I had the incredible pleasure of being involved, in a small way, with the Champagne Run last year. Infact I booked a 2 week vacation around New Years specifically to be there.
For those that don't know every year for over a decade (lucky 13 this year) Marco, the owner of Rocky's, has donated his time and now thousands of dollars to organize and supply the gifts for the children and champagne for the adults although onations gratefully accepte.d
This tradition started well before Rocky's and was originally run from a huge vegetable delivery truck. Today it's a major undertaking involving in excess of 125 bottles of champagne and about 550 presents for the local kids. Not to mention all the fine people that get involved in the convoy to deliver the gifts before the party at the bar.
I wish I had pictures of all the presents piled under the Christmas tree and the dozens of bottles on the bar and the shelf over it. I'll be taking tons of pics this year! That's right, I got the FEVER!
You can read about the preparation for my adventure here
http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45821
http://www.dr1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45791
and I'll be posting a little trip report later.
BUT this is not about me!
Last year, New Years Eve about 9:00...in a thunderstorm, the convoy was loaded with coolers full of ice and champagne and hundreds of presents, wrapped colour coded for boys, girls and infants. Marco in the front car leading us deep in to the campo on a muddy road to a little settlement in what seemed the middle of nowhere. The people that live here are wonderful, gentle folk that happen to be very poor in material things...but certainly not in spirit!
We arrived, horns honking, and got the glasses assembles and filled about the time the crowd started to gather. Realize that it's raining heavily, had been for days, and the mud was ankle deep.
No one cared! There must have been about 150 people that seemed to come out of nowhere.
We spent about an hour there handing out drinks and gifts. All the while Marco is toasting them, the Dominican Republic and the fine people that live there and make it the best home in the world.The smiles on their faces made it worth any price to be there and make this happen!
We returned to the bar, loaded up the vehicles again and set off in the rain to Los Charamicos.
Totally different scene here but rewarding just the same. Back to the Bar and the New Years Party began!
Earlier in the evening there was a steak dinner and the partying went on with and without us until we returned. Hell of a great party too but i digress.
This event grabbed me by the heart like little else in my life. Enough so that I'm returning this year, with some personal difficuly, to participate again. I urge you all to seriously consider joining us. This is NOT a money maker for anyone and is done totally in the spirit of giving back to the community.