Motorcyclists rally for MDA
September 07, 2010
Motorcyclists rally for MDA
Hundreds turn out for ride through Tiers,
chicken barbecue
By Jennifer Kingsley •jkingsle@gannett.com •
September 6, 2010, 7:10 pm
Rosalie Krauss-Shepherd was at the American
Legion Post 443 along Lake Street on Monday
morning, Labor Day, for the fifth annual MDA Ride 4
a Cure, but she wasn't about to get on a bike unless
organizers could raise at least $1 more than last
year's $8,000 tally.
Krauss-Shepherd is "scared to death" of
motorcycles, she said, but promised her son, Kent
"Archie" Krauss, of Elmira; and her grandson, Kent
Thomas Krauss, 11, that she would do it.
"If we reach that goal, I'll get on the back of a bike,"
Krauss-Shepherd said.
Kent "Archie" Krauss, who first organized the event
five years ago when his young son was first
diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, said nearly
200 bikers signed up for Monday's event to benefit
the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
"It gets bigger and better every year," the elder Kent
Krauss said. "We've tripled our size during the last
three years."
"These bikers do a darn good job for us," said Joann
Andrews, who helps coordinate the event through
the legion post's auxiliary.
"It's a good thing to do whether you know someone
with muscular dystrophy or you don't," said rider
KolleenBerbary, of Elmira. "It's a great way to get the
community involved."
The younger Kent Krauss, who has Duchenne
muscular dystrophy, spent the morning at the
legion post with his grandmother while bikers
poured in from across the Twin Tiers.
As riders made the 100-mile journey down through
Pennsylvania's Bradford and Tioga counties and
back to Elmira, a chicken barbecue was happening
outside the legion post. That's where Krauss-
Shepherd hoped to raise extra cash for the event.
