Although we rode into Bobcaygeon yesterday we had to return to Lindsay today to visit St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Secondary School where we were not only met by the students, but also Ashley Donaldson, Dave Murtha, Scott Duffy, Terry Cox, Brenda Johnson, and Dianna Brown, who are all members of the City of Kawartha Lakes Police Service. Joining them was Matt Beacock from the City of Kawartha Lakes Fire Dept and Katherine Forgaard-Pullen who represented the CKL Police Services Board. It was awesome for so many guest to join us for the presentation.
Students at St. Thomas have displayed throughout the year that they support each other when it matters most, and today was no exception as students lined up to cut off their pony tails and shave their heads to support two of their fellow students, Bradley and Darrien.
The atmosphere in the gym was electric as students danced, sang, and screamed all while they cheered on participants in our tricycle / ice cream eating relay race. There were a couple of crashes during the race but no casualties. The ice cream fun wasn't done there, the team brought back the handcuffed / ice cream eating competition for this school and as usual there was more ice cream on the students faces than in their mouths. Special props to Constable Brown for volunteering to participate.
Special thanks to student committee members Caitlin, Katie, Abby, Chantel and Kathryn for organizing the event and inviting us to visit. Also thanks to Joe McGillis and Jen Wichmann for supporting the cause by losing their hair !!!
Our second stop was back in Bobcaygeon where we got to visit with two of our Special Friends, Vicky and Ben. Each year I say the same thing, I can't believe how much they have grown. We have had the pleasure of watching our Special Friends mature over the years and it's amazing to remember that 6 years ago they were just little kids. Now Vicky is a little lady and Ben is in high school and organizing his own Pedal For Hope fundraiser. During the assembly Ben presented us with a donation of $300 that he helped raise at his school. Awesome job Ben, a cancer survivor fundraising to help other kids in his community. A true ambassador for the team.
Joining us for the ride into Bobcaygeon was Haliburton County O.P.P officer, Constable Alex Whitefield. He did an awesome job and we were thrilled to have him join us for the day.
Hair was flying as the clippers were in high gear. Special congrats to Wyatt, Austin & Kane from Mrs. Jermyn's class who shaved their heads to support us. Maybe next year we can convince Mrs. Jermyn to cut her hair for the cause, start letting it grow now, and we will be paying you a visit next year !!!!! HaHa
Our third and final stop of the day was in Fenelon Falls where we were scheduled to visit Langton Public School, but first we had to meet up with our second guest rider of the day, Mrs. Steele, a grade 6 teacher from Langton.
We set out on our 18km ride from Bobcaygeon to Fenelon Falls and it was nothing but wind, crazy wind, like 60km/hr wind !!!! It was a slow ride but we managed to get it done, and when we arrived in Fenelon Falls we met up with the most special guest rider of the day, Julie.
At this time last year Julie was sprung from Sick Kids Hospital during her treatment just so she could be a part of our show. She stood on stage and cut her best friend, Julia's pony tails off one by one, and than shaved her friends head until she was bald. I can guarantee there wasn't many dry eyes in the house as we all watched Julie remove her hat for the first time and stand on stage with her best friend. Unbelievable !!!
A year later, Julie is a bright, healthy little girl who is beyond her years in wisdom. She can speak to an audience in a way that very few little girls can. She is a true fighter and a true hero to the team, and it was an amazing sight to ride into the school with Julie leading the way, not in a cruiser, not in her mom's car, she was riding her bike at the front of the pack, leading her team into her school, and that my friends is what drives us to do what we do each year.
Another special friend and Langton alumni, Eli was also leading us in the RCMP cruiser, I'm sure fighting Ricky to see who would get to work the sirens and lights. Another couple of years and Eli will be asking if he can drive the cruiser instead !!!
One inside Mrs. Steele had activity after activity. From Ms. Doucette eating a worm, to Ms. Mathers drinking a grub and cricket smoothie, to Ms. Austin, who skipped rope for the entire assembly. The students were excited, they were loud, and they were supportive of Julie and her fight to beat cancer. Congratulations to Abbey for doing an awesome job fundraising, enjoy your new IPOD Nano.
Many head shaves and many pony tails were cut off today including Julie cutting off team member Kirk's hair and Eli cutting of team member Keith's hair. After day 5 there are not too many team members left who still have hair, I lose mine tomorrow at Ridgewood.
After all the excitement and fun Mrs. Steele took the microphone. (I finally found someone who likes a microphone as much as our Emcee, Habber) Mrs. Steel let the students know that they had set a goal of $8,000 which is absolutely amazing. but when it came down to the actual amount raised she prompted the students to count "$10,000, what comes after that, $11,000, what comes after that, $12,000, than $13,000", than 14, than 15, than 16, than 17........Langton Public School, a school of 400 students raised over $17,000, absolutely incredible !!
After an incredible celebration we hopped on our bikes and battled the wind for 15km's to Coboconk. After witnessing Langton students amazing achievements, and seeing Julie and Eli so healthy and happy, the wind really didn't seem that bad anymore, or if it was, nobody on the team dared complain about it !!
