our planning so that we can have an accurate account of who will be riding with us in 2021. Changes or cancellations are made on RFTW 2021-Registration Revisions o the website.
As of this time, the Kerrville Texas reunion is a go. It is scheduled for September 25-27. I am planning on being there and hope you can all make it. It is always a great reunion.
If you would like a leadership or support position, please check the contact list on RFTW.US midway hub to see if you are on the list. If you are committed to our 2021 route and not on the list, please contact me or your team leader so that we can confirm your position and add you to the list.
It was so nice to see everyone at our “Tour of Tennessee” reunion. Ron “Sky” King and Ed Butler, our Tennessee State Coordinators, did a fantastic job putting together this “mini run” three-day reunion. I would also like to thank Don “Ten-A-See” King, our reunion Road Guard Captain, and all the Road Guards for a job well done. Considering this Covid-19 situation, we had an impressive attendance of approximately 80 people.
Tour of Tennessee
We had fantastic BBQ in Memphis, great music in Franklin and what can I say about Cookeville….. Wow! What support and what a welcome. Jake Hoot, the winner of “The Voice” season 17, sang our National Anthem to open our ceremony. He also performed the song he wrote about the tornado devastation that occurred. It was a beautiful and emotional song called “Tennessee Strong”. We raised a little more than $8,000 that we donated to 6 veterans who lost everything in the tornado. They were truly appreciative and touched by the generosity and concern from RFTW. One of them said he will join us next year on the Run! Here is a link to Jake’s song and video: https://www.facebook.com/jakehootmusic/videos/jake-hoot-tennessee-strong-official-music-video/168486084224623/ I thank everyone who donated to our tornado relief fund.
After all of this, we could not have had a better way to end our reunion then the amazing fireworks show on July 4th! It was, without a doubt, the best fireworks show I have ever seen. The LEO support and escorts we had throughout this reunion was amazing. Doing a “Run” type reunion over 3 days was a risk and a lot of work. The Covid-19 situation did throw a few curve balls to us. However, I think everyone would agree that it was a success.
I have had a few people ask if I had a reunion patch like they have for Kerrville. The truth is that I had not thought of that. I have an idea for the patch and will be happy to produce those if there is a demand for it If you would like a “Tour of Tennessee” reunion patch, please let me know by emailing ken.dugas@rtw.us. Like the other patches, I will sell them for $25/ea. $5.00 covers the cost of the patch and the other $20 would go to the Route for 2021.
I am pleased to announce that RFTW now has permanent presence at the Stafford Air and Space Museum. I would like to thank Steve ’Hawgwash” Hill for leading this effort to get the funding for the RFTW brick paver to be installed. I can’t wait to see it in person in 2021. Once again, I thank everyone for their support of this accomplishment.
All efforts now turn to our 2021 planning. If you would like a leadership or support position, please check the contact list on RFTW.US midway hub to see if you are on the list. If you are committed to our 2021 route and not on the list, please contact me or your team leader so that we can confirm your position and add you to the list.
I hope this newsletter finds you all safe and well. “High Maintenance” and I, along with several of our RFTW Louisiana friends, will be leaving Thursday morning for Memphis, TN. We are looking forward to seeing all of you going to the reunion. It will be nice to be with our RFTW family again!
We have selected 6 families of service-related disabled veterans to help with our tornado relief fund. 5 of the 6 families are scheduled to have dinner with us in Cookeville! If you have spare money burning a whole in your pocket, please bring it with you. We will have a few items to auction off and will be doing what we can to increase our donations to this fundraiser. One of the items will be the beautiful RFTW Midway Route 2020 stained glass piece made for us by “Captain” RGC from Southern route. I want to express my appreciation to all of you who have donated to help these families recover from the loss of their homes, cars, and personal belongings due to the tornado. They have lost everything! July 4th, Cookeville will have the second largest firework show in Tennessee! It is suggested that you strap a folding chair on your bike, It will come in handy for the firework show as well as our meetings/ gatherings that we will have outdoors. Due to the covid-19 restrictions we will not be able to gather in a room at the hotels. We will have to do our “social distancing ” gatherings outdoors.
