Well here it is, my final Thankyou!! Please do not post after this, we can start another thread because I am sure you guys will want too!! I will bring this TTT for the next day or two!! I will probably ramble a bit and will definitely get emotional but here we go. I started this whole thing as the Southern NY Bunny Hunt. I had attended a bunny hunt in western NY, hosted by Meathook. I, as mentioned persuaded Curt(Guru)to come along. We had a blast and on the way home, I said that I could put on a hunt and we would see a lot more bunnies and maybe kill one or two, over the years we actually killed 62 bunnies!!! I approached my Mom and Dad about using their house for hosting this hunt. My Mom agreed as I knew Dad would want it, so it was up to her. I believe we had 17 or 19 folks that first year. I had told everyone to bring a prize or two for the fun shoot in the yard, well folks showed up with some mighty nice stuff. We decided it was too nice a stuff to give away, so we held what was to be our first raffle. It was my Moms idea to donate to the kids at St. Judes! I won't go into a lot of detail but we had a blast. I decided that the next year we would hold a 2 day hunt, again I asked Mom permission and she agreed. She bitched about the hunt the whole time leading up to it, but when the day arrived she loved it, she loved all the guys and Molinda(Mo, the first lady of the JLMBH!)She loved having everyone eat and some sleep overnight at the house, she than told me that I should make this an annual event. Well before I could even begin to plan the next one, my Mom passed! I spoke to my Dad and he agreed the hunt must go on, this is when I decided to dedicate the hunt in my Moms memory, so the Joan Leonard Memorial Bunny Hunt was now in full swing. Here I have to relate a story that will touch my heart forever and involves a man that I have grown to love and respect beyond belief!! This is a letter that accompanied what turned out to be a most unforgettable gift. "A Promise Kept" Shawn, Last year when I brought up the folding knife I made for the St. Judes raffle, your Mom said you liked it a lot and asked if I would make you one like it. She said she wanted to pay me for it. From the first time your Mom & I spoke, I was taken by her charm, generosity and gentleness. I promised her that I'd make you one for nothing, and she could give it to you herself at next years hunt. Well none of us knew what The Lord had planned for Mom between then and now: So, here's the knife, from your Mom, done by me for you as promised. In her place, please accept it from me with every good wish and feeling that was put into it for you from the both of us.->>>-------> Well that was not easy and I want to Thank the man who has made the biggest memory of all the hunt for me, Larry Raynes!! I love ya brother!!! I have a ton of other great memories but to list them all would take a week or more. What started out as a whim has turned into a gathering of great folks and of good times and good food. We have had special guests, Kathy(Killdeer) and Doug Campbell who traveled a long way to hunt with this bunch of hardcore bunny hunters. We have people from over 14 different states attend as well. We have had a catch and release bunny(Jeremy)and our hunt filmed by a great guy and filmmaker Bill Langer. I never expected this whole thing to become so big and as has been said, to touch so many peoples lives. Cindy and I sit and read all the posts and we cry almost everytime you guys praise us, we really appreciate it. It does make us feel good, yet we feel we don't deserve all of it, we kind of expect it of ourselves and to be honest we expect it of all of you!! We really could not do this without everyones help, from the food,the placing of watchers on pushes, everything is a group effort and we appreciate all you folks have done along the way!! Curt,David,Tom,Jamie,Damon and Mikey, you guys know what ya mean to me, I love ya all like brothers. Also I cannot forget Sonny, Ben, Elma and Ziggy, all great beagles who hunted with us!! Also, Scott for his huge donations this year!! I know there is a lot more people to Thank but I am struggling! This is killing me, I hated to end all of this for all of you but I really hate ending it for Cindy and I, you guys have become part of us and we will never forget all of you!! I know I have my moments of frustration and do my share of bitching but please remember I only did that to try and make the hunt better for everyone!! I see you guys have read my prior post, so here we go. Cindy and I and the girls have discussed this and have decided that there will be one more huge gathering at the Leonard house for a real send-off of the Joan Leonard Memorial Bunny Hunt, so on the 3rd. weekend in Feb. 2013(10th. anniversary of the 1st. hunt)we will give this thing the send-off it deserves!! If we have 10 or 200 people we want to say Thankyou to all who have attended and give everyone a chance to do something special for the kids of St. Judes!!! It will be held right here at the house as it was meant to be, it is already in the planning!!! Remember that date and mark it down as this one will truly make bunny hunting history!!! Now to say my final Thankyous!! I want to Thank all the sponsors and people who have sent us prizes for our raffle year after year, I cannot name them all but you know who you are!! Hothap(Glynn Billingsly) gets a special Thankyou, as he sent stuff to the first hunt and everyone since, no one else has accomplished that great feat, Thankyou my friend!! Next to all who have attended over the years, without you all this would not have been possible! Thankyou!! Now to my family, ecsp. Cindy and my girls, you guys have supported me in everything I have chosen to do. It takes a good women(Cindy) to put up with everything I have put you through. You work harder than anyone to make this hunt the success it has become, even harder than me, without you I would be lost!! I LOVE YA MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF!! To Nicole, Allison and Heather, you make me so proud!! You put all things aside to come and help make this thing happen and even your men over the years have chipped in along the way. I Thankyou and Love You more than anything!! Last but not least I want to Thank my Mom and Dad, Dad has always been here for me and now we are here for him!! I LOVE YA DAD!! Mom, what can I say, without her this thing would of never got off the ground!! She never could say no to me, I was the baby and she always wanted the best for me! This is to her from me: Mom, I miss you every day, I miss stopping by for lunch and coming in after hunting all day and you feeding me before I head home!! I know you are watching from somewhere and I hope that I have done you proud, my girls have turned out great and Cindy is a lot like you. I miss you so much it hurts but your spirit will live forever in all the peoples lives you touched, you have done us all proud and we all love you!! This one is for you ->>>----------> OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Shawn
Topic: Joan Leonard Memorial Bunny Hunt 2010(We Raised $6000) ( My Final THANKYOU!!!!) (Read 29917 times)
