The final day of the Dream Ride Experience kicked into high gear Sunday morning.
The event has raised millions of dollars for Special Olympics over the years and raked in $1,550,000 this year.
Special Olympics athletes were revved up for final day of the Dream Ride Experience.
Around 1,500 motorcycle enthusiasts cruised the Connecticut countryside, raising money for athletes in 22 states and two foreign countries. One mother described the weekend like Christmas.
“When it’s August it’s Dream Ride,” Carol Millet said. “Meeting of old friends, making new friends. It’s just a wonderful, wonderful event,” she added.
The Dream Ride Experience not only pays for the athletes and their unified partners to participate in the weekend, but at the end of the day, each chapter receives part of the proceeds to put towards their programming.
“We’re gonna see a check. The big check,” said Jamaine Johnson.
Local
“Last year, we had 72 tournaments just for high school kids in the state and we had the four major games in all the qualifiers that lead into that, about 16,000 athletes and unified teammates,” explained Beau Doherty, Special Olympics CT president.
Over the weekend, the athletes got the royal treatment, pulling up to a red carpet in a half-billion-dollars-worth of exotic and classic cars.
“It was fun,” Johnson said.
The public was invited to check-out the fleet of Ferraris at the Farmington Polo Club, the custom-made Paganis, and the Rolls Royce, and Bentleys.
Mike Bozzuto started the Dream Ride experience 17 years ago. He’s driven in more than $6 million in donations during that time.
“Just seeing the smiles on their faces, the connection that’s being made between all the people who are here. It’s a bond that will last a lifetime,” Bozzuto said.
These cars and bikes might be the draw, but the real stars are the Special Olympians.
“The treatment that an athlete gets when they show up here is incredible,” Doherty said.