Our Cookeville stop and dinner are good to go! We will have two scheduled fuel stops. They will be handled by a fuel team like on the Run. Please make sure you have your $10, $5 & $1 bills for your fuel. Price will be rounded up to the next dollar and NO CHANGE WILL BE GIVEN. If you are not registered for the reunion and your plans have made you available, I invite you to join us. Registration will be open through the event. Hotel rooms are available and our rates have been held for us. If you would like to join us, please email Ron “Sky” King at Ron.King@RFTW.US and let him know when you will be joining us. You will be able to pay for your events when you arrive at registration. Ron needs to know who will be going to the different events for the reservations. You may also call or text him. His contact number is on the rftw.us website midway hub under midway contacts.
Safe riding everyone and can’t wait to see all of you again.
Have I told you lately?………………………………………..I love my RFTW family!
I am so looking forward to our upcoming reunion! We will be “riding for those who can’t” at our “Tour of Tennessee” reunion starting July 2nd. Covid 19 is still taking its toll on our plans. I have a few updates for you concerning our July 4th day. Our planned visit to the VA hospital has been cancelled. Our contact at the hospital was optimistic that we would be able to visit. However, their visitation restrictions remain in place and so we had to make other plans. In the morning, we will now have an optional visit to the Confederate cemetery and museum. You can check out their website at: www.mcgavockcemetery.org. We will have lunch and entertainment at Moonshine Harley Davidson. After lunch, Ron King and Ed Butler have put together a beautiful Tennessee scenic mountain ride for us with a fuel stop in Sewanee, TN. From there, we will head to Cookeville. We will have a small “breakout” platoon take a route escorted by law enforcement down HWY 70 where the tornedo damage occurred. The main pack will parade through Cookeville. I have attached the latest agenda below this newsletter. We have currently raised over $4,500 that will be donated to veterans that need assistance recovering from the tornedo. They will be joining us for dinner in Cookeville. It is not too late to donate! If you would like to donate to this tornedo relief fund, you may do so through our rftw.us website. To do so just select the RED DONATE button on the home page. Please make sure that you complete all the information and MAKE SURE YOU LIST TORNADO RELIEF FUND IN THE NOTE SECTION! If you do not make this note, the money will not go to this cause and will go to the general BOD account. Each person registered will be getting more information early next week to include more details regarding routes, times, activities, and auction items from our TN State Coordinator, Ron “SKY” King.
Midway is still looking for a State Coordinator for Oklahoma. If you are interested, please reach out to me and I will be happy to discuss the position with you.
I would like to thank all of you who helped and supported our Midway route for 2020. I am so grateful for your support and I look forward to working with everyone again as our plans for 2021 are already in progress.
Once again, I remind all our leadership and support people, please confirm that you are on our Midway hub contacts list. If you are not, please contact me or your team leader to confirm your positions for 2021. This list will be kept updated as I have positions confirmed.
We will never forget!
Is it July yet?
Honor * Hope * Healing
Respectfully,
Ken “Six String” Dugas Midway Route Coordinator
2020 Tour of Tennessee ReunionHosted by Midway Route 2 July – 4 July, 2020
Come join the fun in Tennessee over 4th July weekend. We will be riding half way across the State of Tennessee. Planned activities include a wreath laying ceremony, Song Writers Night Out, Boswell’s Harley Davidson Dealer party, visit two VA hospitals and ride into Cookeville for dinner and 2nd largest firework show in Tennessee, open evenings in Memphis and Nashville, and – and – and.
