Eagle Run Motorcycle Ride to Benefit Fire Academy Scholarship Fund

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Eagle Run

Motorcycle riders from California and across the United States will be gathering together in Colton, California on May 30, 2009 for the Black Sheep Harley Davidsons for Christ and Bikers for Christ 3rd Annual Eagle Run. This year's poker run will benefit the Feuerhahn Fire Academy Scholarship Fund, which was set up in memory of Captain Darrell Feuerhahn, a 26 year veteran of the Redlands Fire Department who perished along with his wife Debbie on October 10, 2008 on their motorcycle as they traveled to their vacation home in Lake Havasu. Captain Feuerhahn, who was also an instructor at the Crafton Hills College Fire Academy, had just retired a month before his tragic death. The Feuerhahn Fire Academy Scholarship has been set up in his memory to help students of the Crafton Hills College Fire Academy who need financial assistance.

The Eagle Run itself has been held for the last three years, and was started in 2007 after Ray "Eagle" Ramirez, the Vice President of the Black Sheep Harley Davidsons for Christ, was killed on his motorcycle. Each year since then, the group has held a ride to benefit someone from the Black Sheep family who has been killed in a motorcycle accident.

Darrell Feuerhahn Fire Academy Scholarship Fund

This year the group chose the Feuerhahn family to be the beneficiaries of the charity ride. Darrell Feuerhahn, Jr., an Engineer and Paramedic with the San Bernardino County Fire Department, decided that he would like the money to go to a scholarship fund in his father's name instead of taking the money for his family. Explaining his family's decision, Feuerhahn says, "We decided to do something for the public, donate the money to Crafton Hills College to start a scholarship for the Fire Academy. He taught there for many years and it's local to the community here. I know several instructors there that have told me there's several students that have gone through that struggled monetarily."

What is Included With Eagle Run Registration

The 75 mile poker run will begin and end at Fleming Park in Colton, California, and riders will stop at three fire stations along the way which are important to the Feuerhahn family, according to Denver Cooley, the Pastor of the Rushing Winds Church and Bikers for Christ. The fee for riders is $20.00 and the charge for their passengers is $10.00. According to Linda Ramirez, the widow of Ray "Eagle" Ramirez, in addition to the poker run, participants will get a lunch and a ride pin featuring the Eagle Run and firefighter insignias. They will also be given a poker card, and the highest hand will win $500, while the lowest hand will win $100. After the run, there will be a festival at Fleming Park, complete with two bands, vendor booths, raffles, and family entertainment. The Redlands Fire Department will also have apparatus on display and their Explorers will be making snow cones and popcorn.

Amy Paulson, Ray Ramirez's daughter and a member of the Black Sheep Harley Davidsons for Christ, says that the group is looking for additional business sponsors to help with the success of the ride, as the rider entrance fee is relatively low. She encourages motorcycle riders from across the country, whether they are part of the fire service community or not, to participate in this charitable event. She says, "We want people to have fun that day, but they're going to find that spending just a little bit of money on their ticket to go on the ride and play their poker hand and everything else is actually going to be valuable when they find out what it is benefitting."

How to Register, Sponsor or Donate

To register for the Eagle Run, become a corporate sponsor, or make a donation to the Feuerhahn Scholarship Fund, visit www.rushingwind-ie.org.