(RD Note:  This is unbelieveable.  The Missouri DOT has so much time and money on it's hands from the wonderful job on Missouri roads that it feels obligated to chime in on issues of the life and liberties of Missouri's citizens.  Kudos to the Governor for making a tough call on an issue that surely is a tough one for him.  Read on...)

MoDOT helmet law poll leads to veto of funding

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Gov. Jay Nixon has vetoed money for the Missouri Department of Transportation in retaliation for a publicly financed lobbying effort against a bill relaxing Missouri's motorcycle helmet mandate.

The department recently spent about $33,000 on a public-opinion poll showing that a majority of respondents favor an existing state law requiring all motorcycle riders to wear helmets.

Department director Pete Rahn cited the poll during a news conference outside a hospital emergency room last month while urging Nixon to veto a bill allowing people age 21 and older to ride helmet-free on all Missouri roads except interstate highways.

On Thursday, Nixon vetoed $33,000 from the transportation department's administrative budget for expenses and equipment during fiscal year that starts next Wednesday. The Democratic governor said in a written veto message that the cut was "due to administrative inefficiencies."

Nixon spokesman Jack Cardetti confirmed Friday that the veto was in response to the poll on the motorcycle helmet law, which was funded from Missouri's share of federal highway safety money.

"The governor thought that political polling was a waste of taxpayers' dollars and therefor he took it out of their administrative budget for next year," Cardetti said.

Transportation department spokeswoman Sally Oxenhandler said Friday that agency officials "have no response at this point" to Nixon's veto.

Nixon has until mid-July to decide whether to sign or veto the motorcycle helmet legislation.

The governor's office has been inundated with e-mails from motorcyclists urging him to sign the legislation. Those e-mails, obtained by The Associated Press under the open-records law, include several in which the authors describe assurances by Nixon that he will sign it.

In an interview with the AP last month, Nixon denounced the poll, declaring: "Taxpayers are darn sick and tired of people spending public money to lobby public officials like that."

Rahn has defended the poll as part of the department's mission to promote highway safety, asserting that more motorcyclists would be killed and injured if Missouri's helmet law is relaxed.

After the line-item veto, the department still is budgeted to receive more than $27 million from state road funds for administrative expenses, equipment and personnel.

WarChild Riding Group holds rally
to raise money for St. Jude

Larry "Hammer" Glueck is president of the WarChild Riding Group which is sponsoring the Rebel Yell Rally near Chaffee, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

On Al Friga's farm down Scott County Road 248, the fifth annual Rebel Yell Rally began Friday and will be held through Sunday. The WarChild Riding Group, a 130-member motorcycle organization based in Chaffee, hosts a party every year to raise donations for children's cancer research and local veterans.

During the weekend rally, attendees camp, enjoy live music, shop from vendors and participate in bike events. Last year, with about 400 people in attendance, the WarChild group raised $6,100 to give to St. Jude. The money for donations comes from a $20 entrance fee to the rally, vendors who give portions of their proceeds and the sale of coloring books created and inspired by the group and a local artist and veteran, Aaron Horrell.

Larry "Hammer" Glueck, WarChild president, was one of six original members who decided to start the group and designate St. Jude as a charitable cause.

Glueck said the idea for annual rallies began with his friend and fellow group member, David "P-nut" Grimes, who wanted the WarChild group to be dedicated to a cause helping children and veterans. In 2005, a rally was held on the land donated by Friga, whose son Paul and daughter-in-law Patty are also members.

A few motorcycle enthusiasts gather early at the Rebel Yell Rally site Friday near Chaffee, Mo. The event, which continues today, is sponsored by the WarChild Riding Group. (Fred Lynch)

Group's moneymaker

The number of people attending the rally and amount of money raised have grown every year.

"There are more members in the riding group now than there were people who came to the first rally," said Glueck.

Glueck said he expects between 700 and 800 people to come out for the weekend.

Larry "Hammer" Glueck is president of the WarChild Riding Group which is sponsoring the Rebel Yell Rally near Chaffee. (Fred Lynch)

This year the group's goal is to raise $10,000 for St. Jude. A ride to Memphis to donate the money and tour the hospital is planned for July 31 and Aug. 1.

"Hopefully in my pocket I will have a $10,000 check," Glueck said.

Glueck said live entertainment, bike events and a raffle are planned during Rebel Yell weekend.

