Welcome to
Run For The Wall
Southern Route
May 20, 2010
Tolleson, AZ to Las Cruces, NM
22 YEARS OF HONOR
Riding in Freedom for Those Who Can't
"Honoring All American Warriors"
Thanks again to Photographer Ed Kain for sending the following photos and commentary. They are not in chronological order, but the viewer can easily figure that out. To look at the breakfast and early morning activities first, click here.
Above, left, at the Marana, AZ, morning fuel stop, Arizona State Representative Jerry Weiers on the white Harley with the orange shirt. Above, right, he is with the AZ State Troopers. Below, left, the Hydration Team...without which we would be in terrible shape...working hard to distribute water at the fuel stop. Below, right, one of the best photos ever seen of John "Slammer" Gebhards, Road Guard Captain, with friend Norm Hubbard, a retired CA State Hwy. Patrol...CHP 5891.
Left, Joe "Firefly" Cappel, former Road Guard Captain, joined us again. Above, the state's finest really helped us through heavy traffic. Below, left, flags were standing proudly as we rode off the freeway into Marana...how wonderful to see them there!!
Below, right, greeters at the Elks Club in Willcox, AZ, where we had lunch.
Above, left to right: Chief of Police Jake Weaver; Gary Chorka, the Esteemed Loyal Knight of the Willcox Lodge 2131 (thank you for the wonderful organization around lunch today!); and AZ State Coordinator, Jerry McNelly. Right is Julia Hammel, the event photographer for the Elks.
Several FNGs are featured in these photos. Above, right, some of the folks making things happen today: Teresa Goodwin was the singer and Jake Weaver, Chief of Police.
Above, left, Jean Winn and Pooh Witmer are back with us this year. Below, left, the Border Patrol Honor Guard. Below, right, Teresa Goodwin belts out the Star Spangled Banner.
Above, Police Chief Jake Weaver (left) and State Coordinator Jerry McNelly (right). Below, Jerry introduced State Representative Weiers (left). Trish Burnett and some other daughters of MIAs designed special t-shirts and had a few printed. Trish presented one of these to Chief Weaver who had one of those (what we call) very special RFTW moments. Most of us have quite a few of those with so many supporters as we cross the country. Somehow the memories of those MIAs and POWs...and the friends who were KIA...along with all of the patriots we see, get to know, and remember forever....
Chief Weaver introduced Chris Lee, left, who is about two weeks away from deployment to Iraq. Chris received a standing ovation from RFTW...many of the riders know exactly what deployment feels like.
We will keep you in our hearts and prayers, Chris. Thank you for your service to our country!
Photographer Ed Kain parked his bike in front of the children at Willcox Elementary and then started taking their photos. He said he nearly went "half deaf" from being near the children as RFTW rode by...For several years, these kids and teachers have truly warmed our hearts with their enthusiasm, signs, and flags as we ride by. Thanks so very much!!!
Below, the Marine Corps League Honor Guard at Barnett's Las Cruces Harley-Davidson where we enjoyed a hearty dinner. Below, right, Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima brought welcoming remarks.
Too Tall and Cowboy presented RFTW plaque awards to Las Cruces and to Barnett's Harley-Davidson. Below, New Mexico State Coordinator Bill Hawkins is on the left, receiving his appreciation plaque from RFTW.
Morning breakfast in Tolleson was offered by The Church in the Son Motorcycle Ministry - Phoenix First Assembly (a biker-friendly, come-as-you-are church), the same organization which fed us last night. We are overwhelmed with their generosity! Thank you, thank you!
Below, left, is Pastor Ruth Ford. Obviously, these folks really cared about Run For The Wall's riders and their mission. We appreciated them, too...to say the least! Bless you all!
Below, the morning riders' meeting.
Gary "Shepherd" Burd, Senior Chaplain, introduced Sgt. First Class Tim Gray (below, left), and SFC Gray led the Pledge of Allegiance. Below, right is Navy Lt. Commander Tim Moore, riding with us as a Chaplain; he led the morning prayer. It's inspiring to have these two active-duty military personnel riding with us!
Above, Too Tall introduced the riders who joined us today. These are the "Class of May 20th FNGs."
Below, left, Too Tall introduced Tracy Beresford whose son, Corporal Joshua Sweeney, lost both of his legs in Iraq, and they're running a raffle to help support him and get him going again.
