PGR_NTX Patriot Guard Snowball Express Run Down

[Mission Information For North Texas PGR]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

More and specific information has been received about Snowball Express and
the PGR participation and, as promised, we are going to keep you updated the
very best we can so that you can make plans to participate in this great
series of events.  EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU IS VERY MUCH NEEDED.  As you
look over this information please keep something in mind.  These events are
for the kids.  Each of these kids has lost a military parent since 9-11.
You may very well have stood tall and silent at one or more of the services
as that parent was laid to rest.  This event, for some, is the only
Christmas they are going to have.  We do this for the kids, and for their
surviving parent.  Nothing else matters in the planning and execution of
these events.

 

What you will find below is a summary of what is going on during each of the
days that Snowball Express is in town and how the PGR fits in.  This is a
summary or overview and is not intended to answer all of your questions or
to be all inclusive.  The answers to some of your questions aren't yet
known.  We're working on them.  Mike, Dewey, me, and the Ride Captains are
going to be working very hard to make this as fun and worry free as
possible, but this is serious business.  Security measures will be high.
Very high.  We will comply in all circumstances with any security measure
requested of us.  Your Ride Captains will have complete authority wherever
they are and DO have the authority to dismiss any PGR person, or person from
another group (or individual) who is participating with us, from any venue
at any time.  If a Ride Captain tells somebody to hit the trail, they hit
the trail.  Mike has approved this and compliance is mandatory.

 

Just in case there are any questions, let's put them to rest.  Mike and
Dewey are in complete charge of every aspect of these events.  My role in
this is the liaison between Snowball Express and PGR.  The reason I am
sending you these messages is that in that position, it is simpler for me to
send the information to you rather than for me to send it to them and then
have them send it to you.  Our North Texas leadership have been active
participants every step of the way for months in this process and continue
to be.

 

Now.there is plenty for everyone to do and all hands are going to be needed
to give these kids and their family members the best possible experience.
Here's what is on tap as of right now:

 

December 9 - Massive amounts of kids and family members are coming in on
charter flights, a few on commercial flights, and another bunch are driving.
We are primarily concerned with the charter flights.  We are committed to
escorting 2-4 busses from DFW airport to the hotels in Dallas, roughly every
hour.  There will be a Ride Captain for every escort.  The first flight
comes in at 11:00AM and they run roughly every hour after that, with the
last flight landing at 6:32PM.  We will stage with the busses, inside the
airport.  As Snowball Express needs busses at the terminal, they will call
up the number they need.  That particular escort of bikes will go with them.
LEO is supposed to be with each group of busses and take them all the way to
the hotel(s).  When we arrive at the first hotel we will go back to the
airport and stage again for the next group.  With enough riders available,
we can just rotate until we are finished for the day.

 

December 10 - Three to four busses will begin loading at 8:15AM at each of 9
hotels in Dallas and be leaving shortly thereafter for Southfork Ranch.  We
have LEO support.  A Ride Captain will be in charge of each of these rides.
The Snowball Express participants will have a large number of things to do
there and there is a possibility of things for PGR to do there also.  Or, we
are free to stand down for a while.  Snowball Express wants to start leaving
Southfork at 3:45PM.  We will, of course, stage earlier than that.
Destination - Mesquite Championship Rodeo.  We have LEO support for all of
these movements.  On arrival, all are going to enjoy BBQ supper and a full
rodeo.  PGR is invited, including the food.  At 8:30PM they want to leave
and head back to the hotels.  We may or may not be making that run with
them.  

 

December 11 - City Hall and Convention Center Day.  We will leave the hotels
just like we did the day before, only we're going to Dallas City Hall.  The
mayor will speak, I understand Gen. Peter Pace will speak and a few others.
PGR will provide a flag line here, as big a one as we can manage.  When the
speeches are over, the whole group, probably about 2000 people will walk
over to the convention center.  We will have the flag line for them to walk
through, and then the flag line will become the rear of the walk, falling in
at the back.  Activities will be provided for the kids/families all day long
at the convention center.  We may or may not be able to go in and see some
of it.  Security concerns will dictate.  We are essentially done at that
time.  This day could end for us as early as 11AM if we don't go inside the
Convention Center.

 

December 12 - Big day.  We will leave the hotels just like the 2 previous
day with the bus loading starting at 10:30AM.  We will stage earlier, of
course.  Destination - Cowboys Stadium.  Once we get them there we can stand
down for a few hours.  Then the FUN starts.  At the end of their day at
Cowboys Stadium (about 4:00PM) they will all sit down for a meal on the
field, served family style.  They will also be treated to a concert by Gary
Sinese and the Lt. Dan band.  You remember Gary Sinese played Lt. Dan in
Forrest Gump and has been in a number of movies, etc.  He is a huge
supporter of our military and a huge supporter of Snowball Express, having
been with them every year.  Problem - Gary has no opening act.  Solution -
"The Patriot Guard is Always There".  We have been asked to provide 300 to
500 motorcycles.  Picture this:  The kids/family members sit down to eat -
there is a rumbling outside of the stadium.  All of a sudden, riding onto
the playing field come 300 to 500 Patriot Guard motorcycles, flags flying.
That's right - riding - right on the field.  We will circle the field, park
the bikes and stay for the concert (about 90 minutes).  When the concert is
over, we mount up, fire up the bikes, and ride out again in procession.  The
kids are then taken to the busses and escorted back to the hotels.  The
events of Snowball Express are then over for this year.  The first thing
they see is us taking them to the hotels.  The last thing they see is us
leaving the stadium and taking them to the hotels.  One requirement - we all
MUST use kickstand pads.  Not coke cans or a substitute - actual kickstand
pads.  No exceptions.  Jerry's house, Jerry's rules.  Is this cool or what?
There will be 300 people going to a Mav's game from the stadium.  I don't
know if we'll be escorting them yet or not.

