Burning Bubblehead II

The second Burning Bubblehead fund raiser for Kids’n Kamp was a great success. The weather looked questionable in the morning but other than a few raindrops midday and moderate humidity the weather was good.

The day started out at 1:00 o’clock with a Poker Rally beginning at Motorkars and ending at Al Moore’s 23 acre estate in beautiful Carroll Ohio 30 minutes southwest of Columbus. A total of 24 players signed up for the rally. Each player paid a $10 entry fee that went directly to Kids ‘n Kamp. Ted Chaney had the early lead in the game with an Ace high straight. He was quickly surpassed when Jim Agan turned in a Kings over Jacks full house. Jim got bumped out by Dave Redrow who came in with an Aces over Eights full house. Dave was feeling pretty confidant until Mark Baranoski presented the winning hand with 4 fours to clinch the game. Mark had a nice selection of donated gifts to select from and settled on the autographed Jim Tressel football. Congratulations to Mark for his good luck in the poker game.

The tailgate/picnic got underway around 3:00 o’clock as friends and fans began to filter in to enjoy the day’s activities. The crew from the Alumbus (Dave, Stark, Bryan and Marshall) were there setting up the grill, beer coolers and of course the satellite TV dish for the football game.

Bill Lewandowski was getting the gazebo near the pond set up for the 2 live bands he lined up to play during the afternoon. The first band was a great rock and roll band called “Wake the Dead”. The second band was Bill’s blues band called “Damn Right!” and had several guest musicians on stage including Johnny Mack from Soul Satyr. Al Moore had the “farm” looking great and had the paddle boat and canoe on the pond for people to take out and enjoy.

Stark and Al assembled Mister Bubblehead in the fire pit who stood at least 16 feet tall thanks to the great carpentry skills of Stark. Jason Davis donated Sierra Nevada beer for everyone to enjoy. Bret Icenhower supplied the autographed Jim Tressel football and Thad Matta basketball. Champps, Figlio’s and City Barbecue all donated gift certificates for the event.

Motorkars donated the food, a vintage VW bus toy with a weeping bus poster and 5 fun filled goodie bags. Brenda Agan and Thersea Schliefer helped out by selling raffle tickets throughout the day for the various donated prizes. My sister Betty brought a life size mannequin dressed as coach Tressel for fans to get their photo with the coach. Everyone got there fill of burgers and brats and some tasty side dishes brought by several people.

Bev from Kids’n Kamp gave a short speech after the raffle prizes were claimed and told a heart wrenching story about a young child with brain cancer. Her story made us all realize how fortunate we are to be able to relax and enjoy the kind of day we had. Bill Lewandowski gathered some Buckeye fans from the crowd on to the gazebo and performed a brief OSU pep rally shortly before the big game against USC. The football game was a major disappointment to be sure but I was very happy to announce to the crowd that we had exceeded my fund raising goal of $1,000.00 dollars by $111.00 dollars.

After the game everyone enjoyed the festive burning of Mister Bubblehead and shared stories by the bonfire. Thanks to everyone who contributed their time, energy, money and spirit to help make this a successful event for Kids’n Kamp. Don’t forget to “Keep on Truckin”.