Helen or “Helldog” as we know her best and her True Heart sisters, “Irish,” Lisa, “OG,” worked alongside some of their greatest friends and amazing volunteers to make this year’s True Heart Mystery Ride another huge success! Dedicating countless hours of hard work, this dedicated team makes this event happen year after year and these wonderful volunteers not only donate their time, but their passion for our cause!
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This year, True Heart presented a check of $11,000 to Terry’s House! That’s nearly $4,000 more raised than last year’s True Heart Ride and over $25,000 since creating this event for the first time 4 years ago!!! Isn’t that incredible? Nearly 60 sponsors supported the ride this year – that’s a 30% increase over 2015! And, special recognition goes to a group of super cool CRMC IT employees who have supported the Mystery Ride from the start – They increase their participation every year! Thank you CUBE RATZ for your $1,000 donation to the Mystery Ride, you definitely rock the top sponsor spot!!!
Participants gathered the morning of June 11 to register for the True Heart Mystery Ride and spend a little time at Terry’s House. CEO, Craig Wagoner also joined us to meet the crowd and wish the riders luck before they revved their engines and took off for a fun-filled day.
The weather was perfect! 90 degrees and overcast. 200 people participated this year, that’s twice as many as last year … and, riders traveled from as far away as the Bay area and So Cal to support Terry’s House!
This great day was spent traveling100 twisty miles through the foothills and flats of Fresno County. Riders rode stop to stop learning where they were headed next, as they arrived at each secret destination – hence the event title: “Mystery Ride." Throughout the day, participants pulled a poker card at each destination and later in the day those with the best and worst hand went home with a prize.
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Speaking of prizes … the end stop was full of them again this year! Delicious homemade chicken cacciatorre and salads greeted the riders, a live auction of unique gifts took place (the oversized wine bottle chandelier was a hit) and over 100 raffle baskets were gifted to the crowd! Past CRMC trauma patient and 2015 motorcycle accident survivor, Art Villarreal and his classic rock band called “Blunt Force Drama” certainly ROCKED THE HOUSE as the entertainment for the afternoon. Art’s Wife, Karen, stayed with us at Terry’s House for months after Art’s accident last year. As an RN and past CMC employee, Karen knew that Art’s survival and recovery was dependent on the incredible care provided at CRMC … As a Visalia resident, she was even more relieved to know that Terry’s House would be her “shelter in the storm” as she and her son, Luke supported Art while he made a full recovery across the street. It was truly heartwarming to have them participate in this special way on this special day so they could give back to Terry’s House!
And you can too! Put the second week of June on your 2017 calendars for next year’s 5th Mystery Ride! You won’t want to miss it!
We thank each and every one who participated. And, many thanks to all who donated the raffle prizes and the businesses who hosted us at each stop throughout the Valley. As the beneficiary of this wonderful event, we are not only grateful for the incredible generosity from all the riders, but for all of the man hours, sweat and love that went into planning this day-long event! Thank YOU from the bottom of our hearts!
Christa Short, Director
Terry's House
P.S. I’d like to give a very special recognition to Helen “Helldog” McNary, R.N. for all of countless hours she and her amazing nursing teams dedicate to our families’ loved ones at Community Regional. Helen calls Terry’s House her “labor-of-love,” and we certainly love her and her motorcycle family for taking care of us year-after-year!
For more photos, check out this year's True Heart album on FACEBOOK!
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