Sunday, August 28, 2011

2011 Hope Next Exit Raffle Winners

Well it has been 2 weeks since I drew the numbers for the raffle so I figure it is about time I see who all of the winners are. I am aware who won the notebook and that is in process of being mailed. A list of all the winners are as follows:

$50 Starbucks Card: Greg Durbin
$50 Starbucks Card: Sara Schroer
DVD-CD Set (Date Night + Glee Club): Jennifer Whitter
Avatar 3 Disc Set: Ron Harvey
Deacon Jones Autographed Football: Marjorie Wilno
Punk Rock Racing Gear: Patty Lou Harris
HP Photosmart Printer: Bethany Chaney
Lexmark S815 Printer: Cooley Crew
Beats Headphones: Mark Kristof
HP Mediasmart Server: Brian Ring
Gateway Notebook: Fern Oliner

Thank you to all. Congratulations to the winners. I will be back with more prizes to help Crea Wilno in her fundraising efforts. I already have another notebook and a very cool HP Envy printer.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Hope Next Exit Raffle Drawing To Be Held August 13th

FINALLY!!!!!!! Drawing for the Hope Next Exit Raffle will be held this Saturday, August 13th at approximately 3pm. I have to apologize for the extreme delay in getting to this. I want to beg your forgiveness and assure you the delay is not from sitting around watching television. Between an extreme work schedule, coaching for Team in Training, spending a little time with my family (I would have said 'spending time' but I know my wife, Crea, would have corrected me) and my training for Ironman Wisconsin, I generally do not stop for the day until 1am or so. As I write this post it is only 8pm and that is only because I am pushing off a 2 hour bike trainer ride until 4am. Anyway, I almost titled this post, 'I am an @sshole' and it would be appropriate but I will say sorry and move forward. Please do not hold this delay against me for there will be another raffle soon and this time it will be to support my amazing wife. I have taken all of the training time for the last few years. I have taken Sundays to coach. I have worked a ton of hours. Through all of this, Crea, has been an amazing support system. I could not have made much impact on the world had it not been for her support so after Ironman Wisconsin, I am going to let Crea have the spotlight as she plans to train for Lavaman Triathlon 2012 with Team in Training. I have done this race for the past 3 years and......thanks to all of you.......have been a top 3 fundraiser each time. This year I will trade places......I will watch the kids while Crea trains and ultimately gets out there to race. It will be a big day as she shows cancer what she is made of.

As a reminder, the prizes up for grabs are as follows:

HP MediaSmart Server EX495
Gateway Laptop - 15.6" Blu Ray, 4GB 500GB
Monster Beats by Dr. Dre headphones
Lexmark S815 Genesis All In One printer
HP Photosmart e-All-in-One printer
Punk Rock Racing Gear
Deacon Jones Autographed Football
Avatar 3 Disc DVD Set
DVD-CD Set: Date Night + Glee Rocky Horror Picture Show
2 x $50 Starbucks Gift Card (I added one as a penalty to myself for the delay)

I went through all of the donations and have compiled the list below of people that purchased raffle tickets. PLEASE REVIEW THIS LIST AND IF I HAVE NOT PROVIDED YOU ENOUGH TICKETS OR IF YOUR NAME IS ABSENT WHEN YOU BELIEVE YOU PURCHASED TICKETS........PLEASE COMMENT TO THIS POST SO I CAN REVIEW AND MAKE CORRECTIONS (if your name is here and you did not participate in the raffle.......you are welcome!!!!). Beside each name is a raffle ticket number. This coming Saturday, August 13th........which is my birthday if you really must know...........I will be at our Summer 2011 Team in Training reunion party. I will bring all of the raffle tickets there and your fate will be decided by folks with no interest in winning. I will communicate on Twitter/Facebook as the raffle begins. I will go one prize at a time by first announcing which one is being drawn for. I will then have someone pull a ticket which I will communicate via Facebook and Twitter again. To be safe I will include the actual prize one more time.

