Founder Of Patriot Ride Recounts Origins Of Vets Fundraiser

(Beaver Dam) The founder of the Patriot Tour recounted the origins of the nationwide fundraising effort for veterans when he was our guest Tuesday on WBEV’s Community Comment. The Nation of Patriots coordinates the 110-day, 14,000-mile tour that sees multiple motorcycle riders carry one American flag, city-to-city, through all 48 contiguous states. Bill Sherer founded the non-profit a decade ago after hearing stories of hardship from friends who are veterans.

“These are men and women who did more for this country than I had ever done and that did not sit well with me,” he says, “it provoked me into looking into doing something and the only thing I was thinking was ‘lets start a non-profit and raise some money’.”

Sherer came up with a plan to raise $1-million dollars by hoping on his motorcycle and setting out for all 48 states by himself. He only made it to the states east of the Mississippi River, raising $2100.  The group contacted the local VA and split the money among three families right before Christmas.

“We could see the major impact this was going to cause, and it impacted us on such a great level that we walked out of this meeting with a fury of intent to recreate the Patriot Tour in a manner that worked,” he says.

It was that second year that Sherer purchased a $75, specially-reinforced flag and enlisted flag-bearers across the country for the ride.

“In 2010, we replaced my ugly mug with an American flag and we put that on the back of a motorcycle and sent it to Illinois on the same route that I failed to make, and it worked,” he says.

Once the flag became the focus of the Patriot Tour, the fundraiser took on a life of its own, collecting around $900-thousand dollars to date.

Beaver Dam was named the official home of the Patriot Tour last year. The ride had ended in Beaver Dam in the past, but prior to last year a small contingent had always left the city for the official send-off site in Madison.

The ride will launch from downtown Beaver Dam on Saturday, May 18 at 11am and return to Beaver Dam on Saturday, September 7 at Swan Park.

 

You can watch our interview with Sherer here:

 

Listen to the interview here: