Stories, News & Updates...

2011 Pancake and Sausage Breakfast

Sat, 9 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0500

Cornbelt AMBUCS held their 5th Annual Pancake and Sausage Breakfast on Saturday, April 9, 2011, at Second Presbyterian Church in downtown Bloomington.
From 8 am to 11 am we served pancakes, sausage, biscuits and gravy, orange juice, coffee and water. The price was $5 in advance, and $6 at the door.
The weather turned out sunny and warm, and the food was delicious. We had our table display set up to inform people of what AMBUCS is all about. In addition two new members were sworn in during breakfast.
Our thanks again to Larry Turilli for planning and organizing this fund raiser.

(See “Photos” for pictures of this event)

2010 Parenting and Disabilities Expo

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:24:25 -0500

The third annual Parenting and Disabilities Expo was held on Tuesday, October 5 at the Bloomington High School Student Center from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Access Allies of Bloomington-Normal (AABN) joined forces again with the McLean County Transition Planning Committee (TPC) to organize this event. The goal for the Annual Parenting and Disabilities Expo is to provide a one-stop information source for:
1. Students with Disabilities transitioning out of High School 2. Parents of children with disabilities 3. Parents who themselves have disabilities 4. Adults caring for their elderly parents who may have acquired   disabilities.
There were approximately 30 exhibitors again this year as well as a “Kids’ Area” with crafts and educational games for kids to enjoy.
We were a participating sponsor again this year and provided a $100 donation.
We had a table manned by Greg Beneze, Vicky and Denny Strauss. We had a good location and a lot of traffic by our table. We answered at lot of questions, handed out brochures, magnets, and business cards. We received “thank yous” from several people we had built ramps for in the past. We had inquires about helping to build ramps, giving donations, and speaking engagements.
(See “Photos” for pictures of this event)

2010 State Farm Volunteer Fair

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 09:54:56 -0500

The 2nd Annual State Farm Volunteer Fair was held Tuesday, September 21 at Corporate and Wednesday September 22 at Corporate South. Al Bedell and I manned the table on Tuesday, and Dan Bedell, Jerry and Lorna Wyrick, and I manned the table on Wednesday.
This gives us the opportunity to have people find out who we are and what we do. They can volunteer to work with us, or refer people to us for our services.
The visitor traffic was light both days, but still a worthwhile effort for us to attend.

Dan manning the table at Corporate South

2010 National Conference

Wed, 7 Jul 2010 10:22:15 -0500

The big event for July was the AMBUCS™ National Conference held in Naples, Florida, on July 7 -11. The weather was hot and humid but it was in Bloomington too. We had three Cornbelt members in attendance.

The week started off on Wednesday night with the Buccaneer’s Bash themed dinner/dance. This was a
time to renew friendships and meet new AMBUCS™. Our members came in costume.

Thursday afternoon was a three hour General Session. This included the roll call of chapters, Blue Chip Awards, speakers, and candidate speeches. In the evening was the Foundation Dinner for those eligible to attend.

Friday morning was the Big Hat Breakfast and Auction, which I was able to attend for the first time. Our chapter item was some barbeque tools we bought for $50, and they sold for $200. A lot of money was raised during the auction. The auction was followed by the AMBUCS™ Foundation Program. It featured inspirational guest speakers, therapists, awards, and the Central Region Caucus, run by our own Al Bedell, Central Region Director. Greg Ferris, National President-elect, and Rick Kerr, candidate for National President-elect made appearances.

Saturday was a full day of activities. At 7:00 am was the 5th Annual Trek for Trykes Walk-a-Thon to raise money for AmTrykes®. It was flowed by the 7th Annual AmTryke® Rodeo/Open House. During these two hours, 40 kids received their new AmTrykes®, sponsor by AMBUCS™ Chapters. We also sponsored
one – see the AmTryke® article.

After lunch was a 2 1/2 hour General Business session, with national voting, awards, and a special tribute to AMBUCS™ winning the $50,000 from the Pepsi Refresh 3 Program. In the evening was the President’s Dinner (Unleash the Beast, Cliff Bauerle, outgoing National President). Following the formal dinner was the installation of officers, and remarks by the new National President, Greg Ferris from the Decatur Chapter.

By some strange set of circumstances, Vicky and I were seated at a front table with the National Big Hat President, National Big Hat Treasurer, National Big Hat President-elect, and two former National Big Hat Presidents. A good time was had by all.

The 2011 National Conference will be July 20-23 in Memphis, Tennessee, within driving distance. Please consider attending next year’s national conference. The club does help with some expenses if you do attend.

(See “Photos” for pictures of this event)

2010 Cornbelt Installation Banquet

Tue, 8 Jun 2010 09:44:46 -0500

The Cornbelt Chapter of AMBUCS held their Installation/Awards Banquet on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at Eastland Suites in Bloomington. We had 34 people in attendance including members, spouses, guests, and scholarship winners. Our guests included:
• National President Elect – Greg Ferris and wife Jan
• District 4C Governor - Dr Jeff Dill
• Family Members of Don Huber (6) 
Following a delicious buffet dinner, awards and scholarships were presented, and officers were installed.
Year in Review
• National Conference was held in Reno, Nevada on July 15-18, 2009. We had four members in attendance and gave away AmTryke during the AmTryke Rodeo on Saturday.

• State Farm Volunteer Fair was held on September 17, 2009 at State Farm Corporate South. We had a table manned by four members for the 2 hours we were there. It was an opportunity for people to get know we exist and what we do for McLean County.

