By Lulu

It was our pleasure to be invited to ride along with Mike Rudicel & his partner Dee Dee from South Florida Bike Events on their yearly treks across the state for the 6th Annual Holiday Toy Run in Memory of Tommy Ruzzano. Nearly 400 bikes left Sunrise Harley Davidson with a police escort from Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

Leading the way to our weekend getaway to Ft. Myers Beach was the Jagermeister trike followed by special guest’s NFL Running Back Terry Kirby & Mary Ann Ruzzano (Tommy’s daughter) who came all the way from New Jersey; we had a fabulous day for the ride. This event starts on the east coast, travels across Alligator Alley to the west coast for an all day and late into the night street festival with vendors, bike builder displays & bands. This year’s entertainment was unbelievable they had The Jagermeister Mobile Stage which was amazing, 6 bands featuring a KISS Tribute Band, The Jane Dear Girls and Steve Holy as headliners. Everyone spends the night and then a ribbon on the bikers travel back to the east coast the following day for a final party at Big Dawgs 2 in Davie, Fla. With a Hog feast more vendors & live music.

The sponsors and bikers managed to raise so many toys and clothes that it took 10 people 8 hours to wrap all of them, then on Christmas Eve morning Mike, Dee Dee & their friend played Santa’s Helpers and delivered the presents to the kids. Mike would like to thank his sponsors, Budweiser, Jagermeister, Winston & Clark P.A, Wal-Mart and the many riders for helping raise the needed toys and funds that allowed them to help Big Mama’s House, Home Sweet Home Foundation (a place for physical and mentally challenged kids & young adults). This year Big Dawgs 4 Kidz chose two separate homes with needy families to donate two giant boxes full of toys so they also could enjoy the true meaning of Christmas. Some of the things these funds help with were a kitchen makeover and a computer learning station.

If you live in the southern part of our sunny state and haven’t ridden on one of Mike’s events you really should. Not Only would you be helping much needed projects, you would also make some great friends to ride with when visiting south Florida! Their next event is The Jagermeister Firefighter memorial bike Run March 11th, 2012.

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