Posted on Leave a comment

Midway Route Coordinator Newsletter – Dec. 2020

Video section

Greetings RFTW from a cold south Louisiana!

As always, I hope you are all doing well and are healthy. I know some of our RFTW family are going through rough times. With their permission, I have some bad news to share with all of you concerning a couple of our Midway family members. Papa Mike Cash has had a BIG setback in his recovery from his accident. He was making progress with the help of lawyers who deal with defenses tactics for a DUI cases and even beginning to ride his bike again. Well, his hand has rejected the repairs and he is having to start from scratch again. Several more complicated surgeries will be needed to repair his hand, if it is even possible. Tamara “Tam Tam” and Steve “Hot tub” Rickerson will not be joining us on 2021 due to Steve’s poor health. I want to thank all of them for their years of support and service to our RFTW mission. They will be missed. This is a very difficult time for our friends. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. I know you all join me in wishing them a full recovery and the strength to get through this difficult time.

I would like to thank Lane “Hopper” Flynn for accepting the Promotions Team Leader position to fill Tam Tam’s vacancy. No one can replace Tam Tam but I know Lane will do a great job for us and I hope you all join me in congratulating her and welcoming her to our Midway leadership team.

Missing Man Honor Mat

In my last newsletter, I wrote that I would be sharing some information concerning our Missing Man formation. Here it is. I am excited to announce that Midway will be adding a “Missing Man Honor Mat” to our missing man formation. This is an example of how all the routes working together can make our mission better. Central route brought this concept to the Sandbox recon route. When I saw this, I knew I had to bring this to Midway. I want to thank Mona “Louise” and my wife, Denise “High Maintenance” for designing and putting this together. Also, thanks to Stich-N-Bitch for doing the embordering for us. Once again, I am so grateful and appreciative of the team we have on Midway. We get so much done working as a team! I will present this “Honor Mat” to Sue “Odds” Chapin, our missing man coordinator, to place in the missing man position at every stop we make. Our missing man riders will be able to put pictures and/or bios of the person they are riding for in the clear pouch on the mat. Everyone who walks by the missing man formation will be able to see and read about the person being ridden for and make the missing man formation more identifiable. WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

I would like to encourage all of our riders to read all of the RC’s newsletters. There is good information about what is going on with RFTW even if you are not on those particular routes. The other routes have excellent Route Coordinators and we can all learn more from each other. We are better when we work together.

Details are being finalized for our “Hawgwash” fundraiser. More information to kickoff this fundraiser coming soon. I hope that you will all consider participating and helping us with this effort to raise money for our route.

The Dugas Family

I want to once again, thank everyone on our teams helping to put our 2021 route together. I am looking forward to RFTW 2021 and seeing all of you soon.

Wishing all my RFTW family a Blessed and Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Have I told you lately?……………I love my RFTW family!

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

Posted on Leave a comment

Midway Route Coordinator -Newsletter – Nov 2020

Greetings RFTW family!

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.  I know 2020 has been a year filled with problems, challenges and difficulties.   However, I still have so much to be thankful for and my Run for the Wall family is one of those things.   I miss seeing you all and am looking forward to getting back together with everyone again in May.  It has been way too long!   Our Midway team members are working hard on our 2021 route plans.  I thank all of them for their hard work and dedication to our RFTW Midway route.

I apologize for being late getting this newsletter out.  I was waiting on some information to share. Unfortunately, I still have not been able to confirm everything.  It is concerning a fundraiser sponsored by Hawgwash.  We will move forward with this, but all the details are not confirmed as of this time.   The Covid shutdowns are really hurting a lot of people.  I was just notified that we have lost more financial support.  This time from a VFW post.  They support our mission but just do not have the extra funds to provide for us for 2021.  I also know that a few of our long-time riders may not have the financial resources to make the Run.   This fundraiser will allow people from all over the country to support our route by pledging as little as ten cents ($0.10)  per bike  (Max 100 bikes) treated by Hawgwash’s acrylic coating. I am trying to get a list of people who would be willing to get pledges for us. If you are interested in helping with this, please let me know.  Hawgwash will supply the materials and treat the bikes for free!  This “pledging” fundraiser would only ask people to donate as little as $10.00 but the number of pledges could raise significant money for our route. This fundraiser would allow more people to donate a little, rather than a few having to donate larger amounts.   I am focusing on this fundraiser to allow us to put our route in a position to help our supports who want to host us but do not have the funds.  We may be able to help them help us by contributing to the cost of hosting us.  The more we can raise, the more people we can help.  I also want to be able to have the route pay as many fuel stops as possible to help the riders who are on tight budgets.  More details on this fundraiser will be coming soon. I would appreciate any support we can get for this.