Please note I will NOT have the list of donations with me during the raffle. In my mind this is one added level of security since I will not really know who has an interest in certain #'s. Here is the list. Thank you so much for your support that helped me raise over $27,000 for Lavaman 2011 on my way to Ironman Wisconsin.

Name Ticket #
Abhay Kulkarni 230
Abhay Kulkarni 231
Abhay Kulkarni 232
Abhay Kulkarni 233
Abhay Kulkarni 234
Abhay Kulkarni 235
Adam Del Vecchio 236
Adam Del Vecchio 237
Adam Del Vecchio 238
Adam Del Vecchio 239
Adam Del Vecchio 240
Adam Del Vecchio 241
Barbara Fuller 242
Barbara Fuller 243
Barbara Fuller 244
Bethany Chaney 245
Bethany Chaney 246
Bethany Chaney 247
Bethany Chaney 248
Bethany Chaney 249
Bethany Chaney 250
Brett Davis 251
Brett Davis 252
Brett Davis 253
Brian Ring 254
Brian Ring 255
Brian Ring 256
Brian Ring 257
Brian Ring 258
Brian Ring 259
Bryan Sloan 260
Calvin Lin 261
Calvin Lin 262
Calvin Lin 263
Caryn fishler 264
Christopher Hancock 265
Christopher Hancock 266
Christopher Rake 267
Christopher Rake 268
Christopher Rake 269
Christopher Rake 270
Christopher Rake 271
Christopher Rake 272
Christy Noel 273
Colin and the Cooley Crew 274
Colin and the Cooley Crew 275
Colin and the Cooley Crew 276
Colin and the Cooley Crew 277
Colin and the Cooley Crew 278
Colin and the Cooley Crew 279
Darlene Andronaco 280
Darlene Andronaco 281
Darlene Andronaco 282
Dashiell Nash 283
Dashiell Nash 284
Dashiell Nash 285
David Pittman 286
Dena Grablowsky 287
Dena Grablowsky 288
Dena Grablowsky 289
Don Chomiak 290
Don Chomiak 291
Don Chomiak 292
Douglas Sawyer 293
Douglas Sawyer 294
Douglas Sawyer 295
Douglas Sawyer 296
Douglas Sawyer 297
Douglas Sawyer 298
Edward Schober 299
Eileen Wolpe 300
Eileen Wolpe 301
Eileen Wolpe 302
Eileen Wolpe 303
Eileen Wolpe 304
Eileen Wolpe 305
Elizabeth Ryan 306
Eric Orvieto 307
Eric Orvieto 308
Eric Orvieto 309
Eric Orvieto 310
Eric Orvieto 311
Eric Orvieto 312
Fern Oliner 313
Fern Oliner 314
Fern Oliner 315
Fern Oliner 316
Greg Durbin 317
Greg Durbin 318
Greg Durbin 319
Inessa Vitko 320
Inessa Vitko 321
Inessa Vitko 322
Jared Morell 323
Jason Bass 324
Jason Zacher 325
Jason Zacher 326
Jason Zacher 327
Jason Zacher 328
Jason Zacher 329
Javier River 330
Javier River 331
Javier River 332
Jenna Chastain 333
Jennifer Conklin 334
Jennifer Whitter 335
Jennifer Whitter 336
Jennifer Whitter 337
Jennifer Zenuch 338
JoAnn Beluch 339
JoAnn Beluch 340
JoAnn Beluch 341
Joe Sebok 342
Joe Sebok 343
Joe Sebok 344
Joe Sebok 345
Joe Sebok 346
Joe Sebok 347
Josh Spector 348
Josh Spector 349
Josh Spector 350
Josh Spector 351
Josh Spector 352
Josh Spector 353
Judy Williamson 354
Judy Williamson 355
Judy Williamson 356
Kaleigh Vanalstine 357
Karene Katz 358
Karene Katz 359
Karene Katz 360
Kathryn Murray 361
Kristea Cancel 362
Kristea Cancel 363
Kristea Cancel 364
Kristy Brown 365
Laura Maloney 366
Laura Maloney 367
Laura Maloney 368
Laura Maloney 369
Laura Maloney 370
Laura Maloney 371
Lee and Kathy Quiring 372
