Eli one of our special friends also came along for the day.Dean DelMastro presented the team with a framed letter from Prime Minister Harper expressing his acknowledgement and gratitude for the work we do to raise funds for paediatric cancer research. It was nice to have this presented in front of the school.
James Strath showed their school spirit today and we put our hair dressing skills to work with 51 students getting their hair dyed, 14 head shaves including PC Folz of the OPP, PC Janssen of the Peterborough Lakefield Community Police, and 7 girls donated their pony tails. James Strath did an astounding job of fundraising and may have set a record for the most money raised by a school with a total of $16,596.45. Way to go James Strath! Special mention goes out to one student Megan who herself raised $1463.00.
From James Strath the team rode into Millbrook to meet up with Megan Roy of Chex TV and she joined our team riding into Millbrook Public School. This is the first time I have ever seen someone ride a bike with a pair of Uggs on, not proper riding attire but it worked, she made it to Millbrook South Cavan school in one piece. At the school we again had great support from the students with 5 pony tails being donated, and 16 head shaves. The top fundraiser at this school was Emma who herself raised $560.00 to get her pony tail cut. Way to go Emma! Millbrook South Cavan School raised $6271.45 that is an amazing amount coming from 360 kids. Thanks for your support! As we were leaving this school a cute little girl came up to me and said she wanted to tell me what she would like to do, so I said "sure go ahead and let me know", her response brought a tear to my eye, she wanted to go home and get all of her money out of her piggy bank and give it to the Pedal for Hope team! If that doesn't tug at your heart strings and make your day worth while. The team then made the up hill journey to North Cavan Public School. The clouds were starting to form as the team rode, but the rain held out.
North Cavan is always the last stop on our tour and they make it worth the wait. The children again greeted us at the roadway with signs, some with special t-shirts giving us words of encouragement, what great school spirit. It was another high energy assembly with several head shaves. We did have one special surprise pony tail cut, our team photographer Lynne Kemp donated her pony tail. I know this may not seem like a big deal to most, but for five years I have been bugging her to let me cut her pony tail and she finally gave in. With her new hair cut she still has longer hair than I do, and she looks fabulous.
Thanks Lynne for making my day !!!
We had some special guests joining us as at North Cavan
Public School, one of our team members retired NHL hockey player John Druce had his daughter Courtney attend, she herself is a cancer survivor and is now healthy and attending University. Courtney shaved her fathers head, it was an emotional moment.
Tommy one of our special friends also came out to be with the team and two of our Inspectors from the Peterborough Lakefield Police Tim Farquharson and Ted Boynton. I think the inspectors had a great time, they were up dancing with the kids.
After the show was done the staff and parents from the school cooked us up a fabulous dinner, lasagna, salads and cake. This is a part of the tour we all look forward to, it is bitter sweet, the three week tour has come to an end. We all now return to our normal working hours and lives, and spending time with our families who have seen very little of us in the last three weeks. As we packed up our equipment the rain started to pour down, thanks to mother nature for waiting until 3:30pm.
I would like to thank all of the people who have supported us along the way. Without the help of our supporters, family and friends and each other we couldn't make it through the three weeks like we do. My best friend Janice thinks I have fallen off the face of the earth.
I hope every one can make it out for our final ride into the former Saturn Dealership on Clonsilla Ave tomorrow, the riders will be accompanied by their special friends for the last kilometer at noon.
Julie Levesque
Team Manager
