Wheels, Wings, and Wishes

(Left to Right: Chuck Hull, Mike Hleuben, Dawn Hleuben, Sara Majtic,
Amy Egan, and founder Bryan Benson of
Wheels Wings And Wishes https://www.facebook.com/Wheels-Wings-Wishes-1495548790746174/?fref=ts)

     It's been a while since I've been able to write or put my thoughts down here in my little blog.  I've had a pretty busy summer thus far, and summer is not over just quite yet.  There is plenty to catch up on as far as running goes, but I wanted to take the time to write about something else.  You see, I don't always run.  Well, actually, I kind of do, but there are other things about me that I wouldn't mind telling you all about, and sharing with you.  In fact I'd like to share something with you right now.  Have you heard of something called "Wheels, Wings, and Wishes?"   You haven't?   Good, because you're about to, so sit back, grab a drink or a snack, and continue to read.

     What exactly is "Wheels, Wings, and Wishes?"   It's the brain child of one of my closest friends, Bryan Benson.  Bryan and I go way back.  We didn't know each other in high school, however, as it happens sometimes in life, we became really good friends after.  At one point, we became roommates in Aliquippa's famous "ABC House."  (That's a different story all together.)  They always say friends may come and go, but families are forever, however this friendship it just like that: family.

    Last summer, Bryan had posted on his Facebook page that he finally tried Big Shot Bob's wings in Coraopolis.  He decided that hands down, they had the best wings in Pittsburgh.  This was a pretty bold statement to make as someone who grew up, and still resides, in Moon Township.  Why?  Wings Suds and Spuds has always been a Moon Twp. staple and favorite amount it's natives.  Those that leave and come back always have to stop there before they head back to where ever they now call home.

     It was at that point that another life long friend (family) had chimed in with his thoughts.  Mike Hlueben had never tried Big Shot Bobs, but he felt that it wouldn't matter if he did.  He already had tried the best wings in Pittsburgh, of so he thought.  Me?  I certainly was not going to sit back and watch them argue.  Clearly I had my favorite wings, too at (I enjoy those of Carson City Saloon.)  You can see where this little argument was headed.  Mike being a collector of show cars remembered that Bryan had recently bought and old Corvette.  Mike said, "hey, why don't we all get together at my place, bring some wings, and you can bring your car over, and we'll hang out with our rides and see who has the best wings."  Even though my Nissan Versa could not compete with a classic Corvette or the General Lee, I was still going to hang out and eat wings.  However, a light bulb went off above Bryan's head.

Credit Melissa Hallowich

Credit Melissa Hallowich

Credit Melisa Hallowich

Credit Melissa Hallowich

     Bryan had an idea, and little did we know, he had contacted a local chapter of The Make A Wish Foundation.  He pitched to them about possibly having a a small car cruise, and during that cruise, he would try and raise money for the foundation.  He then pitched the idea to us.   We did not hesitate to get on board.  Bryan had set up the event on Facebook and called it "Wheels, Wings and Brews,"  It was a private event and would be held at Settler's Cabin Park.  We had a  pretty good turn out.  Most of us made wings, while others brought some from around the area.  Roughly 170 people attended (family and friends) and we were able to raise $3300.00.   The Make A Wish Foundation sent a couple kids our way that afternoon, and overall it was wonderful experience.  There was no way we could not do that again.  Back in January, we had gotten together to begin the initial planning for this year's event.  We also agreed to change the name of our event.  "Wheels, Wings, and Wishes" was born.

     What we found out last year was that it takes $3900.00 to grant a wish for a wish kid.  We came up a few hundred dollars short, but were still happy to find out that we were considered a wish contributor.  Our goal was now to make sure that we were able to raise enough to grant a wish.  We were not expecting what would happen next.

     This year's event was held on Sunday, July 31st at the Hangar in Moon Township.  So much time and planning went into "Wheels, Wings, and Wishes."   Vendors were contacted for donations.  Local businesses were contacted for donations.  The Penguins were contacted for donations.  You get the idea.  It may have taken months to prepare, but all the hard work done by Bryan, Mike, Sara Majetic, Amy Egan, Dawn Hlueben (Mike's wife,) Mike Jackson, Bernie Augier, and even myself was about to pay off, big time.  It was finally time for the show, the wings, and the kids.