Two local acts are playing on a large stage set up near the entrance of the rally. Slight Return, a Southern rock band from Sikeston, Mo., and Caney Creek, a country group from Oran, will be performing at dark today. An Elvis impersonator will take the stage at 8 p.m.

Food and drink vendors are on hand along with sellers of leather goods, patches and T-shirts.

One vendor, Kirby "K-Bar" Alexander, drove from Kentucky and said this visit was his first time out to the rally. Alexander sells patches for jackets and does sewing. He said he supports all veterans and children's causes.

"I don't care if I make one penny," said Alexander, a Vietnam combat veteran.

"The thing about kids is, if we don't take care of them, who is going to take care of us when we get old?" he said.

Glueck said donations by local businesses J.W. Strock and Bluff City Beer Co. have been a help, since the rally is a lot for him to put on.

Public camping

Glueck said the public is welcome, and camping space is first come, first served. He said he expected a steady stream of people by 5 p.m. Friday, and hoped more would come out today and camp. No reservation for camping is required.

"At past rallies, you get all those people out here, and there's not any trouble," Glueck said. He said everyone comes for a relaxing weekend, the concerts at night and constant music during the day.

"The thing about the WarChild Riding Group is that we aren't a motorcycle club. We are a group that all we want to do is ride and raise money," he said.

To attend or camp at the rally, from Chaffee, take Highway 77 south to Scott County Road 248 and follow signs.

WarChild, photographer team up to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Horrell, a Chaffee, Mo., artist and nature photographer, has worked together with WarChild, the Chaffee motorcycle group, to create and sell a 64-page coloring book to raise funds for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Horrell worked on the book at his own expense, and WarChild is passing all profits on to St. Jude's.

Horrell, a self-declared "nature fanatic who is willing to lay on the ground to catch pictures of frogs and flowers," has filled the book with compilations of images from life, such as family scenes, various wildlife, farm life and people associated with WarChild. The first image children will encounter is Santa Claus aboard a motorcycle on the cover.

Horrell said he donated his time and artwork to the book because of the children benefited by St. Jude.

"I can't think of anything better to give my time to," he said. "There's nothing sadder than seeing a 7-, 8- or 9-year-old with cancer."

The coloring book is having a successful distribution. An initial 500 copies were printed April 24, and, at $5 a book, the copies all sold by the following Sunday evening. Another 500 copies were ordered the following week and were all sold by the end of that week as well. The books have continued to print and sell, and WarChild is currently up to its 2,000th copy ordered.

"I was even contacted by a riding group from Tennessee," said Larry "Hammer" Glueck, president of WarChild Riding Group, about the growing interest in the book and its cause. "We've just sent them $150 worth of books to be sold."

The WarChild Riding Group, whose name represents the military veteran motorcycle riders and the children they seek to benefit, began in 2005 with six members and has grown to 130 members. The project to benefit St. Jude's was inspired by WarChild member David "P-Nut" Grimes, who died in a motor vehicle accident in September 2006 and had wanted to support the hospital in some way.

WarChild holds poker runs and an annual motorcycle rally to raise money for the hospital. The fifth annual WarChild Rebel Yell motorcycle rally will be Friday, Saturday and June 7 on the Paul Friga Farm off Highway 77 between Chaffee and Oran, Mo.

"This is actually our big moneymaker," Glueck said. "Our goal this year is to raise $10,000."

The group will ride to St. Jude on July 31, tour the hospital Aug. 1 and present a check for $10,000, raised through the coloring book and other fundraising rallies.

When Glueck presented the idea of the coloring book to the riding group, it was initially met with chuckles. After three months of collecting photographs and rendering illustrations, Horrell presented the final images to Glueck in March.

The work was approved unanimously at WarChild's next meeting.

"They've apologized now. 'This thing is working great!' they say," Glueck said of the skeptics. "Everybody thinks the world of St. Jude's."

The coloring book project has become personal. The final page has a picture of the memorial to Grimes, with a poem written by another member.

Horrell related his own eagerness to benefit others.

"I spent time with the Seabees in Vietnam. I've seen needy people in bad situations and had my own time dealing with the pain of back surgery," Horrell said. "I know what it is to suffer, but I also know what it is to eat cake."

The coloring books are available at Sandy's Toddle Inn, Whitaker's Hardware and Hunt Brother's Pizza in Chaffee and at Show Me's, Pop's Pizza and the Gordonville Bar and Grill in Cape Girardeau.