By Liz Page
STAMFORD – The weather was "iffy" and there were fewer motorcycles, but the hearts were open for the annual John's Tavern Memorial Motorcycle Run for St. Jude's on Aug. 3, as they raised more than $11,000.
The annual benefit sponsored by John's Tavern in Stamford was started to help a friend, Vicki Allegretto, in her battle against cancer. It has continued in order to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital. Santos Punturiero, owner of John's Tavern, believes Allegretto would be very proud of the fact the event in her memory raises so much money for such a good cause.
He said the amount raised exceeded last year, when he presented a check for $10,000.
"There is a long list of people to thank who made it so successful," said Punturiero.
Tom Riordan organized the run and "he did a great job". Mary Jane, one of the bartenders at John’s, began the fundraising by selling cutout pumpkins, stars, shamrocks, hearts and other things to patrons to raise $1,400. She along with Terry Ann and Colleen Olsen solicited donations for the auction. Doris at the Prattsville Hotel sold a lot of raffle tickets for a barbecue grill and the crossbow.
The run started at John's Tavern, then went to Charlotteville, where the Peppercorn served breakfast and one woman handed them a $1,000 check. From there the ride went on to the Blackthorn in East Durham, Prattsville Hotel and back to Johns, with 50/50 raffles and poker runs all along the way.
Lorraine Cairns and Debbie Morton set up the items for auction and Luis Ortiz served as the auctioneer with help from bartender Samantha Clark.
Blake Turan provided wood crafts and wood coins to help raise money.
Chicken was donated by Chris Ciazza at Sunrise Heating, with rolls and salads provided by TPs Cafe´. Spiky Mike cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, while Chris Keyser barbecued the chicken and Jake More loaned his cooker and helped get the crossbow for the raffle.
Bartender Theresa Stewart helped throughout the run and members of the Stamford Fire Department directed traffic to get the bikes off safely.
The point is, a lot of people pitched in once again to help make the run a success. "I want to thank all the people who donated and the John's Tavern customers for opening up their hearts and their wallets for St. Jude's," he said.
Punturiero will be mailing a check for $10,000 in addition to the $1,000 check donated to St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
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