They Ride For the Tots
By Doug la Rocque
With more than 1000 people registered, and sitting on top of more than 600 motorcycles, the Annual Toys for Tots Ride roared off from the parking lots at Brunswick Harley Davidson, escorted by a contingent from the New York State Police and the Patriot Guard this past Sunday, October 20. They left on their 26-mile trek through the Capital District that ends in Niskayuna, after the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department stopped traffic on NYS Route 7 in Brunswick for the 20 minutes or more it took to get the cycles out onto the roadway.
In fact, there were so many riders this year they had to use the Center Brunswick Fire Department as an overflow lot. The volunteers there did their part to salute the participants, who all brought either an unwrapped new toy or made a cash donation, by blowing their truck’s sirens as the riders went past.
Toys for Tots is a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve which distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas.
It was begun in Los Angeles back in 1947, and to date, has distributed more than 512 million toys.