Toys get motorcycle ride to new homes - Asgard Toy Run draws

[totalmotorcycle]

Toys get motorcycle ride to new homes - Asgard Toy Run draws biggest turnout yet
Monday, November 27, 2006 - By LEIGH COLEMAN - SUN HERALD - sunherald.com



DeLISLE - The 22nd annual Asgard Toy Run drew one of its biggest crowds ever Sunday, with more than 500 bikers riding to deliver Christmas toys that were strapped to their motorcycles.

Asgard Motorcycle Club officers thought there would be a good turnout this year but had no idea so many would be participating in the annual event.

"The number of people here today has blown me away because I know there are still those out there having a hard time after the storm," said Asgard Hagar, president of the club.

Motorcycle clubs and individual riders from all over South Mississippi rallied together at East Hancock County Elementary School in DeLisle to go over the toy run route. Law enforcement officers from Harrison and Hancock counties escorted the long procession of bikes to the Gulfport Dragway where trucks from the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi were waiting to be loaded with all of the Christmas toys.

"We had the trucks and the warehouse this year and we are going to use our facility as the central distribution location and also have some fun making a child happy with a new toy," said Mary Wimberly, director of the Catholic Diocese Office of Long-Term Recovery.

The recovery team of the Catholic Diocese in Biloxi will begin to organize the large numbers of toys for distribution to family-assistance agencies across South Mississippi. The toys will go to families and children who need them the most.

In the past few months, cities across this area have announced an Asgard Day in honor of the motorcycle club's many community-service projects throughout the year.

"The people in this club are from right here on the Coast and although we are small we like to give back in a big way," Hagar said. The 23rd annual Asgard Toy Run is already scheduled, for November 25, 2007.