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Beta Mu Alumni Phi Kappa Tau
Dear Brothers,
Let me start by saying THANK YOU to all the brothers that have sent encouragement and contributions for my Multiple Sclerosis Society Pedal to the Point team. I simply cannot express my full gratitude to each of you.
For those brothers I may not yet know, I want to tell you a little bit about me and why I ride. I was initiated at the Beta Mu chapter in 1996. I was an "active" active brother; serving on the executive board, participating on most of the intramural teams, keeping my grades up and paying my dues. I enjoyed many friendships within the fraternity during college and do so to this day!
In January of 2003, just over two years out of graduate school and four months before my 30th birthday, I woke up feeling "hung-over" - bleary-eyed, foggy headed, nauseous and a little bit dizzy - the thing was, I hadn't had anything to drink the night before. This feeling went on for a couple more days and my wife scheduled a doctor's appointment for me. I reluctantly went, that doctor referred me to another and then another and the fourth doctor said, "Well, its one of two things, either a brain hemorrhage or a brain tumor". Neither sounded like something I wanted, so when my family practitioner called a couple days later with the test results, you can imagine my relief when she said, "I'm sorry to have to tell you that you have MS".
My immediate thought was, "well, let's get to work staying ahead of this damn thing". I took up running (I know it sounds very Forrest Gump-ish (running to overcome adversity and all) but I took to it and kept doing it, 8 marathons (with a Boston Marathon qualification time posted this year) and an ultra-marathon later, here I am. This year is my sixth Pedal to the Point and my seventh MS Bike Tour event (I rode the Coast the Coast in New Jersey a couple years ago). My team has been very successful over the past few years, and we hope this years fund raising will put our cumulative total over the $10,000 mark. This is the only fund raising event I participate in, because I do not want to be the "uh-oh-here-comes-Aaron-Hawkins-looking-for-money" guy.
For the 6th year I will captain Team Phoenix Rising for the MS Pedal to the Point, and this year we are fielding our strongest team ever. We have 34 registered team members ready to ride their bicycles over 150 miles in two days to raise money for this cause. This year my team includes 6 Beta Mu brothers. In addition to myself, I have recruited Beta Mu alums Kurtis Fraley, Gregg Bourdo, Tom Brewer, PJ Moore, and Bob Baldwin to ride with me.
The National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) MS150 - Pedal to the Point is one of the MS Societys landmark fund raising events. I do not want anyone, by any stretch, to feel obligated to donate. If you wish to donate, I would greatly appreciate your support.
You can donate online by visiting our team's MS web page:
Wish us luck and thank you.
In Phi,
Aaron
Aaron Hawkins 96
If you have questions or comments or wish to participate in the 2009 version of the Pedal to the Point on my team, please email me at ahawk515@.... If you would like more information about the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, how proceeds from the MS Bike Tour are used, or the other ways you can get involved in the fight against MS, please visit nationalmssociety.org.
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