May I have your Attention Please!
My name is Wes Quick and I'm from right here in St Peter.
You may have noticed there are a few Motorcycles parked outside , but did you notice that they are from many other States?
I was asked last year if I would host this group here in Minnesota.
This group, or at least a big share of them , met in Eureka Springs, Arkansas last year, and the year before that they met in Portsmouth, Ohio. I was not able to attend either of these event s, however I did attend the 2 years prior . Both events were held in the Lake of the Ozarks in Camdenton, Mo.
Let me back up a bit now , and tell you what this group is all about.....
In 2002 , someone posted a message on a Motorcycle Message board looking to buy her husband a Gold Wing Motorcycle. He had sold his bike to pay off Medical bills that she had incurred. Shortly after he sold his bike, he went into a depression and his wife wanted to see him happy again so she decided to buy him another Gold Wing . This touched the hearts of many people all around the United States and the world . Soon , many people responded with open billfolds and checkbooks. In a short 5 week time span they collected over $10,000 and purchased a Used Gold Wing Motorcycle . This was all kept hush-hush and the Man (Bill ) , had no idea what was coming. The motorcycle was presented to him in Ohio. Needless to say , he was speechless when it soaked in that he was given this motorcycle free and clear with no strings attached. The next summer in Camdenton Missouri , we had a reunion of people that were involved in buying this motorcycle. While there , we auctioned off a quilt that was made by this man 's wife. It was a beautiful quilt and it brought in over $500.00 , plus we did some other fundraising things there. Our group was able to donate close to a thousand dollars to a new Battered Woman's shelter.
The following year we knew we wanted to do something special again and decided to once again meet in Camdenton, Missouri. While there we managed to collect a little over $1600.00 for a young woman that had cancer . She was driving about 100 miles a couple times a week to her treatments in a beat up old car that was in need of repair.
This was the birth of our group and we knew that we had something special going. Each year we will be in a different area of our great country helping someone whom is need of a boost in life. (2005 & 2006)
We call ourselves the "Pay It Forward " group based on a Movie by the same name. We look for someone that is :
1 ) In need of some help
2 ) Someone who Pays It Forward either by doing volunteer work for their community or Church.
3) Someone that is always there for the other guy.
This Year , I'm proud to announce we have found a person that fits this criteria. And that person is present here right now.
I searched around and talked with many people around our area trying to find such a person, and we did find that person through the efforts of one person that is also here tonight.
Our recipient has no idea why they are here tonight other than having supper with family members.
This person gives back to his community by Volunteering at his Church. He is active with the American Legion and sells and installs Flag Poles for them.
He drives people to Church on Sunday . Recently Minnesota had a WW2 Monument dedicated at the State Capital in St Paul, This man took wheel chairs to the event and pushed Sr Citizens around the grounds so they could see the Monument up close.
Jim Golgart tells me this man is always there willing to help out the other guy. At this time I would like to turn it over to Jim to Introduce our group to "Bud" .