Honeywell 4x4 Club 6^th Annual Easter Seals Run

By Cliff Daniel

Once again the Honeywell (Allied Signal) 4WD club has completed another successful event with the local Phoenix area Easter Seals Society. This year was our 6^th annual trail ride taking out a group of children and their families involved with Easter Seals. This group is comprised of children afflicted with cerebral palsy.  The severity of the disease varies with each child. Some are wheelchair bound while others are mildly affected. Last year we told you about our trip down a section of the Great Western Trail and a visit to the Confederate Air Museum. We also introduced you to Sam Russell last year. He’s the club member who dreamed up this annual event. When it came time for planning this year’s trip, Sam asked for some help from a club member to plan the itinerary and pre run the trail. Sam has been retired for some years and needed to take it little easier this year. So, I was volunteered by a unanimous vote of the club. Thanks guys! Seriously I was happy to pitch in and give Sam a break. In my opinion, this is one the best things we do every year. And I wanted to do anything necessary to see that it continues. It was tough to come up with a plan worthy of the standard that Sam has set in the past. But read on for an account of the days activities

Saturday, January 12^th our club members gathered at the downtown Phoenix Easter Seals office around sunrise. It looked like we had another perfect Arizona day on tap weather wise. We were worried that we might not have enough seats to go around. This trip is getting popular with the Easter Seals group and word had it that a lot of guests may show up. I had put the call out to some other clubs for help and got some volunteers. Fortunately we ended up with more than enough seats for everyone. The older boys in the crowd really love to ride in the “cool” or “tough” looking rigs with lifts and big tires. This year they were in for a treat. Our club president brought out his “buggy”. It’s a custom-built tube framed rock crawling creation. One boy insisted on riding with him even if the wind chill on the highway might be approaching the freezing mark. Assigning guests to vehicles always gets a little confusing, but we soon had it sorted out and were on our way.

Our first destination was the Needle Rock Recreation Area on the Verde River just north of Phoenix. Once there we aired down the tires and proceeded in on a short dirt road to the trailhead. This trail is another section of the Great Western Trail known as Camp Creek Wash.  The wash is perfectly suited for this type of event. We try to keep the four wheeling pretty tame for our guests and Camp Creek is mostly 2WD with some opportunity to play on the rocks. As usual I was driving over every bump and rock I could find, giving my passengers what they came for. I always know I’m on the right track when I here comments like “wow”, “cool” or “again!” We came to an optional little rock garden to play in, and of course I jumped right in. After successfully negotiating the rocks I realized that the truck behind me probably shouldn’t try it. The truck was piloted by the Easter Seals Group leader and carrying their lunch. He didn’t have a CB radio so I couldn’t warn him. I ran back and waved him off in time to keep him out of a potential predicament. Most of the rest of the vehicles came through the obstacle, some had a bit of trouble and ended up giving a little show in off road maneuvers. Once through the “spectator” area, we continued on for about another hour. The wash crosses a paved road eventually and the plan was to have lunch there and head out on the pavement. The lunch spot also had some small hills to climb and give the kids some more thrills before we were done.

   
(Photo's also shown on Bragboard.com)

Just before we stopped for lunch a club member had a breakdown in the back of the pack, out of my radio range. Apparently they had a main leaf spring break on the rear of their pickup. Fortunately with a little help and ingenuity they had it rigged together quickly and they caught up for lunch.  After we were all happily fed it was time for the second phase of the days activity. We all caravanned back into town and made a stop at the Hall Of Flame Fire Fighting Museum. This museum is maintained by retired fire fighters. They have displays of fire fighting equipment from many different eras. They have an old fire engine for the kids to play on complete with fireman dress up outfits. There is also a memorial to local fire fighters killed in the line of duty. With a special area dedicated to those killed in New York on September 11^th 2001. The museum also contains many examples of fire fighter helmets from all over the world. There’s a fire safety playhouse for the kids, and currently under construction is a new gallery to be dedicated entirely to forest and wild fire fighting. There was even a fire Jeep in one of the galleries! 

Soon we filtered out of the museum one by one and made our way made to the start point. As usual the kids were sad it was over but the parents were ready to go home. We said our goodbyes and promised to see them again next year. I’m certain we will do it again, but what will we be doing next time? Time will tell.

Cliff Daniel (“Twister”)