Lee and Kathy Quiring 373
Lee and Kathy Quiring 374
Linda Vermeulen 375
Linda Vermeulen 376
Lisa Dracolakis 377
Lisa Dracolakis 378
Lisa Dracolakis 379
Lore Hernandez 380
Lori Jomsky 381
Lori Jomsky 382
Lori Jomsky 383
Lori Jomsky 384
Lori Jomsky 385
Lori Jomsky 386
Marjorie Wilno 387
Marjorie Wilno 388
Marjorie Wilno 389
Marjorie Wilno 390
Marjorie Wilno 391
Marjorie Wilno 392
Marjorie Wilno 393
Marjorie Wilno 394
Marjorie Wilno 395
Marjorie Wilno 396
Marjorie Wilno 397
Marjorie Wilno 398
Marjorie Wilno 399
Marjorie Wilno 400
Marjorie Wilno 401
Mark Kristof 402
Mark Kristof 403
Mark Kristof 404
Mark Kristof 405
Mark Kristof 406
Mark Kristof 407
Mark Kristof 408
Matthew Barnette 409
Matthew Barnette 410
Matthew Barnette 411
Maura McCartan 412
Maura McCartan 413
Megan Oconnor 414
Meghan Mcconnell 415
Melissa Anderson 416
Melissa Anderson 417
Melissa Anderson 418
Melissa Galyon 419
Melissa Galyon 420
Michael Kuhn 421
Michael Miller 422
Michael Miller 423
Michael Miller 424
Michael Miller 425
Michael Miller 426
Michael Miller 427
Michael Miller 428
Michael Miller 429
Michael Miller 430
Michael Sally 431
Michel Holtz 432
Miriam Sandy 433
Miriam Sandy 434
Miriam Sandy 435
Miriam Sandy 436
Miriam Sandy 437
Miriam Sandy 438
Nadim Bacchus 439
Nick Gardner 440
Nick Gardner 441
Nick Gardner 442
Nick Gardner 443
Nick Gardner 444
Nick Gardner 445
Patricia Lou Harris 446
Patricia Lou Harris 447
Patricia Lou Harris 448
Patricia Lou Harris 449
Patricia Lou Harris 450
Patricia Lou Harris 451
Patricia Lou Harris 452
Patricia Lou Harris 453
Patricia Lou Harris 454
Patricia Lou Harris 455
Patricia Lou Harris 456
Patricia Lou Harris 457
Patricia Lou Harris 458
Patricia Lou Harris 459
Patricia Lou Harris 460
Patricia Lou Harris 461
Patricia Lou Harris 462
Patricia Lou Harris 463
Patricia Lou Harris 464
Patricia Lou Harris 465
Patricia Lou Harris 466
Patricia Lou Harris 467
Patricia Lou Harris 468
Patricia Lou Harris 469
Patricia Lou Harris 470
Patricia Lou Harris 471
Patricia Lou Harris 472
Patricia Lou Harris 473
Patricia Lou Harris 474
Patricia Lou Harris 475
Penny Sprague 476
Penny Sprague 477
Penny Sprague 478
Peter Cilella 479
Peter Cilella 480
Peter Cilella 481
Peter Cilella 482
Peter Cilella 483
Peter Cilella 484
Peter Conlon 485
Peter Conlon 486
Peter Conlon 487
Peter Conlon 488
Peter Conlon 489
Peter Conlon 490
Peter Conlon 491
Rommel Calderon 492
Rommel Calderon 493
Rommel Calderon 494
Ron Harvey 495
Ron Harvey 496
Ron Harvey 497
Ron Harvey 498
Ron Harvey 499
Ron Harvey 500
Ron Kaloper 501
Ron Kaloper 502
Ron Kaloper 503
Rosalinda Batson 504
Rosalinda Batson 505
Rosalinda Batson 506
Rosalinda Batson 507
Rosalinda Batson 508
Rosalinda Batson 509
Sara Schroer 510
Sara Schroer 511
Sara Schroer 512
Sara Schroer 513
Sara Schroer 514
Sara Schroer 515
Sarah Hughes 516
Scott Clausen 517
Therese Soltis 518
Therese Soltis 519
Therese Soltis 520
Therese Soltis 521
Therese Soltis 522
Therese Soltis 523
Trisha Hegeman 524
Trisha Hegeman 525
Trisha Hegeman 526
Zsolt Kiraly 527