Agenda Thursday, 2 July 1500 – 1700 Lobby Registration 1830 – 1900 Meet in lobby for move to Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous (Ribs & BBQ) 1900 – 2100 Dinner Rendezvous ($36.00 ea.) {52 S. 2nd Street} or On Your Own! 1830 – until On your own Downtown Or Beale Street Music and Blues
Friday, 3 July 0630 – 0730 Lobby Registration 0700 – 0900 Hot Breakfast @ Hotel 0910 – 0930 Hotel Parking Garage Stage (Rider Meeting) 0930 – 1110 I-40 to Exit 108 Parkers Crossroad, TN State Veterans Cemetery 1120 – 1145 Lay Wreath (693 Wildersville Road, Wildersville, TN) 1155 – 1310 Lunch Parkers Crossroad Park (Subway $7.00 ea.) (1:05 Lunch Stop) 1315 – 1345 Fuel Stop Marathon (Gas and GO) 1345 – 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 / open bar & food) 1900 – until Song Writers @ Kimbro’s Picking Parlor, Franklin, TN 1900 – until On your own Downtown Or Grand Ole Opry. Buy your tickets online!
Saturday, 4 July 2020 0630 – 0730 Lobby Registration 0700 – 0900 Hot Breakfast @ Drury Plaza Hotel 0830 – 0840 Hotel Parking Stage for McGavock Confederate Cemetery and Museum 0840 – 0900 Breakout to McGavock Cemetery & Museum (Group Tour Rate $15/ea.) 0900 – 1130 Visit Cemetery & Museum (1 Hr. Museum and House Tour $18/ea.) 1130 – 1150 Breakout to Moonshine Harley Davidson (May Leave Earlier TBD) 1115 – 1130 Pack Hotel Parking Stage for ride to Moonshine Harley Davidson 1130 – 1140 Ride to Moonshine Harley Davidson (Free Lunch) 1140 – 1315 Moonshine HD (1:35 Lunch) 1315 – 1320 Stage for ride to Cookeville, TN 1320 – 1715 Ride to Cookeville, TN Scenic Mountain Ride w/Fuel Stop Sewanee, TN 1530 – 1710 Breakout to Cookeville Tornado Damage then Dinner (Limit of 10 Bikes) 1730 – 1900 Reception and Dinner Cookeville (Auction & Donation to Tornado Veterans)
Sunday, 5 July 2020 0700 – 0900 Hot Breakfast @ Hotel 1100 Check-out
Today is the day we all wish we were together with our RFTW family in Ontario ready to kick off our Run in the morning. Unfortunately that will not take place this year. However, our mission continues and I am very excited about our “virtual” Run. Please go to our RFTW.US website everyday during our scheduled run. Our website has “virtual runs” for all routes. Check out our Midway Hub for the daily SITREPs and photos. Today, we have our first SITREP posted describing our day before we leave Ontario. It is amazing! I want to thank Jim “Hoofer” McCrain for writing our SITREPs. Jim does an amazing job with them and I personally look forward to reading them every day. Today’s is based on the “Night before Christmas” and is very creative!
I was greeted this morning with a fantastic surprise on Facebook. Milan Elementary created a video for us. I must admit that it brought a tear to my eye. Milan and the children of that school are very special to our Midway RFTW family. It is encouraging to see schools such as Milan teach our children patriotism and love of our country and appreciation for our veterans. It really gives us hope for the future. I would like to thank Principle Clara DeArmond and her teachers for working with the children from their homes to put this video together and make this happen for us. We will miss our visit to Milan very much but we look forward to seeing them next year. The link for the video is: https://www.facebook.com/clara.dearmond/videos/3065867810144192/ Midway received some donations for Milan Elementary. I thank all of you who made donations. Rest assured that I will be a good steward of your money and the donations will be sent to the school. Our New Mexico State Coordinator-Tina Reeves , Cornman, Gearshift, Dan “TapOut” and “Shorty Sifford” will be going to the school to deliver the coins that Ray “Cornman” gives to the 6th graders every year. They are making sure that the class of 2020 does not miss out on their coins. They will also announce the donation that will be going to the school. Thank all of you for doing this and representing RFTW Midway so well!
Gunny Gregory made it to Ontario. Many of you have been following his journey on Facebook. You may even be joining him every morning for the Pledge of Allegiance! Gunny will begin his journey east in the morning. You can keep up with him on his Facebook page. I will be joining Gunny on his way to Arlington and will be bringing all of you, in spirit, with me! Let me remind everyone that this is not a RFTW sanctioned ride and we are not riding as a group. However, maybe we will see some other RFTW family members in Arlington as well.