Below, center, Slammer actually did something to "win" the first Monkey Butt award of the 2010 Run! This is a dubious distinction, but always brings smiles amongst the riders (at least amongst the ones who do NOT receive it). The tradition of giving this award is in its fourth or fifth year now.
Above, left, some of the New Mexico State Police. There were also lots of local police supporting the Run. We appreciate them!
Above, right...a remarkable machine! It's a trike, all hydraulic. The rider wheels his wheelchair up to and into the trike, sits on it and rides the trike. The trike lifts him right up, locks him in, and away he goes. It was a site to see and believe!
Left, the ladies who run things at the Savoy Truck Stop (afternoon fuel stop). They had an extra booth with free drinks and snacks for riders.
The photo above, right, and the rest below were taken by Jerry McNelly. Above, right, $5 Marty got to Gene Adee; Gene had to borrow Ed Kain's pen to complete the entry forms.
Left, Spider is back. Above, maybe John King is saying, "Well, you know, Ray, I'm just not sure."
Below, left, RG Diesel. Below, right, the National Guard really supported the RFTW riders by directing the traffic and generally helping out. Thank you so very much!!!
Information received on 5/22/10:
Here are three links to hundreds of pics and videos that we take and post every year in Las Cruces NM. May 20th and 21st 2010:
We do not copy write any photo because we want all to share with the world.
George "Dusty" Bayley - President
Rolling Thunder® Inc. Chapter 1 NM
http://www.rollingthundernm1.org
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Run For The Wall wishes to express its deepest appreciation to ALL supporters, from those who provide support standing beside the road or on overpass bridges as we pass by to those who provide financial support. As always, it is impossible to know and thank all of the kind folks who help us as we cross the United States. Unfortunately, only a few of those who helped us across Arizona were mentioned in today's commentary. In New Mexico, a few of the supporters included:
New Mexico Army National Guard, Las Cruces, NM
New Mexico State Police
Pic Quik, Inc., Las Cruces, NM
VFW 10124, Las Cruces, NM
VFW 5916, Las Cruces, NM
VFW 3242, Las Cruces, NM
Dolores Archuleta
Las Cruces Police Department
Las Cruces Fire Department
Barnett's Las Cruces Harley-Davidson
Bravo Chevrolet
Arizona State Coordinator for RFTW - Jerry "Bookman" McNelly
New Mexico State Coordinator for RFTW - Bill Hawkins
Day 2, Thursday, May 20, 2010
After a welcome night’s rest and a great breakfast, riders attended their Day 2 morning briefing and then saddled up for one of our longest riding days. The weather is still cooperating with us, both in temperature and for a welcome change, a wind at our backs (literally). First stop…Marana, Arizona for fuel and hydration. We want to thank the Arizona Dept of Public Safety “Highway Patrol”, Pinal County Sheriff and the Marana Police Department for helping us get safely through Phoenix, Marana and Tucson. As a note, not only did Marana PD put up with us, they were also responsible for directing traffic leaving Marana High School where hundreds of vehicles were departing the same time the RFTW motorcycles were arriving. And to the best of my knowledge, not one car impacted one motorcycle on this busy 2 lane street, Thank YOU Marana Police Department. As we were heading towards Marana, we were escorted for a while by a pair of Apache Helicopters greeting our riders to Arizona.
Now it is off to lunch at one of Arizona’s neatest little communities, the town of Willcox, Arizona where we were greeted by our longtime friend and Chief of Police, Jake Weaver. Many thanks to you and your officers for providing us safety and smooth riding through your community. You must be doing something right because you are still the Chief ;-).
After a wonderful lunch at the Elks Lodge, the riders headed out for the afternoon fuel stop in Savoy, New Mexico. In Savoy, the truck stop was having their Grand Opening. Even when they could have said “no” for the riders to come through during their Grand Opening, this stop rolled out the red carpets for the Run for the Wall Riders. Not only did they have better parking for the bikes, but the Truck stop provided free drinks for the riders too. From there we proceeded to Las Cruces New Mexico for a donated fuel stop curtsey of Pic Quik and then dinner at Barnett’s Harley-Davidson.
A special thank you to the New Mexico State Police, US Border Patrol, County Sheriff, and Las Cruces Police department for insuring our safe travel from the moment we crossed the New Mexico State border.
Thus far after two days, law enforcement support has been superb in getting the riders from point A to point B and beyond.
Respectfully submitted by
Steve “Hawgwash” Hill
MSgt. USMC (Ret.)
Below, right, Douglas "Blinky" Beckman's photo of "incoming" at Las Cruces.
