We just finished our first appearance as The Maryland Patriot Guard at the Timonium Bike Show.
What an outstanding success! With the help of volunteers, Russ Burks, Sandy Hohne, Jim Hutson, Ann & Ted Nettles, Ken Heaton, Sid Marcus, Bruce Gentile, Ron Leard, and John Lerch, we raised $343.00 for our organization. As we all know, these monies are used primarily for our HOTH program at Walter Reed Hospital, but also for the various other activities we do. This was our first venture into this type of activity, so it was only through the hard work, and sometimes long hours, of our volunteers that we were able to accomplish this successfully.
We participated in the show through the generosity of Jim Foster and Don Myers, owners of The Harley-Davidson Store (Route 40E, Baltimore). The purpose was some fund raising, but primarily to raise awareness of who we are and what we do. It always surprises me of how many people have seen us, heard something about us, have heard of the protesters, but don’t know anything about what we do. That has now changed for several hundred people. From the man who stopped to say thank you for attending his nephew’s funeral, the veterans who appreciate what we do and said thanks, those who are already members and stopped to say hello, and countless others they are now aware of the Patriot Guard.
With this success under our belts we are moving on to our next appearance at the Harford County “Veterans Muster” to be held:
Saturday March 6, 2010, 9 AM until 12 Noon
Bel Air American Legion Post # 39
500 North Hickory Ave.
Bel Air, MD. 21014
Also, on March 20 we will be at the Lion’s Club Health Fair in Mt. Airy, on April 10-11 at the Harley-Davidson Store Open House, and on June 26 we will be sponsoring our annual BBQ Party at Walter Reed Hospital for the troops there.
We have been invited to attend other activities and are working on the details and will announce those as they become available. Keep an eye on the website for details.
If you are interested in volunteering at one of these or at any time, please e-mail me, Bill Staats, at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
and let us know.
Bill Staats
Maryland Patriot Guard
President - Board of Directors
News From the Board - Feb 2010
Comments