As we continue with this virtual RFTW, I will be holding the drawing for the hotel raffle. Several of you sent in money for the chance to win “hotel” money. The prize is $1,000.00. You sent your money in so I see no reason not to draw for the prize. I will bring the names/tickets with me and I will ask Gunny to draw the winner. We will video the drawing and announce the winner Wednesday May 20th. Good luck to all of you and thank you for your support. The funds raised from this drawing will be used for our Midway fuel as promised, however it will just be used in 2021.
Please don’t forget about our Tour of Tennessee Reunion Fourth of July weekend. It will be a great event and we can once again get together as our RFTW family. Get your hotel reservations and register now. See RFTW.US Midway hub for more information. During the “virtual run” you will not see the normal Midway Hub menu. However, if you go to the Run Details tab at the top then Midway Hub, you will see the regular menu. I hope to see you all in Tennessee!
Remember to “Ride for those who can’t”. Again, from the Midway hub, print out a BIO to ride for. Remember to post pictures of your rides with the bios. It will be a great reminder of why we ride. We will never forget!
MAKE YOUR HOTEL RESERVATIONS AND REGISTER FOR THE RFTW TENNESSEE REUNION ASAP! Everything is moving forward for our reunion over the 4th of July weekend and I hope to see as many of you there as possible. It should be a fantastic event. Find out more info on RFTW.US website under the Midway Hub. (2020 tour of Tennessee reunion).
May 13th is quickly approaching and I know we all wish that we would be in Ontario together and ready to kick off our mission. As we know, our current situation has not allowed this to happen. However, nothing will stop our mission in our hearts. We will be having a “Virtual Run” on the rftw.us website. There will be postings of what would be happening on each day of the scheduled Run. Gunny Gregory will be posting live feeds with his thoughts. I encourage all of you to check out our website every day May 13 – May 26.
Now being offered, FREE Shipping on purchases over $50 and the coveted RFTW 2020 Pins are 25% off! Get your 2020 RFTW merchandise and represent our mission. Print a MIA/POW/KIA bio from rftw.us website, under Midway Hub (“Riding for those who can’t” bio link) and ride for them. Take a picture of you riding with it and post on our RFTW Facebook page. Work is being done to allow these pictures to be shared on the website. I will pass on more information when that is available. This last week, my grandson, Zachery, made his first motorcycle ride with me. Of course, he was “riding for those who can’t” and he will “never forget”! I was a proud Pop!
“RIDING FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T”
Our Southern Route Coordinator, Bob “Captain America” Nelson, has invited us to join them on his “Quest 2020”. To participate, do the following during May 13 – May 26:
Create a BIO (or 2) of your own, representing those We Will Never Forget; you can also download and print one from the link to the list of BIOs on the rftw.us website (TBA) or https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JgW-7dn8b00J53iXcExl-Rfmy-7TZPpW?usp=sharing
Put on your favorite Run For The Wall 2020 shirt
Ride to towns within your state beginning with R, T, F & W
Take a picture with your BIO, in front of something which shows the name of the town.
Please share your pictures on our rftw.us picture portal (TBA)
All four do not all have to be done in the same day
This is open to ALL Routes, Riders and Passengers, FNGs and Seasoned Riders
When you have finished, send me an email to bob.nelson@rftw.us with the dates and towns that you visited.
In turn, I will email you your Certification of Completion.
If that seems too easy, you can challenge the Super HOPE Quest and add the H, O, P & E towns. The same “rules” apply.
See Bob’s Southern Route RC newsletter for more info.
Please check our Midway Leadership contact link on the website. If you are committed to returning to a leadership position for 2021, please make sure your name is on the list. If it is not, please contact me and I will add you. I am keeping this list current. Please remember that we are in need of a State Coordinator for Oklahoma. Please let me know if you would be interested in this position.
Have I told you lately?……………………..I love my RFTW family!