     I can't begin to tell you what I saw that day.  Last year as I previously stated, we had around 170 people attend.  This year, we had approximately 400!  Last year, we had maybe two dozen cars.  This year?  We had at least 100!  The sun was shining all day, and even thought it was hot, that didn't matter.  There was a DJ outside playing classic rock and oldies.  Inside, my band Tuned Up entertained the crowd with all of their favorite rock hits from the 70s, 80s, and today.  We had face painting for the kids;  we had a caricature artist for the kids (and the big kids.)  With over 51 Chinese auction items (as well as a custom pool cue that was able to generate an enormous amount of funds thanks to Sara), this day was ready to go.  And, so were we.

   We had three Make A Wish kids join us that day: Nicholas Moser, Enrico Mucci, and Cory Efremenko.  Nick and Enrico were our special guests last year and returned for more fun this year (Enrio brought his show truck, which was his wish.)  Cory was a new wish kid whom we had the privilege of meeting.  Seeing the smiles on their faces all day, as well as the smiles on their family's faces, is the reason why we were doing what we were doing.  This is what "Wheels, Wings, and Wishes" was all about.  (Nick's mother Melissa, offered to be our official photographer for the day.)

Nicholas Moser (credit Melissa Hallowich)

Cory Efremenko (credit Melissa Hallowich)

Enrico Mucci and his parents (credit Melissa Hallowich)

    Most of the car owners will bring their ride to a car cruise to simply show it off, but for these kids, they did more than that: they took the kids for a spin.  That is one of the coolest things we get to do for these kids, as well as the car owners.   The other cool thing we do is that we have all the kids vote on their favorite cars, and award a custom made trophy to the owner.  This is not the sort of trophy you can find just anywhere.  These trophies were built and constructed out of old car parts.  They were the masterpieces of "Wheels, Wings, and Wishes" own Bernie Augier.  You may not have a show car, but I can assure you you'd want to get one just to win these one of a kind trophies (I know I do.)

For the best cars as chosen by the children (credit
Melissa Hallowich)

Cory getting ready to go for a ride (credit Melissa Hallowich)

Credit Melissa Hallowich

 
     So, how did it go this year?  As you can see from the pictures and what I had already written above, this year's even was a huge success.  Our goal was to raise enough money to grant a wish.  We did just that.  What we didn't expect was to be able to grant two wishes.   We also didn't expect to be able to grant almost three wishes!  But, that is just what we did.  The "Wheels, Wings, and Wishes crew (and all those that helped) surpassed last year's event by raising a total of  $9,131!  I can't even begin to tell you how excited we all were.   This was just so surreal.  I mean, the first year we thought we would raise just a couple hundred dollars and we stomped on that.  This year we knew we could raise what we need to grant a wish, but this?  This was simply amazing!  It speaks volumes about what we were set out to do.  We are going to be able to help make two special kids' wishes come true, and be able to help with a third one.   We could not have done it alone, either.  We had a lot of help:


     - The Twisted Metal Car Club
     - Cookie's Closet (order your t-shirts here:  https://www.facebook.com/c; ookiescloset22/?fref=ts)
     - The Hanger of Moon. Twp and The entire Bross family, as well as the bartenders and cooks (eat wings here: https://www.facebook.com/TheHangarMoon/)
     - Tuned Up (Rock your face off here: https://www.facebook.com/tuneduppgh/?fref=ts)
     - Melissa Hallowich Photography (get your picture taken here: https://www.facebook.com/melissahallowichphotography/?fref=ts)
     - All Of YOU
     - (There were other vendors I'd like to recognize, but do not know them at this time. I can add them when I do get their information.)

Credit Melissa Hallowich

Credit Melissa Hallowich

Credit Melissa Hallwich

Tuned Up, Credit Melissa Hallowich

    I also wanted to give special thanks to Don Koffler, Debbie Stucke Szczypinski, Jacki Stucke Porter, Brenda Hall, and Rhoda Oktela.  We could not have had the success we had without you all stepping in to give us a helping hand when we needed it the most.  Thank you all so much.

     "Wheels, Wings, and Wishes" clearly grew, not only in name, but also in size.  Bryan had an idea and we all rolled with it.  We did something amazing.   What we didn't know was that Bryan's idea did something else.  It created a brand.  We don't know what the future holds for that brand, but I can assure you all we'll continue with it for as long as we can.  We've already begun the planning for next year.  So, make sure you leave your calendar's open next summer, and your keys in your car.  Oh, and bring your appetite as well.   Until next time....

Vroom Vroom....let's make some wishes some true.

Sinceriously yours,

Chuck Hull
The Running Jedi

Credit Melissa Hallowich

Credit Melissa Hallowich

Creidt Melissa Hallowich

Credit Melissa Hallowich