Hello Riders,

 

Wow, what a great year for Ridin for the Rose! The ride was a huge success, with a little more of everything thrown in. The ride this year was dedicated to the memory of our dear friend Dr. Sam Hassenbusch, who passed away from brain cancer just a month ago. Sam was a driving force behind Ridin’ for the Rose, and we were all very proud to ride in his honor.

 

In the sponsorship department, our good friend Rocky McCullough from Goodson Auto was our premier sponsor again this year. His generous sponsorship is now three years running, and we are thrilled to have him with us!

 

New this year was a sponsorship from Ray and Linda Nunez of Taylor & Hill Staffing, who sponsored breakfast. Ray and his granddaughter rode with us too! Many thanks to Ray & Linda!

 

We had new door prize sponsors this year! Stubbs H-D and San Jacinto H-D donated gift cards and travel coolers, and Industrial Air Tools and Steve Delgado also donated H-D gift cards! Thanks everyone!

 

Here’s a big thanks for a last-minute sponsorship that came out of nowhere when ride participant Cathy Southwell called me with a question about the ride. When she heard that I was looking for a company to prepare fresh breakfast for 1,000 on a Sunday morning without costing a fortune, she volunteered! Cathy and her husband David work for Kroger and got the store’s permission to donate use of the kitchen so they could cook up breakfast. Kroger even got in on the act, contributing $35 toward the purchase of the supplies! The Southwells were busy cooking by 3am!!

 

Sunday morning brought terrific weather – ridin’ weather, you might say. The San Jacinto Highrollers, in charge of ride operations, started “rolling in” around 8am and immediately began setting up the staging area. The Christian Motorcycle Association Katy Chapter “Disciples of Jesus” soon followed – in full breakfast serving mode – and got set up just in time to begin handing out chow.

 

The volunteers were also on hand early, stuffing goodie bags and getting release forms ready for the bikers that would soon follow. Terrie Cuevas-Lopez and her crew were there again this year, and Yaya Hogan brought a group of seniors from Klein Forest High School to help out too!

 

A steady flow of bikers began cruising in even before the official registration opening of 9am, and continued until ride time at 11am. After some brief announcements, everyone saddled up for the ride to Pelican Junction, led by Sam’s wife Rhonda Hassenbusch and son Jason on their Victory machines, and an honor guard of flag adorned motorcycles.

 

The 40-minute ride east under sunny skies was a good one. The freeways were shut down by the police escort – organized by Officer Jim Heath – and road guards from the Highrollers, giving the pack of over 600 motorcycles nothing but open road!

 

Our after-party host Rocky Strange and the crew at Pelican Junction worked feverishly to get a cold drink into everyone’s hand, and a crawfish boil lunch was served up by the pile. Live music was also on tap, and numerous vendors were on hand too.

 

In summary, the ride was a big success! Everyone had a great ride and arrived safe, raising over $27,000 for the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation in the process!!

 

Please accept our sincere thanks for participating in this year’s ride. Your support made the event successful, so give yourself a pat on the back!!

 

 

Please be sure to stop by the website now that the ride is complete. There are several areas you may want to surf.

 

We welcome your comments!! You can leave comments about the ride and read others at http://www.ridinfortherose.com/surveyreplies.htm

 

Want to see this year’s pics? Go to http://www.ridinfortherose.com/pics08.htm

 

If you were one of the lucky bikers to have a photo taken on the highway by the crazy guy with the helmet-mounted camera (me!), you can buy a print by going to http://www.chuckakers.com/buyprints.htm. The side-by-side perspective of these photos make for a great “road portrait”, and the response has been so strong that we will be adding more photographers next year. By the way, a donation to the foundation will be made from the purchase of each photo.

 

Plans for next year are in the works, so if you have a suggestion, please let us know.

 

On behalf of everyone at the Dr. Marnie Rose Foundation, thank you for riding with us. We hope to see you again next year!

 

Sincerely,

 

Chuck Akers

Ridin’ for the Rose

chuckakers@comcast.net