RFTW 2020 is alive and well on Midway. What do we do best? We adapt and overcome! I know I am biased; however, I must say
again, I am so proud of our Midway team and excited to announce our new
initiative lead by our outstanding Outreach Team! The postponing of RFTW XXXII is not stopping
our mission in 2020. What do we do? “WE RIDE FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T”. What will we never do? “WE WILL NEVER
FORGET”!
Instead of riding for our 10-day RFTW mission this year, we
are inviting our entire RFTW family (not just Midway) to adopt a” Bio” and ride
for that person all year long! Ride for
as many as you would like. Here is what
we propose:
There you will find hundreds of bios that have been created and uploaded to our “Bios–we will never forget” folder. We will continue to add more. Choose the one or ones you would like to print and keep with you on your bike. (I would suggest laminating them.) If you do not find someone you are looking for, let our Outreach leader, Vickie “Needy” Meyer know, and she will get it for you. (vic.meyer@yahoo.com). I have requested permission to have this link added to our RFTW.US website and, once approved, should be up soon. I will pass on more info as we develop this concept.
Our first post: “Needy” rode 120 miles today for Lee Dufford Harley. We will never forget!
This will be a great reminder and will do us all good to look through these bios and see the faces and read the stories of these lost heroes. A high price has been paid for our freedom! We will never forget. Our goal is to have people take pictures with their bios and bikes when they go on nice rides. You may want to print a new bio for every trip you make and ride for different people throughout the year. Please share those pictures on RFTW’s Facebook page to keep everyone reminded that we will always “ride for those who can’t”. You will motivate others by sharing and keep our mission in everyone’s thoughts. If you will be returning to RFTW in 2021, bring the bios of those you have ridden for with you and take them to the “Wall“and/or Middle East Conflicts Memorial.
I thank the Outreach Team for their work on this. It is just another example of how we are
better when we work together. I love
this idea and hope you will join me in supporting this. It will keep our mission alive all year long. Great job Midway team!
Tennessee Tornado Relief Fundraiser update: We have currently raised $2,081.00 to help
veterans devastated by the tornado. If
you would like to contribute to this fundraiser, you may go to the RFTW.US
website and click on the red “donate” button.
Please make sure that you put “tornado relief fund” in the note section
or your donation will not go to this cause.
We are planning on personally delivering some of the funds to the
recipients in Cookeville during our reunion.
Thank you for your support!
IMPORTANT: Midway is looking for someone to take on the responsibilities of State Coordinator for Oklahoma. The State Coordinator position is vital to the success of our mission and requires a strong commitment to do whatever it takes to make our route a success. Dennis “Okie-D” Freie has done a remarkable job in the position from the start of the Midway route and has things in very good order for Oklahoma. However, he feels that it is time for us to find someone for him to work with to transition this responsibility to. I will always be grateful to Okie-D for all he has done for our mission. If you are in Oklahoma and would be interested in finding out more about this need and opportunity, please contact me. Thank you.
I wish you all a Blessed and Happy Easter!
Have I told you lately?……………………..I love my
Midway family!
RFTW XXXII may be postponed but we are continuing to work on our 2020 mission. Our Midway leadership team is continuing to build, what I am calling, our “Book of Midway”. This is a system that will contain all the important information that is needed to coordinate and construct our Midway route from year to year. Our unsung heroes, the State Coordinators, will be playing a vital role in its success and implementation. The goal is to build consistency on how things are done for our route through all the states we cross and will greatly help with the transition of leadership positions and the sustainability of our route. Once accomplished, it will make our route more efficient and benefit RFTW for many years to come. Also, I have updated our Midway contact list on the rftw.us website. The only people listed on that list is leadership who have replied to my request to confirm their commitment to serve on Midway 2021. There are MANY open positions! Please go to that list and see if you are on it. If you are not, it means that I have not received your notification and you do not have the position. Please let me know that you are available to come back and serve in the position for 2021. At that time, we can confirm your position and add you to the list. I hope to have you all return to our team for 2021. We are moving forward!
