Ticket to Ride

This event was planned months in advance, trying to plan it around the weather not knowing if it was going to snow or if it was going to rain. We had a long cold winter so we didn't know what to expect. So how do you plan an event like this, so far in advance. It's not easy ask anyone who tries to plan an event. The original date was April 23rd, heck we had three feet of snow April 1st. So Leary as I was I bought a Farmers Almanac. Sounds silly I know, but they are pretty reliable within 90%. They said rain for that day of the 23rd, and sure enough it rained so I decided to change the date to May 15. The almanac said for the week of the 11Th-20Th rain then sunny and warm, so I figured YES were going to be okay.As the event got closer to the date I watched the weather every day on the news, it called for rain the beginning of the week and the day of the ride  (Sunday) was going to be nice, in the mid to low 60's. I said great, it's going to be a decent day. We had 69 bikes planned for the ride. The plan was to start at the Irish twins in Lewiston for breakfast, go on to the railroad diner in Lisbon, on to the Bowdion general store then to Mikes Water Street Grill in Gardner with the final destination at Naked Leather in Wicasset. Well then comes the weather on Friday, the forecast for Saturday rain, Sunday light Showers and a steady rain for the afternoon. I was beside myself, I said this ride is going to be a flop. So I put the word out as fast as I could, if you don't want to come by bike come in your cars trucks vans whatever but please show up and support this cause.

The day of the ride came. It was here and I was worried, still thinking it was going to flop. Heck I even pleaded with the guy that started the Get on The Bandwagon (who unfortunately isn't with us any more) to talk to the man up there and see if he could help us out in the weather department. Well I think he figured it doesn't matter if it rains and you believe,... it will turn out alright. So anyways, we got to the Irish twins it wan't to bad a little drizzle, we could handle that. There was five bikes there and quite a few cars. I thought this isn't to bad. Not as many as I'd hoped for but none the less some people showed. The Twins put on a great breakfast, eggs, sausage , pancakes, bacon, homefiries and toast, with coffe and juice. All you could eat for 7.50. As we sat there and ate more bikes showed up and I started to feel a little more at ease. People ate shared a few stories together, paid for the ride and as we stepped outside the drizzed started to change to a shower. We waited an extra half hour and it let up.

We got on our bikes and in our vehicles and headed for the Railroad Diner. As we got down the raod four of five miles it started to shower again. Not so bad we can handle a little shower, well we went a little further and it started raining harder. Oh well we all had rainsuits so what the heck, not what I wanted but the ride was on. We arrived at the Railroad, everyone was safe. We socialized for about fifteen minutes or so, people got thier second ticket, and in comes this guy named Joe Zarrilli and hands Richard Rzyski and Chris Raymond 130.00 and said "I admire you all for what your doing, I want to put this towards your cause". I was surprised but very grateful for his generosity. Time came to leave so I gathered the riders around and told them I felt it wasn't safe to continue on the bikes and suggested we carpool with the vehicles that were there. I myself had all I could do to see as it was raining hard by now. Most of them insisted on riding. So as we headed out the door Joe walked up and handed Richard another hundred dollars. I couldn't Thank him enough for his generousity.

So off we went, some of us (me included) left our bikes behind and jumped in someones vehicle. There was still eight or ten bikes that continued in the rain. Brave souls they were, but I worried about them the rest of the ride. I eliminated some of the stops so we could get right to the final destination as safe as we could for the riders sake.

As we aproached Naked Leather I couldn't believe my eyes. The parking lot was full of cars' trucks and vans. A few other bikes were there as well. I was really impressed. The band Skosh was playing, and people were mulling about talking and having a good time.. The rain didn't stop people from coming to make this event a success. I'll say it again I was impressed amazed and very thankful to everyone that showed up.

It all went off without a hitch. Dan and Holly Libby cooked Hamburger and hot dogs. People ate well and enjoyed the music. Some danced some just conversed in groups. There was a blessing of the bikes, a little change was made as "Murph" decided to do a blessing the bikers as well. There was also many event organizers there in support of this ride. Goes to show we all support each other on all these charity events.

We went on to do the drawing of the Tickets. The first prize of 200.00 went to Ron Ridley. There was a raffle of a Leather Jacket donated by Naked leather and the winner of that was Debbie Degan. Inside Ridin Steel did some interviews with some of the ride organizers.

I have to say, considering the weather there was still seventy five to eighty people that showed up. It was still a good time had by all and no one really complained.We raised 1555.00 for Get on The Bandwagon Now and I am very happy with the results. I thank everyone that came to support this cause that a man started back in 2009. This was his dying wish and we are keeping his wish alive.

The Bandwagon has been able to help several families thanks to people like you, we Thank You all very much.

GET ON THE BANDWAGON NOW

Posted by RIDIN' STEEL on November 1, 2010 at 8:59 AM

On Saturday October 23rd. David Provencher & Rocky Rivard along with many friends held a Halloween Party to benefit the GET ON THE BANDWAGON NOW! Charity. The Bandwagon formed in 2009 when now deceased John "Stoney" Dionne announced it's inception after his well known 29th. Annual Lobster Run. Funds for this charity assist individuals or families that are stricken with the disease of cancer. A common concern that many experiencing cancer is that although they may have insurance the cost can still be staggering. It's the little things like gas, food, motels etc.. that adds up. Families trying to support their loved ones strain themselves financially when they need to travel to be by their side. It often means taking time off from work as well. The Bandwagon cannot cover all of these cost, but it can at least be another resource of help and hope. So some people have "Banded Together To Fight Cancer". The Board members consist of the following: Rick Lewis, Erica McIver, Amanda Bernier,Kristen Walton, Ron Wing, David Malone, Stephen Marois, Bob Dionne, Dave & Kim Provencher and Rocky & Dawn Rivard.

