Big G Express driver's Motorcycle Ride draws 148 bikes, raises $25,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

By Al Muskewitz
 
It takes a lot to impress Tim Chelette. Suffice to say impressed doesn’t even come close to describing the way he felt this past weekend.

The Mufreesbroro, Tenn. trucker has organized the Big G Express Motorcycle Ride to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for five years now and this year’s ride May 30 was the best ever.
 
The ride drew 148 bikes and, with the addition of a late donation at the start of the week, raised $25,000 – both all-time records. He was hoping under the climate of the times to raise $10,000, but actually beat the old single-year record by more than that target amount, bringing in more than three-quarters of what they had raised in the first four years combined.
 
“I was really blown away by the amount of people who showed up and willing to give like they did,” Chelette said. “This ride is getting bigger each year, but I think a lot of people were ready to get out and do some good about all the negative going on now. I really think people were ready to turn the page and do something positive.”
 
Last year’s ride drew 85 bikes, so this year he hoped to hit 100. A volunteer counted the participants as they wheeled into the staging area at Big G Express’ terminal in Mt. Juliet, Tenn., and no sooner had he hollered over that they’d hit the century mark another 15 riders pulled into the yard. “And they kept coming,” Chelette said.

The ride has now raised a total of $56,000 for the hospital in five years. There’s an anonymous $5,000 gift and a donation by Big G Express included in this year’s total. The riders gave and an auction raised even more. A patriotic-themed quilt hand-sewn by Chelette’s sister Dee Jeansonne was the big item, fetching $380. A handcrafted knife by Kentucky knifesmith Zachary Staples brought in $285, and a planter donated by Jack Daniel Distillery went for $250. Even a four-inch brown squirrel figurine Chelette picked up in a Lynchburg, Tenn., novelty shop went for $60, proving he’ll auction off anything for a good cause.
 
“I’m just glad to be a part of it,” he said. “I may be at the start of it, but it ends with the people who show up and donate and donate online.”
 
The route for the ride was the same as its been the previous two years, a 110-mile trek through the scenic backroads of Middle Tennessee, ending in Monteagle. Chelette is in no hurry to change it. That’s part of its charm and success as well.
 
“I’ve gotten so many compliments off this ride,” he said. “Everybody says we ride this once a year, I wouldn’t change it a bit; I enjoy it so much I’d leave it like it is.”
 
Al Muskewitz is Editor of Wright Media. He can be reached at musky@wrightmediacorp.com

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