Speaking of moving forward, I am very excited to announce our Tennessee ALL ROUTE reunion! It is our first reunion of its kind and I feel it is very appropriate, especially for a year where our RFTW route has been postponed until 2021. Hopefully, this Covid-19 pandemic will be over and we will be good to go. We are calling it our “Tour of Tennessee Reunion”. Like the other reunions, it will be an “unofficial” – “non-sanctioned” event. However, it will be like a mini RFTW route over the 4th of July weekend. We made sure that this reunion did not conflict with Angel Fire this year and want to encourage ALL ROUTES to join us for this reunion. The reunion will begin on July 2nd with nightly stops in Memphis, Franklin and Cookeville. Communities will host us; we will visit TN veteran’s cemetery and memorials. We will have wreath laying ceremonies and visit VA hospitals and finish with a big finale dinner in Cookeville. Cookeville will also have a large fireworks display that evening. We will have plenty to do to socialize and visit with our RFTW family with nights of food, drinks and music at Kimbro’s Picking Parlor, BBQ at Rendezvous, free time on Beale Street and Downtown Nashville just to name a few things. I have included the entire agenda with hotel info for your review. All hotel blocks are open at this time and will close on June 4th.
You may register for this event on the RFTW.US website under the Midway Hub. The following link will also take you to the registration: LINK. The fee is $25/PP plus other fees for the events you choose to attend. Fees need to be paid in advance for planning purposes.
Pay via VENMO to: @Gina-Cutrer-1 Make a Check to: Gina Cutrer write reunion in the memo. Mail Check to: Reunion, 33538 Nancy Drive, Walker, LA 70785 If any excess money is collected, it will go to the Tennessee tornado relief fundraiser.
IS IT JULY YET????
With much respect and gratitude, Ken “Six String” Dugas Midway Route Coordinator
2020 Tour of Tennessee Reunion Hosted by Midway Route 2 July – 4 July, 2020
Come
join the fun in Tennessee over 4th July weekend. We will be riding halfway across the State of
Tennessee. Planned activities include 2
wreath laying ceremonies, Song Writers Night Out, Moonshine Harley Davidson
Dealer party, visit two VA hospitals and ride into Cookeville for dinner and 2nd
largest firework show in Tennessee, open evenings in Memphis and Nashville, and
– and – and.
Hotel
reservation blocks are open and closes 4 June 2020.
Memphis, TN (2 July 2020) Crown Plaza Memphis Downtown 300 N. Second Street., Memphis, TN 38103 Reservation Number: 1-901-525-1800 Group Rate: $119.00) Group Name: Run-For-The-Wall
Franklin, TN (3 July 2020) Drury Plaza Hotel 1874 West McEwen Ave., Franklin, TN 37067 Reservation Number: 1-800-325-0720 Group Number: 2413591 (Rate $134.00) Group Name: Veteran’s Reunion Run-For-The-Wall
Cookeville, TN (4 July 2020) 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
Thursday, 2 July 1400 – 1700 Lobby Registration 1815 – 1825 Meet in lobby for move to Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous (Ribs & BBQ) 1830 – 2100 Dinner Rendezvous ($36.00 ea.) {52 S. 2nd Street} or On Your Own! 1830 – until Open Beale Street Music and Blues
Friday, 3 July 0630 – 0730 Lobby Registration 0700 – 0900 Hot Breakfast @ Hotel 0930 – 0945 Hotel Parking Garage Stage (Rider Meeting) 1000 – 1145 I-40 to Exit 108 Parkers Crossroad, TN State Veterans Cemetery 1200 – 1215 Lay Wreath (693 Wildersville Road, Wildersville, TN) 1230 – 1345 Marathon Fuel/Lunch Subway $7.00 ea. (1:15 Fuel/Lunch Stop) 1400 – 1645 Ride to Host Hotel Franklin, TN 1715 – 1800 Lobby Reception / Registration 1830 – 1855 Stage & Ride to Kimbro’s ($10.00 ea. cover / open bar & food) 1900 – until Song Writers @ Kimbro’s Picking Parlor, Franklin, TN 1900 – until On your own Downtown Or Grand Ole Opry. Buy your tickets online!
