The Ride for Missing Children

Bear with me, please...this does have something to do with gardening and the magazine, sort of.

Here I am last Friday at the Ride for Missing Children, with my Betty girls Anne and Michele. I am the short one in the middle. (And I'm not even short! They're tall!) This is a wonderful ride because it raises money for a great cause and we get to visit lots of elementary schools where the kids just go wild cheering.

In the next picture I'm riding with my buddy Brent Bivona who owns Sunrise Aquatics. His parents Kathy and Lou actually founded the Center for Missing and Exploited Children that's here in Rochester, and he recruited me for my first ride, in '06. He's verrrry persistent. Nice grin, Brent.

In the seven and a half hours Brent and I had to chat while covering 100 miles on Friday, we came up with what we think is another good way to raise money for the kids. Every year Sunrise Aquatics sponsors a pond tour in August to benefit the Center. This year, we thought perhaps the Upstate Gardeners' Journal would get involved too, and make it into a fun evening motor coach tour with dinner, wine tastings, etc. We're still in planning mode. Stay tuned for further developments.