On August 18th, 2006, we held a Fundraising Benefit at
Fox Glen Golf Club
to help Ray fight his battle against colon cancer. The Lasalle Police
Department surprised Ray & Terri by showing up in a vintage police car to
take them to the Benefit. Ray was handcuffed until he was safely delivered to
Fox Glen Golf Club
and released! We will have more pictures to post soon!
Once word started
to spread about the Benefit, we quickly outgrew the seating capacity of the Fox
Glen Clubhouse. In order to accommodate the 480 guests who attended the
Benefit, it was held in a 60x160 ft event tent in Fox Glen Golf Club's parking
lot. A big thank you goes out to Ainsley Hearns, who generously paid for the
tent, and to Great Events & Tents for giving us a break on the price
of the tent.
 Fight
of a Lifetime became Night of a Lifetime, filled with memories we
will cherish forever! A big thank you to Ron Lassaline for an excellent job of
being MC for the evening.
Before we ate dinner, Ray & Terri's
twelve-year-old granddaughter, Caitlynd, said grace. She practiced for two
weeks and was excited to get up on stage and say grace before dinner was
served. The poor baby got as far as, "Father, we are here tonight, because of a
very special man - My Papa...." when her voice broke. Ray and Terri rushed up
to the stage to comfort and encourage her. With Grammy & Papa by her side,
she was able to finish saying grace. The place was completely silent except for
the sound of Caitlynd's voice. By the time she finished, there wasn't dry eye
in the house.
The dinner tickets promised a pasta dinner, but thanks to
the generosity of many local businesses, guests were treated to pasta and much
more. Ted
Farron provided fresh chicken.
Italia
Bakery provided freshly baked Italian buns.
Metro Enterprises supplied delicious potato salad.
Silverstein's Produce provided fresh lettuce for the salad. Carl's Produce
provided fresh tomatoes for the salad, plus scrumptious fresh vegetables -
green & yellow beans. Frosty's Ice Cream Palace in Lasalle provided
homemade ice cream for everyone!
After dinner, three
terrific speakers got up and spoke to the crowd. Kevin Corriveau, the
General Manager of Fox
Glen Golf Club and Ray's long-time friend, gave an emotional speech about
Ray's determination and will to live. Ted Farron, president of
Ted Farron's
Gourmet Butcher Shop, who has known Ray since he was a little boy, gave a
powerful speech on the importance of attitude. He then presented Ray with a
framed copy of a piece written about the importance of attitude. The gift was
special to Ray because Ted had given Ray a photocopy of the same piece of
writing when Ray was first diagnosed with cancer and Ray taped it to his
workbench where he would see it and read it every day. Leon Paroian
Q.C., Paroian Law, who
has been a friend of the Buckley family for more than 30 years, regaled us with
a humorous look back at some of the mischievous dealings Ray's father got
involved with when he was younger.
When the speakers were
finished, the President of Teamsters Local 880, Frank Biekx, along with
Vice-president president Rick Parent and Secretary-treasurer Gary Kitchen,
presented Ray with an envelope of checks that Local 880 and other Teamsters
Locals contributed to Ray's Benefit Fund.
 Next, we had a
special treat in store for Ray. Singer Diane Mathis from Detroit took
the stage and sang Amazing Grace and I Will Always Love You for
him. She has an incredibly beautiful voice and received a rousing applause and
standing ovation from the crowd. We want to thank Mark and Jesse of A Team
Entertainment for providing us with their state-of-the-art sound
system.
Terri & Jaime Lynn had the next surprise for Ray. They
danced a lively clog routine to the Rodney Atkins song If You're Going
Through Hell. The crowd was hootin' and hollerin' and clapping along. On
the last note of the song they finished with a stomp and punch in the air. The
crowd roared their approval!
Ray had a surprise in store for Terri. He
requested a dance with his wife to the Commodores song Three Times a
Lady. We've all heard that song many times over the years, but the words
never hit home like they did when the song played that night. Terri buried her
face in Ray's chest after the line, "And now that we've come to the end our
rainbow..." and cried, they both cried. We all cried along with them. Caitlynd
joined them on the dance floor and they wrapped their arms around her. Terri
motioned for Christopher and his girlfriend Laura, and Jaime Lynn and her
husband Scott to also join them. Their four-year-old grandson Joshua joined in
too. By the end of the song they were all wrapped around each other, having one
big family dance. It was a very special moment.
Next up, was a DVD
played on a screen for all to see. Pictures of Ray, from the time he was a
little guy and on up through the years, were shown with some of Ray's favorite
songs playing in the background - A Country Boy Can Survive & All
My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down - among others. A very special video
clip played after the last still picture faded from the screen. It was a demo
of barrel racing and other rodeo events that had been filmed by CBC Television
about 33 years ago. Ray had never seen the clip. He had never seen himself ride
either. The 'horse' people recognized all the horses and riders as they came on
the screen. Then, a little boy about 12 yrs old came into view. His horse was
prancing and pawing and raring to go. The little boy held the horse back and
was cool and calm, with a smile on his face. It was Ray and Diablo. Everyone
recognized them immediately and started cheering. When Ray & Diablo took
off and charged toward the barrels, it brought back memories of those golden
days and everyone yelled and hollered and cheered. A big thank you goes out to
DDM Video Productions
for the painstaking work of piecing together that old brittle film, creating
the DVD and providing us with a projector and screen for the evening. (Copies
of the DVD are available for $20.00 each. Email
Jaime Lynn for
details.)
Sean Patrick took the stage when the video was finished and
entertained the crowd with songs and zany antics. He even convinced people who
you never thought he would be able to convince, to come up and be his band for
a couple of songs, playing various instruments. He sang, and got people up on
the dance floor, and made sure everyone had a good time.
Later in the
evening tickets were drawn for all the fabulous items on the raffle table! The
generosity of those who donated raffle prizes was beyond our wildest
expectations! The Grand Prize - a 42" LCD HD Television - was won by Jim
Cody.
Sean Patrick took the stage once more and entertained the crowd
for the rest of the evening. It was a night that no one will ever
forget!
The ultimate compliment came from Ray himself when he said,
"That was the best night of my life."
A huge, HUGE thank you to Kevin
Corriveau, Mike Ferrari and the entire staff of
Fox Glen Golf
Club. They provided a superb venue and worked countless long hours getting
ready for the event. Their organization and professionalism was evident to
everyone in attendance. We heard nothing but great praise from the guests that
night. And to the volunteers who worked with the Fox Glen staff that evening,
we can't thank you enough. Without you, we never would have been able to host
that size of a crowd.
We are currently setting up a thank you page for
the unbelievably long list of people and businesses who sponsored Fight of a
Lifetime. We will post pictures on the site as they come in.
Our
gratitude goes out to all the hardworking people who made the night possible
and all the people who attended and made the night wonderful!
You helped
us create memories that will last a lifetime!
Benefit
Coordinators
Jaime
Janisse Mike
Bringas Dan
Delisle Tom
Harris Cliff
Herdman
Medical deductibles of Ray's private health insurance
plan continue to place a financial burden on the Buckley family at a time when
their income has taken a dramatic drop. Their monthly expenses are now far
higher than their monthly income.
Information about how you can make a
donation to help ease the financial burden of Ray's battle against colon cancer
can be found on the Donation page of this site. No
donation is too small! Every dollar counts!
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