November 24, 2010 5:04 PM PST
I live in Spearfish. My husband was recently diagnosed with advanced metastatic prostate cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Since Mayo is out of network, we have had to put our house up for sale as well as my chopper (in my profile pic), and make other sacrifices to try to keep up with the medical expenses. We have changed his diet and are going to try a new therapy that his doctor at Mayo has recommended. Another catch is that this new therapy is not FDA approved, so our insurance will not cover that either. We have two kids ages 6 and 8, and my hubby just turned 50. This was unexpected! He is now turning his Street Glide into a rolling billboard and wants to spread the word about prostate cancer. He has a few companies on board and his employer, Lehman Trikes here in Spearfish, who is painting it for him. He believes that if he can save just one man from going through what he has, then it is more than worth it.
As far as the benefit, it is in the early stages. I was going to raffle off the chopper, but ran into some legal issues. In SD you cannot have a raffle unless you are an organization or a religious group. So, now I have it up for sale. If it doesn't sell by summer, I am thinking about making it the grand prize in the poker run (if this is legal and if we get enough interest). We have a blues band on board and a few bars/halls, not to mention a lot of good friends from here to WY, CO, and even MI willing to lend a hand. Some other possible prizes may include some autographed sports stuff, Deadwood businesses contributing, and maybe some rally concert passes just to name a few. I will know more when we start talking to the local business owners.
LIKE I MENTIONED BEFORE, THIS IS ALL ENTIRELY UP IN THE AIR. THESE ARE IDEAS, THOUGHTS, AND PLANS THAT ARE NOT CONCRETE AS OF YET!!
I will get more info as it becomes available. We have no set date, but it will be very close to the beginning of the Rally, within days. The Rally officially starts on Monday, August 8 and runs until the 14th. The 6th is a strong possibility.
I want to thank everyone for their interest. It really means a lot to me and my family.
Charm