I am also focusing on bringing more attention and something new to our missing man formation.  I am excited to share more information about this in my next month’s newsletter.  We will never forget what this mission is about!  This addition to our missing man formation will make sure of that.

Remember, it is never too early to start preparing for your Run across our great country.  Throttle control is key to riding in a pack of 100s of bikes.  Steady speed with slow, smooth adjustments is an essential skill for this route.  Also, do not forget to practice using your gears to slow your bike down instead of your brakes!  Maintaining consistent distances in the pack and avoiding the “yo-yo” nightmares are key to the safety of our route.  Our goal is to always complete our mission with zero incidents.  Everyone needs to do their part to make this happen.  Practice, practice, practice!  The better your skills, the safer our route can be.  I am very proud of our safety record on Midway.  Let’s make sure we keep it that way.

Another thing that I am Thankful for:  Thank you to all our men and women who are serving or have served, and to their families for their support and sacrifices.  Also…… we will never forget those who have paid the ultimate price for our country.  THANK YOU!

Have I told you all lately?…………… I love my RFTW family!

Honor, Hope & Healing

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

Posted on Leave a comment

Midway Route Coordinator- Newsletter – Oct 2020

Greetings RFTW family!

I write this newsletter today as we prepare for Hurricane Delta to hit us here in Louisiana later today. I hope this letter finds you all well and safe and I pray that all in harms way of this hurricane stay safe and free from any damages.

I would like to begin by thanking Cowboy, Sam, Bob and all those involved in putting together the Kerrville, TX reunion. It was a fantastic reunion and it was great to be back with RFTW family.

The Covid-19 shutdowns have taken its toll on another one of our hosts. The Quality Inn in Flagstaff is permanently closed. We are working on finding a new host hotel for Flagstaff. Duke City Harley Davidson in Albuquerque has also closed its doors. However, The ownership will still host us at Thunderbird Harley Davidson and we have obtained LEO support for this change. Our fantastic State Coordinators and their Assist. SCs are working hard for us. It is challenging times for them and I am so appreciative for all of their efforts. We currently have confirmed 25 of our stops and 4 of our 8 night stops (Not counting Ontario and Arlington) have confirmed, signed agreements with our host hotels. Our amazing , “does it all ARC”, Jerry Wilkins is doing a great job coordinating the hotels and working with our State Coordinators.

Congratulations to Richard “Bam Bam” House, our SC State Coordinator, and his wife Christina on the birth of their new baby boy, Coulson! What a beautiful family.

I hope that you all are able to enjoy some nice riding these days. I cannot wait for us all to get back together again.

Is it May yet?

Honor, Hope & Healing

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

Posted on Leave a comment

Midway Route Coordinator Newsletter – Sept. 2020

Greetings RFTW Family!

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!

Is it May yet?
Honor * Hope * Healing

Respectfully,
Ken “Six String” Dugas

Posted on Leave a comment

Midway Route Coordinator – Newsletter – August 2020

Greetings 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.

Is it May yet?

Honor * Hope * Healing

Respectfully,

Ken “Six String” Dugas
Midway Route Coordinator

Posted on Leave a comment

Midway- Route Coordinator – Newsletter – July post reunion

Greetings RFTW Family!

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.   

 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 would like to ask those of you who attended and have pictures to please post them on our RFTW group Facebook page.  We have created a “Tour of Tennessee” album for you to post your pictures to.   Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.4672309749461361&type=3&av=280980122905&eav=AfZI-JppVwwWLmAHuW-RcDPEzLmDwr_ZlEUCn2QXlnSYRFnTWqxV_qhnV0LRAw1DqPo    Once we have pictures posted, we will be able to get them uploaded to the rftw.us website.  Thanks to all involved in putting this unique and amazing reunion together and for all of you for attending.

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.

Is it May yet?

Honor * Hope * Healing

Respectfully,

Ken “Six String” Dugas
Midway Route Coordinator

Posted on Leave a comment

Midway Route Coordinator – Newsletter – July Reunion 2020

Greetings RFTW Family!

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!

Honor * Hope * Healing

Riding for those who can’t

Respectfully,

Ken “Six String” Dugas
Midway Route Coordinator

Posted on Leave a comment

Midway Route Coordinator – Newsletter – June 2020

Greetings 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 Reunion Hosted 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

Posted on 1 Comment

Midway Route Coordinator – Newsletter – May 2020 #2

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!

Ride and be safe.
Is it JULY yet?

Honor * Hope * Healing

Ken “Six String” Dugas


Posted on Leave a comment

Midway Route Coordinator – Newsletter – May 2020

Greetings RFTW Family!

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!

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!

Is it July yet?

Honor * Hope * Healing

Ken “Six String” Dugas
Midway Route Coordinator