MADISON COUNTY — Classic cars, muscle machines along with other vehicles and motorcycles of all makes and models are welcome and expected to be on display this weekend as Riley & Sons Collision and Mechanical Specialist tries to raise funds to send 20 Veterans to Washington, D.C., this year.
Riley & Sons, with two locations in Pendleton, is partnering with the Honor Flight Network of Greater Lafayette to host their first ever Honor Flight Car Show fundraiser.
The event is set from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 16 at the Riley & Sons’ Anderson location, 2394 E. County Road 400 South; it is designed to raise funds for the Honor Flight organization, which sends veterans to Washington, D.C., where they are celebrated for their service.
Riley & Sons also is partnering with Gold Star Mothers to play host to the car show. Along with the show, which is still open for registration, there will be many other things for people to do.
The U.S. Army, Air Force and Marines, the Anderson Fire Department, Madison County Visitors Bureau, Bird’s Smokehouse BBQ, Culver’s Ice Cream and Daddios Italian Cafe food trailer will all be on hand. There will also be a children’s play zone and a silent auction. WEEM 97.1 will provide music.
Riley & Sons spokeswoman Lisa Pittman said Honor Flight is a fantastic program, one Riley & Sons is happy to help support.
She said she hopes the car show and silent auction can take place every year as a way to raise funds to help honor veterans.
The proceeds from the car show will go to the cause, Pittman said.
The hope is to raise at least $12,000, which will pay to send about 20 veterans on an Honor Flight.
The national Honor Flight Network has been able to provide about 150,000 veterans with a trip to see national monuments, meet government and military officials, and be recognized for their sacrifices; however it lacks funding to reach all veterans.
More than 20,000 veterans nationwide are on a Honor Flight Network waiting list, and some have been waiting for years, according to an Honor Flight press release. Hundreds of veterans have died while waiting for their opportunity.
Riley & Sons officials decided they wanted to do their part to help the Honor Flight Network and teamed up with Gold Star Mothers Pam Mow and Dana Vann, who started the Greater Lafayette Honor Flight in 2012.
Both are proud military moms who launched a Honor Flight Lafayette chapter as a way to heal after their sons died in active duty; Mow’s son Cody Putman was killed in Iraq while serving in the Army. Vann’s son John Morton Jr. died in Italy while serving in the Air Force.
Lafayette’s Honor Flight will end with the organization’s 22nd flight later this fall, and both moms plan to be on the flight to show their support to the veterans.
“Cody and Johnny were both 22 (when they died), and we thought it was a perfect way to end our project for them,” Vann said in the press release.
They need about $110,000 for the final trips in September and October, and Riley & Sons is hoping to raise as much of that as they can.
When the Lafayette Honor Flight program ends, Riley & Sons officials plan to partner with the Indianapolis chapter of the Honor Flight program to continue supporting the cause, Pittman said.
Any local veterans still waiting to go after the final Lafayette Honor Flights can contact the programs in Indianapolis or Fort Wayne.
For more information on supporting the cause or to register a vehicle for the car show ($10 fee), email [email protected] or call 765-649-4902.
