It is very boasting when you see
others during the summer wearing TFT paraphernalia proudly. It is even more
fulfilling when you see it is a TFT member assisting at another fundraisers be
it: Ride for Kids, Camp Quality, Illinois Freedom Run, Green Ribbon Rally,
Park Lawn Ride, various back to school parades and other community minded
events. It is great to know that we are membership full of caring hearts and
indeed enjoy assisting others. Thanks to all those who assisted in our
cheering up those devastated in Utica this past April. Among them the Fox
Valley Valkyrie members who showed up to assist because of our call for help
via Jack Voss’s message board. Thank you to all the members who once again
assisted by volunteering at the Green Ribbon Rally. This was the second year
we participated to aid in raising money for Gastro Intestinal Liver Disease
Research. Again it was a fun filled day of networking our Organization and
assisting via motorcycling activity . Also thank you to all the members who
assisted the Illinois Freedom Run once again. The sacrifices of our
soldiers will not be forgotten, due to the commitment of two of our
outstanding volunteers co-founding the Illinois Freedom Run: Tony (Greaseball)
Cutrano and Jerry (Cooch) Kuczera. They once again over achieved by being able
to build from scratch a permanent Memorial Park that will forever thank those
whom have sacrificed their lives by serving our country. A couple of our
objectives in our By-laws are to be involved in civic duties and also to
support patriotic ideas that support the Constitution of the United States. As
you all know that our organization was started by a Veteran by the name of Ed
"Aminal" Wisniewski back in 1978. Our primary objective for the
Parade always has been to assist the United States Marine Corp Toys for Tots
program, which is how this motorcycle parade got started. This will always be
our focal point to assist needy children at Christmas time with a brand new
toy. But it is great to know that we have spread our wings enabling our
generosity to help other organization in other ways.
Once again we had a Monetary
Distribution night. It was on September 24, 2004. We distributed nearly
$40,000 dollars that evening, unfortunately not the $100,000 that we used to
do with the collectible Hot Wheel proceeds. Once again we thank all those
involved in product sales, the first edition ornament, bike and raffle
tickets. This is where the funds come from. Annually, after the run and after
total toy distribution we review our monetary situation and see if we can
assist others financially. We do have some operational costs, but if funds
exceed our budgeted needs they will be used to help others. We started
monetary night back in 1998 and have distributed over $500,000 to aid other
noble organizations and families. So as you can see, our forebikers built into
our by-laws a future that could indeed build upon the generous hearts and
souls of our membership of motorcyclists.
So now it is Parade time again. We
have a new Board and they will need your help. There are always new
challenges. The previous regimes have set the stages. The new Board has to
maintain the act. This performance has no wallflowers and everyone’s
participation is needed due to the magnitude of The Parade. Escorting over
30,000 motorcyclists every year is quite a chore. The challenges now are to
maintain sensibility and safety due to how The Parade has grown. Therefore,
because of its popularity we need more help. So if you have friends,
acquaintances, relatives, wives, boyfriends etc., we will need them. The
safety factor is aided by man or women power. So start recruiting. There are
always needs to be filled. Get to know your Board of Directors and the
committees they chair. There is no such thing as enough help for any of the
committees. Do not be shy if you have a trait or some expertise, we can use
it. From salespersons, maintenance engineers, law enforcement personnel,
secretarial or delivery services, we need it all. If you have no experience,
than all we need is your sincerity and dedication to make a child smile. So
this year our campaign is HELP! Like in more help is needed. We
are all volunteers and we need all of us to step it up a notch. Attendance at
meetings is fine but pro-active involvement is better. So to those that are
returning, bring one person along. There are more Russell’s, Andy’s,
Cherokee’s, Olivia’s, Patti’s, Steve Ms, Karen’s, Barbara’s, Lumpies,
and Pat’s out their…all they need is your direction to attend one of our
meetings for an introduction. Hope to see you there with a friend or several,
and thanks for your year or years of service. Ride safe and keep the rubber
side down.