 

Call your friends, folks.  We need 300 to 500 riders for this one.  Imagine
the looks on the kids' faces.  Imagine the looks on OUR faces!

 

December 13 - Back to the airport day.  Just like the first day only
backwards.  The first busses start loading at the hotels at 5AM for 8:00AM
flights.  It appears as though the last flight leaves at 3:30PM, so that
escort will probably leave the hotel(s) at about 12:30PM.  We still have LEO
help and the Cowboys are in town that day (so traffic may be a bit
"different").  We have received a request for volunteers to assist the
families at the airport.  This will consist of helping the families with
their luggage and generally helping them get where they need to go.  The
flights are charters and American Airlines is reserving entire gates for
them, but you can imagine that they will still need help.  We will comply
with this request, of course.

 

We have also been given the go ahead to have greeters at the hotels as the
busses arrive on the 9th when we are bringing them from the airport.  Cagers
and others not participating in the escorts themselves can be at the hotels
and welcome these good folks to Dallas, smile, shake hands and help out in
any way they might need.

 

There will be a Ride Captain or other person clearly designated as being in
charge at every location.

 

Missions during the Snowball Express time period - Semper Gumby.  Mike and
Dewey will be making decisions on those.  KIA and active duty deaths will
never, ever be turned down.  Never.  We may be seeking assistance from E. TX
and Centex for all of this as necessary but we'll be making provisions for
those situations.

 

You can see that it is obvious we will need to know that we have all
physical areas and time periods covered.  Unlike a normal mission, we can't
just wait and see who shows up and wing it from there.  That won't work.
For each day there will be one or more very brief survey questionnaires we
will use as sign-up sheets for the various events.  They will come out in
mission e-mails and links to them will be on our North Texas web site.
Pages with information on Snowball Express are already being developed on
the web site.  Using these surveys is how you will sign up for the missions
and how we will know that we have everything covered.   If we're heavy in
one place and light in another, we can adjust to cover.  One good thing
about these is that you CAN go back in and alter your answers.  For example,
if you thought you were going to be available between 8:00AM and Noon on one
day and then later find out that you are actually available from 1:00PM to
6:00PM, you can go in and change what you put in earlier.  At some point,
though, probably 24-36 hours before the event itself we will lock the
responses and you'll be responsible for being where you said you'll be.
We'll be expecting your smiling face on site and ready to go.  We have run a
test on this system and it works pretty well.  Average time to fill these
things out was about 5 minutes.10 minutes if you type slowly.

 

This message is not intended to be all inclusive of each and every detail of
what's going on.  Universally, I have been told by the organizers that these
kids LOVE the motorcycles.  Median age range that they're planning these
events for is 8-13 years, male and female.  I believe the youngest are 5 and
the oldest are 17 or 18.  For many of them, this IS their Christmas.  All of
it.  Each of these kids has lost a military parent since 9/11 and for some,
without Snowball Express there would be no Christmas at all.  Christmas
decorations on your bikes or on your persons are appropriate.  I am told
from other PGR folks around the country - who will be at the various
airports helping the families and seeing them off on their way here - that
the kids aren't particularly shy about asking for the Santa hats that many
of the riders are wearing.  They give them to the kids, of course.  If
you're wearing a Santa hat, or have a pocket full of candy canes, or
something like that - I think you'll likely be pretty popular.  

 

There are more details.  There is more about security and credentialing and
background checks and loads of other stuff.  There always is.  And some of
what is above will likely change.  Yes, we know how we're going to get in
and out of the airport and the terminals without paying the toll, etc.  This
e-mail is long enough already

 

One of our riders, maybe you, may make the difference in Christmas for one
of these kids.  Your smile, your motorcycle, something - may make the
difference.  The sacrifice that each of these kids, and their particular mom
or dad, has made is more than almost all of us will ever know.  And look how
young they are to have made it.  And they will live without that parent for
the rest of their lives.  Some of them will live without that parent for 90
years or more.  Can you spare a day or two?  Can you spare a smile or two?
This is for the kids.  Some of these parents and kids you've seen before.
You've taken them to funeral homes, churches and cemeteries.  Your PGR
brothers and sisters have done the same thing all over the country.  How
about we take them someplace once again?  Someplace happy this time.  Let's
put some smiles on their faces and love them and let them know that The
Patriot Guard is Always There.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Steve Lucas

Chief Ride Captain

North Texas PGR

 

 

 
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