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Thursday, June 17, 2010 • HERITAGE NEWSPAPERS/WESTERN REGION
Gears and Beers helps raise money for ALS Organizers say about $50,000 was donated By Randi Shaffer Heritage Newspapers
Some people ride bikes for leisure. Zoe Hutchins of Cincinnati rides hers for a cause. Hutchins was among about 20 riders of Team Hutchins in the third annual Gears and Beers ride to cure ALS event hosted by the Michigan chapter of the ALS Association Saturday. The event, held at Ann Arbor’s Olson Park, is an annual way for the ALS Association to raise money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. “My father and my brother have it,” Hutchins said. Hutchins’ father, Jerry Hutchins, was diagnosed with ALS in 2001 and died in May 2004. Since hearing of his diagnosis, Hutchins has participated in several fundraisers to raise money and attention for ALS, with Gears and Beers being one of them. “Hopefully it leads to a cure,” she said. Stacey Orsted, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the ALS Association, helped to start the now annual Gears and Beers ride to cure. “Most bike riders like to drink beer, so (it was an) easy partnership,” she said. “It’s a fun event for a serious cause.” Orsted said she expected 2010’s ride to raise about $50,000, about $20,000 more than last year’s event raised. One of the biggest contributors to the amount raised was Team Hutchins. “I think they raised about $15,000 of the $50,000,” Orsted said. The Gears and Beers event offered riders a choice of three routes –– a 25-mile, a 74-mile or a 100-mile. The routes all began at Olson Park and ventured separate ways. All of the routes toured throughout northwest Ann Arbor, along the Huron River and some meandered through Dexter, Chelsea and the surrounding communities. All of the routes ended back at Olson Park for an after party for the riders. Orsted said more than half of the riders chose the 100-mile route. Arbor Brewing Co. in Ann Arbor provided two kegs for the ending celebration, and food was provided by Tio’s Mexican Café and Zingerman’s. MSSC, Toyota, Two Wheel
Tango and Ann Arbor’s 107.1 FM also helped to sponsor the event. “ALS is such an expensive disease that we try to alleviate some of the cost,” said Kristen Munyan, a registered nurse employed with the ALS Association. Munyan said that in addition to providing patient services, support groups and information to those affected by ALS, the Michigan chapter of the ALS Association helps to manage a loan closet of medical beds, electric wheelchairs and other equipment needed by those diagnosed with ALS. ALS Association Development Coordinator Joe Kulwicki of Sterling Heights said a committee consisting of bike riders helped plot the routes for the Gears and Beers ride. Kulwicki said though many event participants are from all across Michigan, Ann Arbor is a favorite location to hold Gears and Beers. “(Ann Arbor is) such a huge bike riding community,” he said. Throughout the three years Gears and Beers has been in existence, the event has only grown. In its first year, Gears and Beers had 33 registered riders. Last year drew in 110 riders and 2010 saw upward of 127 bikers. Kulwicki is pleased with the growing support. “Besides the fact that we’re raising money (for ALS,) we’re raising awareness,” he said. Orsted said Michigan is currently facing the second highest rate of ALS diagnosis in the Unites States. Hutchins said she was glad the opportunity to fundraise could mean further progress into finding a cure for ALS, a disease that affects her entire family. “Research is really important to our family,” she said. “If you have the gene, at some point in your life, you might develop it,” she said. Hutchins husband, Charlie Cowan, rode right alongside her in the 25-mile route to raise money and awareness. “For a supposedly rare disease, it’s really easy to find people in your life that are affected by it,” he said. Also affected by ALS are Lainie Smith of Livonia and her 9-year-old daughter, Isabel. Lainie Smith’s mother was diagnosed with Bulbar ALS at the age of 64, and died two years later. “It’s a disease that not too many people know about,” she said. “I wish that more people knew about this disease.”
Photos by Randi Shaffer
ABOVE: Tammy Hill (left), Sue Pearson, Charlie Cowan and Zoe Hutchins pose with their bicycles in Ann Arbor’s Olson Park after completing a 25mile bike route to raise money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, during Gears and Beers Saturday.
LEFT: Gears and Beers volunteer Lainie Smith fills out raffle tickets in Olson Par in Ann Arbor during a bike-riding event hosted by the Michigan chapter of the ALS Association Saturday Lainie herself was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and is almost blind. She was unable to participate in the bike ride, so she signed up as a volunteer along with Isabel. The mother-daughter pair worked at the second rest stop for the 74-mile and 100-mile route. ALS took a quick toll on Lainie Smith’s mother’s body. Quickly after being diagnosed, she lost her voice and the abil-
ity to eat. “I would give anything to hear my mother’s voice again,” Lainie Smith said with tears in her eyes. “The only thing I have left is a saved message on a cell phone.” Randi Shaffer is an intern at Heritage Newspapers. She can be reached by telephone at 429-7380 or via e-mail through Managing Editor Michelle Rogers at mrogers@heritage. com.
Poor execution plagues ‘A-Team’ Hey, I’m Ryan Michaels, a 13year-old writing movie reviews for Heritage Newspapers. I’ve been doing it for two years, and enjoy it a lot. Here’s my review of “The A-Team.” “The A-Team” was a popular TV show in the 1980s, as at its peak it attracted some 40 million viewers, that revolved around four men who were constantly on the run from the government for a crime they didn’t commit. Enter its contemporary re-imagining, named (get this) “The A-Team.” It stars Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Sharlto Copley and Quinton Jackson as the four men, and the plot remains essentially the same, although obviously the time setting has been shifted to modern times, not the ’80s in which the original show took place. Regardless, the original TV show was about big, grand, cartoonish, over-the-top action, and that’s pretty much also the primary focus of this 2010 remake. The four principal actors (Neeson, Copley, Cooper and Jackson) never once take their roles seriously, and subsequently are a total blast to watch. Neeson and Copley, in particular, really ham it up, adding a layer of sheer craziness to the film. Also, it’s really
hard not to admire just how over-the-top the film often goes. Most action films try to keep at least one foot dipped in the pond that is realism, but “The A-Team” absconds entirely from even the slight trace of reality. The aspects about this particular film that bugged me are mostly technical. For one, the visual effects in this film are absolutely awful. One particular shot late in the film, where hundreds of crates collapse unto each other, would look more fitting in a Nintendo 64 game than a $120 million action film. Another thing about the film that was absolutely wretched was the cinematography. In recent films like “Cloverfield” and the Bourne series, filmmakers have used a handheld camera to add an element of instability and shakiness (hence the term, “shaky-cam”).
Director Joe Carnahan employs “shaky-cam” here, and the results are disastrous. The action sequences are often impossible to follow, simply because the camera is constantly shaking and the editing is far too quick. This unfortunately ruins a pretty massive chunk of the film, considering how the film is actioncentric. Overall, “The ATeam” is grand, dumb action.
Considering that recently Hollywood has tried –– and mostly failed –– to gravitate toward more adult, mature action films, it is pretty cool to see something of a tribute to the frivolously violent action flicks of 1980s. That said, “The A-Team”” is executed pretty poorly, with terrible visual effects, as well as unintelligible cinematography and editing. It’s a shame that some hilariously outlandish performances and action sequences had to be buried underneath this problems. I give it two out of four stars. Film critic Ryan Michaels, a student at Emerson School in Ann Arbor and two-time winner of the Michigan Press Association Better Newspaper Contest for his reviews, can be reached through mrogers@heritage.com.
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