|
By Ben McCarty
News staff writer
June 13, 2009
A
few times a year, typically at the start of summer when things
have “calmed down” in the sports schedule, I get a chance to
think about how great some of the people are around here and how
much it takes to make all the sports in the Gorge tick.
This
week is one of those times. On Thursday I had the opportunity to
meet a rather impressive gentleman, Peter Maddoz, an Australian
traveling from the southern tip of South America to Alaska.
While he
is here he is staying with John and Brenda Wolf, whom he
happened to meet in Guatemala while drinking a cup of coffee.
There is a long story behind all of that, but to learn more
about you will have to read next Wednesday’s paper.
How’s
that for a teaser?
Anyway,
earlier this week, Peter arrived at their house, and they opened
their door to a guy who has become accustomed to sleeping
alongside the road in Central America. Without Peter being
there, he and John would not have gotten to compare notes on
their bikes, which are the same model, and John and Brenda would
not have had the chance to hear all about his story.
Last
year I wrote about the Cogswell family, and their experiences
after inviting a cycling team from Rwanda into their home two
summers ago.
Leslie
Cogswell actually wound up going to Rwanda and volunteering
later that year. This year many other households opened up their
homes to cycling teams and you could hear them cheering their
teams on from the sidewalks during last Sunday’s downtown
criterium.
Kids who
had never even met these riders days before now had new heroes.
It’s amazing what can happen when people give of their time.
Events like Kiteboarding 4 Cancer, which will go for third
consecutive year later this summer, happen and raise thousands
of dollars for cancer research.
Events
like the Mount Hood Cycling Classic would not exist without
volunteers; neither would Little League or other youth sports.
The high school sports and youth sports also would not happen
without coaches willing to give of their time.
Youth
coaches do it for free; high school coaches are paid, but not
very much. It is not the sort of thing you can get rich doing.
It involves plenty of “Honey, can you please just leave dinner
in the fridge and don’t worry about waiting up; I’ll be sure to
be quiet when I get in really late” days.
Like all
volunteers, they don’t do it for pay; they do it because it is
their passion and they love what they do.
So
thanks go out to all of you who make Hood River a fantastic
place to be.
|
