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AVMRA 2009 BBQ Cookout EXPO Veterans Appreciation Day Balloon Launch 713th Christmas Party Escorts |
Chapter 9 Is Growing! When AVMRA 9 was formed, the ideas was to have a slow steady growth of quality members. We are accomplishing that goal and I would like to take a moment to welcome our new applicants and transfers to the chapter! With a strong dedication to helping veterans and an amazing commitment to AVMRA and the Patriot Guard, Dale Ready (long time veteran member of AVMRA) is a welcome addition to our chapter. Dan "Sunshine" Fredricks has been a real motivator in the Patriot Guard for years now. He steps up when needed and really knows how to get things done. We are honored he has asked to be a part of our AVMRA family! Debbi Arwood has shown her dedication to our chapter long before she ever decided to become a member. She helped with escorts and events and made donations. After spending a lot of time with us, she has decided this is an organization she would be proud to be a member of! Harley Hawkins has been with us for a while now. Shortly after returning from service in the war against terrorism, he went for AVMRA9's ride to DC Rolling Thunder and then to NC's Dragons Tail. We had a great time and he started coming around and getting to know everyone. He decided to join and we are proud to have him as one of our members! Brian and Celeste Phillips have long been dedicated members of Chapter 5 and are very good people! Brian had worked for many years as event coordinator and you could often see him running around before, during and after an event making sure all details were perfect. Celeste has supported Brian in his tasks by helping deliver food and prizes to an event even if she herself couldn't be there due to raising a family or work. We are proud to have them transfer to our chapter! We are excited they have chosen AVMRA 9 to call home! WELCOME to all our new brothers and sisters! AVMRA 2009! 2009 was a great year! There was so much we were able to accomplish. Our 2nd annual Scavenger Hunt was a huge success and we look forward to doing this again next year. In August, AVMRA 9 hosted a BBQ cookout at the West Lafayette Soldiers Home. This is always one of our favorite events! Our chapter with many Patriot Guard Riders cooked hamburgers, hotdogs and served up a fantastic meal! The band played and the residents danced. One Patriot Guard member brought out his dog , which was a real hit with the veterans! 150 veterans were served that day and each one went away with at least one door prize. EXPO for Special People is an event that means so much to the people who attend this picnic. This is a picnic for mentally and physically challenged individuals and their families. AVMRA chapters have been a long time supporter of this and though the attendees are not veterans, many are the children of veterans. This year we brought down temporary tattoos to apply to anyone who wanted one, and they were a big hit! AVMRA chapter 1 brought down 100 bandanas and we all tied them on "Biker Style" to the attendees! They went really quick because I believe there were more than 200 individuals there! Later AVMRA and other motorcycle groups such as Christian Motorcycle Association, Patriot Guard and more, gave rides to anyone who wanted to jump on. And oh yes, they wanted rides! We had members working the lines, putting helmets on people and assisting them in getting on and off the bikes. Others were giving the rides on the motorcycles. This really made their day! And it was something the attendees look forward to every year! AVMRA 9 donated many handmade afghans to be raffled off for the EXPO to raise some funds for next year's event. It was a GREAT day! Porter County Fair's Veterans Appreciation Day In July of each year we are thrilled to participate in the Veterans' Appreciation Day at Porter County Fair. Veterans organizations from around Porter County and Heartland Christian Center work together to create a beautiful tribute to all veterans from each branch of service. We are always honored to have Thumper and his bike lead the flag procession down the midway to the ceremony! 2009 was the second year we have participated and we hope to keep up this tradition! POW/MIA Balloon Launch The third Friday of September is National POW/MIA Remembrance Day. Our chapter has held a Balloon Launch in honor of this day for the community to gather together to honor the soldiers who did not return and the families who still wait for closure. We always have guest speakers come from around the community and a 21 gun salute. As the black balloons launch, the bagpipes play Amazing Grace and then, in the silence, TAPS is played on the bugle. More than 175 people from the community turned out for this event! 713th Christmas Party We were able, with the help of Patriot Guard and area businesses, schools and more, to have donated enough toys and gift cards so that every child of soldiers in Laporte's 713th went home with a stack of gifts! 17 holliday food baskets were donated to soldiers for Thanksgiving and to help with feeding all the families that attended the 713ths Christmas party. We hope to be able to do this again! Escorts There were many escort missions that we were honored to participate with Patriot Guard. Most of our members are also members of the Patriot Guard and have very similar views. We are always grateful to be able to welcome home a soldier! Sometimes our missions are not happy events. We have also participated in many funeral escorts of soldiers who have sacrificed everything. We are privileged to be there to respect the soldier and family in this final salute. WOW! 2009 was a great year, and 2010 is shaping up to be even better! We have added more events to help our veterans, soldiers, their families and our community! |
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