Yuba Sutter Chapter
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Soldier Down Poker Run
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Our hearts go out to those who have loved ones in harms way...
2005 Soldier Down - We got word that an Air Base Exchange had ran out of supplies.
Soldiers were coming in from the medical facility after recouperation in droves with their $250.00
vouchers to find nothing on the shelves. Last year we made over $8000.00 in goods and money
to supply Landstuhl Medical Facility in Germany with toothpaste, toothbrushes, t-shirts, sweats,
beanie hats, socks, razors, hairbrushes, shampoo, soap, underwear for both sexes, sweatshirts,
phone cards, and many other incidentals that we all find trivial....... until we don't have them.
Soldier Down 2006 - This year the medical facility asked us not to send anymore - no more storage
room. So, we hooked up with a charity called "Cell Phones For Soldiers". They take used cell phones,
refurbish, reassign them and give them to our soldiers. The soldiers are also provided with international
phone cards. This way, no matter how many kids a soldier has to send his/her paycheck home to -
they can still call home. Some of these guys (& gals) can't imagine having a cell phone that they
can call home with. We want everybody to be able to call home.
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Marine 1st Sergeant Brad Kasal (in the middle)is a former 82nd Airborne paratrooper who is a hero in his own right. This photo is from one of the most recent major offensives in Fallujah. 1stSgt. Kasal sacrificed his own safety to save a room full of fellow Marines. He ended up taking several AK rounds in the leg. Most of his lower leg was blown away but you can't tell it from this pic. He took rounds in the back which his armor saved him from. He took one round through his butt which passed through both cheeks leaving 4 holes in him. And he also took the brunt of a grenade blast. He jumped on top of a younger Marine to cover him from the fire. He killed the terrorist who did most of the damage to him and his men, and despite a massive loss of blood he never stopped fighting. Notice that he's still holding his pistol. He has been put in for the Medal of Honor for his actions on that day. He already has several Purple Hearts for previous battles throughout his career and he has turned some down so that he could stay with his unit. While in the hospital he has met President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and several other celebrities. He said that Bush came in by himself and had a very long, sincere, and friendly visit with him.
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"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen."
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Here is a soldier stationed in Iraq, stationed in a big sand box. He asked his wife to send him dirt, fertilizer and some grass seeds so he can have the sweet aroma and feel the grass grow beneath his feet.
If you notice, he is even cutting the grass with a pair of a scissors. Sometimes we are in such a hurry that we don't stop and think about the little things that we take for granted.
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2006 Soldier Down, the weather was sketchy and we had to change the route due to flooding. Out of appreciation for
what our troops do for us, we still had a great turn out!!!! Folks took extra long rests to warm back up from stop
to stop. Things got started a little late - but once all them old bones (and young ones) got warmed up we had a
blast!!! Sleeper rocked the house all night long and even let me sing with them - thanks guys! The sun was
shining for most of the chilly day as Liberty Tax Service collected a huge box of cell phones of all shapes and
sizes. A big shout out to them for taking care of the shipping of all of those phones!!! Since I am the Social
Butterfly of the group, I took care of cleanup detail til the last few headed on down the road just before sunset.
(;)I am very good at delegating.) When the young Clampers started buying me drinks - I knew it was time to go.
All in all a great day for us at The Eagle's Nest, Sting Rayz, River Rat Customs, Suzie Q's and The Silver Dollar.
We had tons of wonderful volunteers who braved the cold to provide card stops for our participants, thank you all.
A big thanks to Jackie & Gary at The Silver Dollar for letting us invade 2 years running!!!
Love N Hugs-
Pinkie
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2007 Soldier Down, A beautiful sunny day with a very slight breeze which kept things perfect.
UBNC asked all riders to donate an un-needed cell phone to this run as a price break on the entry fee. Many brought more than their fair share. More than 300 cell phones were collected by Liberty Tax Service and turned over to The Cell Phones For Soldiers Organization for recycling. The monies raised by this Poker Run through donations and recycling cell phones go towards purchasing International Calling Cards for the soldiers overseas.
The run stops chosen were The Waffle Barn in Yuba City, Stan's RV and Lounge in Gridley, the Driftwood Inn in Smartsville, The Museum of Forgotten Warriors in Linda and the run ended at The American Legion Hall in Linda, CA.
Turnout was wonderful, volunteers were abundant, food was great and the raffle was very well coordinated and successful. Square 1 volunteered their time and talents to provide wonderful classic Rock & Roll music to entertain everyone at this event. Hand-made trophies looked great and were given for High-Hand, Low-Hand, Organization Participation and Club Participation and an Appriciation plaque for the most cell phones collected.
Yuba City HOG received the Organization Participation, Jus Brothers MC edged out Sisters of Scota WMC for the Club Participation and Victory Steve received the Appreciation Plaque for collecting 161 cell phones.
Total amount being donated by UBNC for this event was just under $2,600.00. Many, many thanks to everyone that pitched in to help pull this together. Supporters, Sponsors and the oh so wonderful volunteers, thank you all hope to see you next year!!!
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UBNC – We believe that those who serve others are rewarded by their own actions
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