Another ride in the books. Another successful event. Another great time had by all. The 23rd annual Buzzard Bait Family Fun Ride went off without a hitch. This year was one of the best in many ways. We had the best turnout with over 300 entries. We had three generations attending. We had the most money donated to Widows and Orphans. And we had one of the best courses every laid out by Mike Reitmayer and Doug Weber.
As in the past we had a theme. This year it was Bernopoly (Bernie + Monopoly). The props were made by Don Paone (Father of the devil children) and Doug Weber. They included “Go to Jail”, Railroad Ave, Chance, Park Place and many other Monopoly icons. One stop included a search in the sand for plastic houses that could be redeemed for additional raffle tickets. At each stop you picked up a raffle ticket to be used later in the day.
The raffle had lots of great items to be given away. The silent auction had Pelican ice chests, gun cases, a custom made “cornhole” game, custom fire pit, fire axe, condo stay in Colorado and more. The “Youngest rider” award went to the son of Travis Lamm (age 5) and the “Oldest” went to the most deserving Robert Vowels (just old).
When I said in the beginning that the event went off without a hitch, that was not entirely true. There was one incident of note. One of our newly minted Battalion Chiefs (NMBC) went on a ride with a buddy. Remember the “2 in / 2 out” rule? Well two went out and only one came in! The “buddy” left the NMBC in the desert for over two hours with a dry gas tank. (When you’re leading the herd, look back once in a while to make sure they are following) That’s right, the NMBC ran out of gas! I guess daily checks are not required anymore? But the NMBC wanted others to learn from his mistake, so he invented the newly patented “Wuerfel Stick”. Hope to see you all in Ocotillo Wells next year.
By Bruce Galien
