By Deborah Speicher

The Shakes, Rattles, Rides & Rods event to benefit Parkinson’s disease was back this year. Last year’s inaugural event was a success which was no surprise since so many people are affected by Parkinson’s disease. Many of the participants or their family members and friends have been diagnosed with this horrible disease. If you ever had to watch a loved one suffer with Parkinson’s and know that there is no good medicine to thoroughly ease their symptoms, you would realize how important it is to raise money for this cause.

Once again, spearheading this event was Mike Savidge of Go For A Ride Magazine and Rick Karczewski of AmVets Post 44. About six years ago, Mike’s wife Charlette was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and, more recently, Rick was diagnosed with Parkinson’s as well. All proceeds from this event were donated for research to Team Fox (part of the Michael J. Fox Foundation) and to the Frances J. Zesiewicz Foundation for Parkinson’s.

This year’s event was moved to the AmVets Post 44 in Plant City. Thankfully, the weather was clear and sunny but winter decided to arrive in Florida on that day. Nonetheless, many came via motorcycle and the rest in cages. For a mere $15 donation, participants were provided with lunch, live music by the Honky Tonk Hitmen, vendors, and more. Kudos also to event emcee, Parti Patti, who did a great job especially with the auction.

At last count, the donations totaled over $13,000. Way to go! Please consider supporting an event that benefits Parkinson’s disease research and let’s eradicate this disease in our lifetime.