For those who knew her, you would agree when I say she was a ball of sunshine every time she smiled, and she has been smiling down on us every day of the tour. The 2010 tour is being dedicated in the memory of two of our Special Friends we lost, Sierra & Dawson.
Today was one of those days the team had to be not only physically ready to ride, but emotionally ready to visit Sierra's school. The first time back to the school since she lost her battle.
But as emotional as it was going to be we still had to visit three other schools first. Our first stop was at St. Catherines Catholic School and the students could be heard half way down the street. It's been a few years since we have visited this school and they wanted to make up for lost time. It was awesome, but for me it was extra special for two reasons.
The first reason is I am usually one of the first riders to take a spill on their bikes during the tour, but today Trevor took all the pressure off the rest of the team when he decided to fly over top of his handle bars and crash in front of all the kids. Good job Trev!!
The other reason why St. Catherines school was special for me today because I was able to spend time with my Special Friend Madison and her sister Emma. It's always nice to visit a school that one of our Special Friends attend and show the school that we are making a difference. Madison is a happy, healthy little girl who I am looking forward to riding with on the last day of the tour.
Once we actually got into the school the show was awesome. We shaved more heads than I could count. Some of the special head shaves included Sgt. Ogrodnik, Constable Mark Hubble and our very own team member Mark Elliott.
Our video had a guest appearance by Mrs. Ogrodnik advising she believed in Pedal For Hope so much she was going to shave her head..........and she did !!! Congrats to the Ogrodnik family, two head shaves and a cut pony tail. Each year
we see more and more family head shaves, its awesome !!It's exciting when a guy shaves his head for the cause, but we have seen it over and over again and we guys know it's going to grow back. Not a big deal. But when a girl shaves her head, it's a huge sacrifice !! Two other ladies shaved their heads at St. Catherine's and it was an amazing gesture on their part. Also shaving his head for the cause was Constable Dave Currie of the Peterborough Lakefield Police Service.
Our second stop of the day was at Otonabee Valley where we were lead in by one of their teachers, Mr. Leek. It was great
to see all the students, but especially one particular Otonabee graduate, Destiny. I have known Destiny since she was toddler and am very proud to ride for her. Destiny is another success story that we are making a difference.
During the show, we shaved Mr. Leeks head as well as crowned some champion ice cream eaters. Frederico, our Olympic Champion did his best but did not make it to the podium in any of the events.
Our third stop was around the corner at St. Patricks School where again it was great to see one of our Special Friends, Ajay. Not only is Ajay a success story, but he also did an awesome job this with his fundraising. Ajay had his head shaved by our team member Trevor and than it was the passing of the clippers as Ajay got to shave Trevors head.
This was also our first time to St. Patricks and we are happy to have them join the Pedal For Hope team. They did an awesome job exceeding the original goal they had set for themselves.
Three schools down and now one of the hardest ahead of us, Kawartha Heights. As we rode towards the school the team seemed quieter than usual. Concentrating on how the show was going to go, concentrating on how we could claim to 'believe', when we just spent Christmas Eve at Sierra's funeral.
As we arrived at the school the energy was high and the kids were excited we were there, but one quick scan of the parents and teachers in the crowd and you could easily see how the loss of Sierra impacted the school. Thanks to Mrs. Alison Payne from the Canadian Cancer Society for helping remember Sierra and supporting the team.
We started the assembly off by presenting the school a framed Pedal For Hope jersey in memory of Sierra.
The students sang "Let the sun shine in" which was emotional for the team but like I said earlier, this week has been the best weather the team has ever had at the start of the tour, and it can only be because of Sierra.
One by one, students went up on stage and either cut their pony tail or shaved their head in memory of Sierra. Every one of them wearing a Pedal For Hope tattoo and smiles decorating their faces. There were tears of joy, tears of sadness, but at the end of the day Kawartha Heights had raised over $11,000 dollars in memory of Sierra and her smiles.
John Townsend
Pedal For Hope
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