A BIG Thank You goes out to Rocky & David and all those that helped or attended this very funfilled evening. The Band DRIVE was there to pitch in also. This band ROCKS the 80's like no other. Over $2200.00 was raised and donated to the

GET ON THE BANDWAGON Charity and for that we are very grateful.

In the photos below (left to right) are pictures of

David,Kim & Myself and the photo on the right is a shot of myself with Rocky. It is rare to see a photo of Rocky because He's the one usually behind the camera capturing everyone else's image. His wife Dawn is equally elusive and keeps herself pretty busy taking snapshots.. If you wish to see more photos of this evening, just go to our Mentions & Links page and check out RIDIN' STEEL's Facebook Page.

Bandwagon Helps Family

The Bandwagon is proud to announce that on June 12th it has been able to help a family that has found out that a member of their family has been stricken by cancer. We were called upon by Marta Choquette to join her at Fastbreaks in Lewiston for a fundraiser for a young man named Dakota who had been stricken with cancer, and the family had exhausted all their funds traveling back and forth just to be with him. The Bandwagon was glad to jump on board and help this family. The mother and uncle of this young man was called to the stage, and the Bandwagon handed them five hundred dollars to help them with some of their expenses. The crowd cheered and the mother cried. It was a happy moment for the Bandwagon, We helped our first family and it gave us a feeling of accomplishment.

There was raffles and a 50/50 that raised another 1000.00 to help this family. A good time was had by all in attendance. Thank you to the band Funnel, and Scott Labbe from Uncle Jack who donated their time to supply the entertainment for the evening.

And a special Thank You goes out to Marta Choquette For all her hard work organizing this event.

To see more photos of this event please visit our photo page.

Stephen Marois
www.ridinsteel.com
Bath, Maine, US
GET ON THE BANDWAGON NOW donated to it's 1st. cause on Saturday June 12th. Marta Choquette's fundraiser for Dakota was a cause well worth supporting. We made new friends with the Poulin Family and sent them home feeling a little bit better about life. I hope they will stay in touch and keep us up to date on Dakota's condition.

Yardsale for the Bandwagon

Some of you are familiar with the Bandwagon and some of you may not be. But as you look through the pages of the website you start to see what we're about, and what we want to accomplish. It's all about helping someone who is stricken with cancer.

In order for us to help someone unlucky enough to be in that situation we have different types of events. It could be a motorcycle run, a dance, or you may see a donation jar at your local restaurant or store. If you see one of these donation jars drop in fifty cents or a dollar or more. It doesn't matter how small or how big a donation is, it all matters.

Today on the other hand we had a yard sale. People donated items to be sold and all the proceeds went to the Bandwagon. Lisa Moore was kind enough to get this organized, and went around collecting the donated items. Lisa and her Mom Carol Moore donated their day as well as Dawn And Rocky Rivard to tend to the yardsale. We had a very good day and raised $483.56 for the Bandwagon.

Thank you to Steve Marois for donating the use of his yard for the sale.

Among the items donated were from

• Steve Marois (Ridin Steel), Four Wheeler, Bicycle, And other items

• Cindy and Lance Reny, Approx. Two hundred VHS children's movies

• Carol Moore, Cookbooks, Assorted kitchenware, and other items

• Mary Wilkins, Two boys suit jackets,Books, and other items

• Betty Mitchell, Two tables, silverware, Clothes, and other items

• Anonymous donor, Two large mirrors, Wallpaper,Lamp, and other items

Thank you to all that donated and all that attended the yard sale today and made it a success.

4/18/10

Seventy one year old woman wants to donate

Yardsale for the Bandwagon

I met a 71 year old woman yesterday that I helped out with a problem she had at her home, so I helped her out. It should have been a half hour deal but turned into several hours. She fed me gave me coffee and offered to pay me and I strongly refused payment, after all I wanted to help the poor woman. As we sat there we talked about a lot of things, then we got on the subject of how I rode a motorcycle and participated in a lot of charity runs. Then I mentioned Stoney, and how he started the lobster run to raise money for Maine children s cancer program and how he recently passed away. She told me how she had read about that and was very sad that such a good man that did great things such as that had passed away. Then I told her how he started the cause "The Bandwagon", so he could help everyone that found out they had cancer and within a couple of weeks after his announcement he was gone from our lives. When I told her a group of us jumped in and decided to carry on his wish, she was eager to donate to "The Bandwagon". I was stunned to see that this 71 year old woman, with no association to motorcycles or people dressed in leather looked up to us. She told me it's not how you dress or what you look like, it's that we take time out of our lives to help the less fortunate in this world. So you see when you meet people such as her it just warms the heart to know there are people out there that understand that what we do as a group to raise money for charities doesn't go unnoticed.

Rocky Rivard