• AmTryke In-Service Event was held on September 28, 2009. This was our first time hosting this event. It provided training for six therapists on fitting AmTrykes for children. The National AmTryke Trailer was there and resulted in 10 AmTrykes given away. 
• Parenting and Disabilities Expo was held on October 20, 2009 at Bloomington High School. This was our third year as a participating sponsor of this event. It was organized by Access Allies of Bloomington/Normal. It brought together 34 different area groups/people that work with people with disabilities.

• Veteran’s Day was Wednesday, November 11, 2009. We built to ramps for veterans, and had a nice article in the Pantagraph.

• Fall Branding Social was held on November 12, 2009 at Monical’s Pizza. There was pizza and pop as we tried to recruit new members.

• Christmas Social was held Thursday, December 17, 2009 at Eastland Suites. It was a chance for member s to get together for a buffet dinner and white elephant gift exchange. A good time was had by all.

• New Flag/Pole was purchased as our old one was getting very tattered and dirty.

• New Awards Banner was created as the existing ones were filled. We now display the five awards we got from National and District during the 2008-2009 year.

• National Visibility Month was in February 2010. We received proclamations from the City of Bloomington, Town of Normal, State of Illinois, and Illinois General Assembly, proclaiming February AMBUCS Appreciation Month. We also had our chapter displayed on the electronic billboard on Empire.

• 4th Annual Pancake and Sausage Breakfast was held April 17, 2010 at 2nd Presbyterian Church in downtown Bloomington. This was our only fundraiser and we netted almost $1,200.

• Pepsi Refresh Project – This was a National AMBUCS effort to receive a $50,000 grant from Pepsi to give away 100 AmTrykes from the Wish List. Members nationwide voted every day in April to keep us in the top ten vote getters. E finished fourth.

• Wheelchair Ramps - We built 28 ramps costing almost $35,000 in material and labor. We did this even though we had two months without ramps being built because of snow.

• AmTrykes - We gave away 18 AmTrykes during the year. Most of these were new trykes, and several were older models that had been outgrown by the previous owners. The new AmTyrkes were worth almost $8,000, all paid for by the club through generous donations from members and others.

Awards / Scholarships / Officers

Therapist of the Year
Karen Klein was our Therapist of the Year. The award was presented by Al Bedell.

Project Manager of the Year
Bill McHie was our Project Manager of the Year. The award was presented by Denny Strauss.

AMBUC of the Year
Brian Burcham as our AMBUC of the Year. The award was presented by Denny Strauss.

Don Huber Memorial Spirit Award
Al Bedell was our Don Huber Memorial Spirit Award winner. The award was presented by Pete Hettinger. In addition to the traveling award, certificates were also given to the past and current recipients.

Scholarship Recipients
Jennifer Schultz ($2,000) and Lori Cunningham ($1,000) were our two scholarship recipients. The awards were presented by Heather DeLoriea.

New officers for the coming year were installed by Dr Jeff Dill, our District 4C Governor.   President – Denny Strauss (2nd term)
Vice President – Larry Turilli
Secretary – Dan Bedell
Treasurer – David DeHaan

Board Members  
- Alan Bedell
- Greg Beneze
- Pete Hettinger
- Bill McHie
- Jerry Wyrick 
Last year was a good year for Cornbelt AMBUCS. We set club records for AmTrykes (18) given and ramps built (28). With everyones help we can have a good year again this coming year. As our motto says “Shoulders Together”. Thanks for all you do.

(See “Photos” for pictures of this event)

Ramp Build September 3 in Normal, IL

Fri, 4 Sep 2009 08:15:32 -0500

On Thursday evening we had ten AMBUCS building a ramp in Normal, IL. We started about 5:15 and finished after dark. It consisted of a unique 4’ x 9’ platform and a 16’ ramp. The platform was complicated by the unique shape and water faucet that needed access below the platform (see photos).
It turned into a very attractive and functional ramp for the owner.
(See “Photos” for pictures of this Event)

Cornbelt AMBUCS September Lunch Meeting

Thu, 3 Sep 2009 08:39:08 -0500

Our Wednesday lunch meeting is held the first Wednesday of the month. We now meet at Monical’s Pizza in Bloomington. We will be having speakers again in the future. A great place for a meeting - good food and great AMBUCS.

(See PHOTOS for pictures of this event)

Ramp Build August 15 in Covell

Tue, 1 Sep 2009 09:02:15 -0500

On Saturday August 15, 2009, fifteen AMBUCS met for breakfast at the EAA hanger, and drove to Covell to build a wheelchair ramp. It consisted of one 5 x 8 platform, and forty foot of ramp, and was connected to an existing deck.
With this many workers, we were done in record time of two hours!

(See “Photos” for pictures of this Event)

AmTryke Given Away at National

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:05:15 -0500

Cornbelt AMBUCS donated one of the 40 AmTrykes given away at the National Conference in Reno, NV.
Rebecca was so sweet and did very well on her bike. She really liked the bright red helmet, even though the picture may indicate otherwise. Her family was very thankful and made a financial donation to National AMBUCS before they left that afternoon.

(See PHOTOS for pictures of this event)

June 26 AmTryke Given Away

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 09:57:43 -0500

Cornbelt AMBUCS presented an AM-12 AmTryke® to Andrew on June 24th at Easter Seals. Andrew and his family found out about our AmTryke® program through an event at United Cerebral Palsy hosted by Megan.
As you can tell Andrew was quite excited and was ready to go down the halls at Easter Seals. Andrew also could not wait to get home and detail his bike with a few star wars stickers. He is also looking forward to riding his bike with his brother and family. I have a strong feeling it will not be too many years and Andrew will be ready for a much bigger bike

(See PHOTOS for pictures of this event)