The small town of Lucan in SW Minnesota, once again showed their patriotism by sponsoring a Welcome Home on August 17 for the area soldiers, and the Patriot Guard was invited to attend. Just as in Springfield/Wanda and Comfrey last year, PGRiders turned out by the dozens, even though only a small number of soldiers were involved.

Willmar RC Ron Mackedanz did a staging in both Willmar and Redwood Falls, and Beth and I had a Marshall staging, with both groups (22 and 18 riders) arriving about 11:30 am at the Tom Moore farm just east of Lucan, where another dozen or so PGR members joined us. We had members from the Willmar, Marshall, Worthington, and Mankato sectors, as well as several from Metro sectors, and at least one rider from SD.

Three of the seven soldiers were able to attend. They were Tim Gawarecki and cousins Lisa and Andrea Ourada . Tim and Andrea were both in Iraq, and Lisa recently returned home from Afghanistan.

We were privileged to have riding with us some of the parents of the soldiers: Terry Ourada, Jim and Mona Ourada, Roy and Lori Gawarecki, and Gary and Kathy Meyers, and they were asked to lead the procession into Lucan, which they proudly did, followed by Sonney and Cher Bohlman flying their three flags, which included the Red Bull flag, and then the Lucan fire truck carrying the soldiers. The rest of the PGRiders on bikes, trikes and cages followed, and the whole procession was met with cheers and waving flags on Lucan's Main Street.

A flag line was quickly established around the American Flag that stands in downtown Lucan, and a brief ceremony was held, after which all were invited to the Terry and Laurie Ourada farm for a hog roast and reception for their daughter, Capt. Andrea Ourada. But first, a surprise event was held for us, as we were the guests of the Brau Brothers Brewery in Lucan for a tour and samples of their award winning beverages.

After our tour and repeated sampling, we again flew the flags for the 1 1/2 mile ride out to the Ourada farm, stood down from our event, and then enjoyed immensely the Ourada's hospitality for the balance of the afternoon.

Here is a picture link of the event, containing pictures from several sources.

(@) Pictures from mission

Respectfully,

--
Alan Peterson
Marshall Sector Ride Captain
Minnesota Patriot Guard