april 07, 2009 11:50pm
May 31, 2008 The Highway for Hero’s Re
May 31, 2008.
Trenton to Toronto
Friends of Veterans Canada in association with Red Fridays present
The Highway for Hero’s Repatriation Rally.
The day started very early today. I left London at 4am for Toronto to set up our booth at the finishing point at Lansdowne Park. I met up with one of our volunteer’s, Joe Major, just outside Kitchener at 5am. Joe is a very old friend from my teens and early twenty’s and our kids hung out together. While fueling up Joe noticed that the taillights on the trailer were very weak. We did what we could to fix the problem and headed for Toronto, we arrived at Lansdowne Park at 6:30am. We found a place to set up our booth and were on the road by 7:30am for Trenton and I was to do an interview for CBC for 10am. Joe is a truck driver and we were not sure we would make it in time so we hurried down the 401 to arrive in Trenton on time. Well we made it with about fifteen minutes to spare and I made my way to the CBC satellite truck to let them know I was ready for the interview. The technician mikes me up and we waited for the 10:15 queue from Toronto to be broadcasting coast to coast. At 10:17am we went live and I managed to talk a little about the “Online Veterans Library” and tell Canadians what the purpose of charity was. The interview went very well and I was on live for about four and a half minutes.
After the interview was over, Joe and I set up our table for donations beside the pavilion. Joe manned the booth while I participated in opening ceremony’s. I made a short speech and returned to the table to help Joe. We made a fair amount on donations at the starting point of the rally.
I had to go and get gas before the first leg of the rally departed and on my return from the gas station I joined the queue for departure. While in the line I met some riders from Quebec and they had a large group of veteran riders that were there to support our charities. We started out with a police escort out of Trenton. We all got on the 401 and as I entered the highway a motorist would not change lanes to let me on, it seems that people in cars think that motorcycles are invisible. The elderly lady in the passenger seat promptly gave me the finger and a dirty look, as if I was the grandchild that put pine tar in her underwear. Not that I have ever done that…besides that close call we got onto the 401 bound for Toronto. It was a pleasure riding with the guys from Quebec and all of their members knew how to ride in a group. The first overpass had a lot of people waving Canadian flags and giving us the thumbs up and as we continued toward Toronto the overpasses had more and more people on them. I was glad to be there and experience this ride because it was heartwarming. I was glad to be wearing sunglasses because I had a tear in my eye with every overpass we went under and although I am a big guy but it was hard to hold back my emotions. I can’t imagine the emotions of the loss of a loved one for the family members of our fallen soldiers.
When we arrived at Lansdowne Park I met Harry at our booth and he was exited because the tent that covers our booth from the elements had blown half way across the park poles and all. The wind was unrepentantly harsh that day with high winds and rain and as a promoter myself I know how much the weather play’s a part in a success or frailer of an event. The Red Friday’s organizer Brian Muntz had an especially bad time in the press while organizing this rally. He may not do another event like this rally because of the hard time he got from (it is a ledged) a soon to be divorced former spouse of a CF soldier who was killed in Afghanistan. Apparently this lady did not want her (husband’s ? ) name on the Red Friday’s parade car and normally there would have been no problem in removing the said name but the soldier’s mother who was in attendance at the rally and refused to have her son’s name removed. Who do you side with, the X or the man’s mother?
That being said we had a good turn out and I made a connection with two rally goers, one from Quebec City and the other from Montreal with both being interested in helping the Video-a-Veteran tour in their area.
Later on in the day Harry and I decided to pack up and head for home. Harry is an active 84yr old man and I have to keep reminding him that he is eighty four. He wants to help me pack things up but I try to do most everything, but he manages to do his part. We shake hands for a job well done and head for home at about 7 pm. All and all it was a very successful stop on the “Veterans Video Awareness Tour”
