Carson’s Flamingo Landing Ride

42 The Carolinas’ Full Throttle Magazine Carson’s Flamingo Landing Ride

by: pam irvin

obert house, a member of the KniGhts orDer,

was scrolling on Facebook one day when he noticed a request for flamingo yard ornaments. Being from Florida, he found this request interesting here in the mountains. He made contact to see what the reason for this request was. April Mull told him she had two autistic sons, Carson and Avery. Carson had told her that they needed pink flamingos for their yard. Robert has an autistic son as well, so this was close to his heart. Robert has a theme bike for Autism Awareness. Robert told me that he has puzzle pieces that when he meets someone with autism, he lets them put a piece on his bike so that they are forever a part of this rolling masterpiece.

After he spoke with April, Robert decided to contact his friends in Florida about getting flamingos sent to him. Since he is a member of the motorcycle community, he also thought it would be an excellent idea to gather up who he could go with him to deliver the items that he had collected. Robert’s mail was flooded with flamingos. He ended up collecting 60 flamingo yard ornaments. He also reached out to the local Chrome Angels chapter president, Tina “Jonezy” Jones to see if she knew anyone who could get WW2 items. Jonezy contacted me and we were able to gather items from Old Grouch’s Military Surplus in Clyde. Old Grouch’s also made and donated a set of dog tags for Avery.

Only one week and a half after finding out about this, Robert had organized a group of riders to gather and deliver the items to the family. On Sunday April 25th, Carson’s Flamingo Landing Ride took place. The group delivered flamingos and the WW2 items to Carson, Avery and their parents, April and Donald. The boys were so excited to see all of the motorcycles. They were also very excited about the autism bike. Some of the groups that participated were Knights Order, God’s Misfits, Sons of the Savior, Chrome Angelz and the Combat Vets.

Once again, the motorcycle community showed their love and support for things that they are passionate about. I look forward to participating in more events with Robert and watching the progress of the Autism Awareness bike as he completes the puzzle.