Camp Hope Riders

Today was a long day… after leaving Missouri yesterday we drove into Illinois and spent the night in Altamont in South Central Illinois.  We headed out today from Altamonte and our first stop was in Effingham, Illinois, at Legacy Harley-Davidson.  They were having a special event at Legacy with live music, and promised they would put in a plug for Camp Hope from their stage during the performances.  They mentioned a Camp New Hope that works in the area with handicapped children, and asked if we could also put in a plug for that organization.  So here it is.  Anyone out there in the South Central Illinois area and wanting to work with and help needy children, this sounds like a worthy organization.  Check it out.  We met some additional people in Effingham, all warm, sincere individuals and receptive to the Camp Hope message and the need to reach out to and help our wounded Veterans.

From there we headed to a small town outside of Kokomo, Indiana called Greentown, the home of the Howard County Vietnam Veterans Organization and the 28^th Annual Vietnam Veterans Reunion.  There we met with Roger “Bull” Durham, 1^st VP of the National AMVETS Riders.  Bull had asked us to stop in if we had an opportunity, and after all AMVETS and AMVETS Riders has done and has been doing for Camp Hope… well it was a no-brainer… and we were glad we did!  Check out the photos from our stop.  It was amazing… There was 28,000 people attending the three day event, held every third week of September.  All those we met seemed to be wonderful people.  At the gate they welcomed us with free admission (for all active duty Service Members) and a hug for our service.  We even got 10’s from the “judges” (wink) as we rode our bikes through the grounds.  It’s a wonderful gathering, one we need to visit next year when we can stay a couple of days.  You can check out their site at:  www.hcvvo.org.

After leaving Bull and HCVVO, we finally made our way up to Milwaukee… like I said, it was a long day. 

Here we are with Roger “Bull” Durham, 1st VP National AMVETS Riders.