Saturday, 4 July 2020 0630 – 0730 Lobby Registration 0700 – 0900 Hot Breakfast @ Hotel 0900 – 1100 Breakout to VA Hospital Downtown (Limited to 20 Bikes) 1030 – 1045 Hotel Parking Stage for ride to Moonshine Harley Davidson 1045 – 1100 Ride to Moonshine Harley Davidson (Free Lunch) 1100 – 1215 MoonShine HD (1:15 Lunch) 1215 – 1230 Stage for ride to Murfreesboro VA 1230 – 1330 Ride to Murfreesboro VA Hospital (01:00 Visit) 1430 – 1500 Ride to Lebanon Veterans Memorial/Museum (01:00 Visit) 1500 – 1630 Breakout to Cookeville Tornado Damage then Dinner (One Platoon) 1500 – 1600 Lay Wreath at Lebanon Veterans Memorial 1600 – 1610 Stage for ride to Cookeville 1615 – 1715 Ride to Cookeville 1715 – 1800 Reception and Dinner provided by Cookeville
Sunday, 5 July 2020 0700 – 0900 Hot Breakfast @ Hotel 1100 Check-out
Greetings RFTW family from sunny south Louisiana. Yes, it has finally stopped raining, (at least for today). The sun is shining and we are moving forward with our mission!
A lot of people are going through very tough times right now. Our veterans and all our RFTW family need to know that we are here for each other and support one another. Please reach out to your RFTW family if you need us. At this time, I would like to remind everyone of the tragic tornado devastation to our friends and family in the Cookeville and Lebanon Tennessee areas. These towns are great supporters of RFTW. Several people have reached out to me to ask if there was something we can do to help. With the help of the TN State Coordinators, I am pleased to tell you the answer is yes!
I did not want to set something up to send money to a place where our donations would be lost and we wouldn’t know what the money was used for. Our Tennessee State Coordinators have reached out to the people in the area to determine what we could do to help veterans that were in dire need of help to recover from the tornado. Our donations will be going directly to help needy veterans! Some cannot afford to even start the rebuilding process!
Actual pictures from Hwy 70 of Tornado damage
I have spoken with our Treasurer, Ken Ward and he has helped to set up the process for this. If you would like to donate to this cause, please make checks payable to: Run for the Wall (RFTW) and mail to: RFTW attn: Ken Ward 1766 S. Erie Highway, Hamilton, OH 45011 IMPORTANT!: Make sure you write “Midway Tornado Relief” on the note line. If you do not, your donation will not go to this cause.
The “Donate” button on the RFTW.US website has been moved to the front page. You can also use this button to donate through PayPal. If you are donating for this cause, you need to make sure that you put “Midway Tornado relief” in the note section or, once again, your donation will not go to this cause.
There are so many people who need help. However, I hope our efforts make you feel comfortable that your donations will get to our veterans in need. I want to thank our TN State Coordinator Ron “Sky” King and his Assistant SC, Ed “Midway” Butler for their efforts to make sure our donations will go to help veterans.
Ed personally worked in a veteran’s home to assist with salvaging and recovering their belongings from what was their home. They survived in a closet under the stairs, the only room intact. Ed said, “There are no words to express the sadness and hurt a person feels working to pick up a lifetime of families heirlooms.”
We have RFTW “boots on the ground” there to oversee the distribution of our donations.
The point of contact is the Putnam Veteran’s Service office. Although we have been told they had not identified all of the veterans effected, they have had several come in asking for assistance. We are focused on the Veterans.
This sign is one of two made specifically for Run for the Wall by Cookeville.
Hwy 70 is where the main tornado damage occurred. Two of these hwy 70 signs were made specifically for RFTW. The largest donor will get one of the signs and the other sign will accompany us on RFTW to be signed and them given back to Cookeville.
I invite people from all routes to contribute to this cause if they would like. We are 4 routes but 1 mission. I will keep you updated from time to time on how our fundraising for the tornado victims is going.
Thank you in advance for your generosity.
Sincerely, Ken “Six String” Dugas Midway Route Coordinator