Monday, August 1, 2011

Thank You: Isabella Day 2011

August 1st is drawing to a close and, while this will be brief, I certainly need more than the 140 characters Twitter affords me to say Thank You. I am not sure how many characters Facebook allows but I'm sure I am not capable of living within the limits so I come here....a place I need to visit more often...my blog. I want to make sure everyone knows how grateful Crea and I are of all the support you showed us today. It would be hard to thank everyone individually but please know we read every single tweet and every single Facebook post and every email. While we personally know many of the folks reaching out to us with support, we honestly have only virtually met most of you and I find that incredible. Today's world allows a voice to people like myself to find amazing people such as yourselves. The fact that you took the time to read my story means a lot. The fact that you took the time to help us remember Isabella is priceless.

Before I close, I wanted to say a few quick things.


"There's always going to be bad stuff out there. But here's the amazing thing -light trumps darkness every time." Jodi Picoult


Mine is but one story of millions that are out there. My story involves my father and Isabella and my wife fighting cancer twice. There are other stories all around us. Tomorrow, Isabella's Day is over but somebody else will be mourning the loss of a loved one. Someone will learn they or a loved one has cancer. Somewhere, someone will get bad news. Somewhere, someone's life will be turned upside down. This is exactly why I share my story........in the hopes that my words find someone that needs to hear them. There are blessings on the other side of trying times. They will find you.


"May we all give a little piece of ourselves away every day so that when we pass.......who we are continues to impact the world"


On occasion I am asked to share my story for groups of people. When I do, I always like to close with a message tied to Isabella's impact and what it means to you.......what it means to us. Isabella, as I have shared, is a big part of who I am today. Because of her impact on me, I have gone on to play a very active role with Team in Training. Because of her impact on me, I have shared my story to many. Because of these two things...........I have hopefully impacted other lives along the way and hopefully those affected lives have paid it forward as well. My question to all of us is this..........if one little girl that never uttered one word on this planet or took one single step can have such an impact on the world...........what can you and I together accomplish. We all have the ability to make a difference. We all have the ability to change the world. We just need to put ourselves out there and make it happen.



I wanted to close with one last thought and that is tied back to the hardships and the blessings that come from those hardships. I certainly miss Isabella terribly. She was my first little girl and sometimes her missing voice is deafening. That being said, I would not go back and undo anything and that ties to my belief that everything happens for a reason. I have often said I believe my wife might not be here if it were not for Isabella. Doctors found the cancer inside Crea that they would have no reason to be looking for if it were not for my little angel. Beyond that there are countless blessings and people that have come into my life that I otherwise would never have known. Truthfully, I would not have crossed paths with most of you reading this post if it had not been for Isabella. Lastly, and I do not say this too often but this picture is of my earthly angel Thalia. She is #3 for Crea and I. Number 3 never comes if Isabella doesn't volunteer for Heaven and I could not imagine a life without this precious little girl. Blessings come from the most trying of times.


Again, thank you all so very much!!!