Madison County Toy Run was revived in 2023 with the goal of making it a long-running, annual event to benefit the children of Madison County NC.
With only 4 months from inception till event launch, the window was tight but consultant and promoter J. Hagan was able to find a great deal of support with the local businesses within, and outside the county. Sheriff Harwood showed great interest in helping the children of Madison County and worked tirelessly to assist and ensure that the event was held in a safe and positive way.
In the interest of safety the initial date of 12/2/2023 was not used. Heavy rain, wind, and dense fog covered much of the route and the day before, after input from several sources close to the event, the decision was made to postpone by 1 week. Sadly, this did cause some "hard-feelings" amongst potential attendees of the event and they chose not to attend/support the rescheduled event one week later.
On 12/9, a week after the original planned event a small but devoted group of law enforcement officers, emergency medical personnel, volunteers, motorcycle riders, and drivers descended on the starting sight determined to make a difference. We were greeted with cool temperatures and light rain. As we continued to watch the forecasts it appeared as though the rain would subside just prior to our launch. We left Mars Hill in light rain and headed towards Marshall. As we entered Marshall's downtown the rain stopped and during our climb out of town and towards Dogget Mountain the clouds broke up. As we crested the mountain the sun was out and it got warm!
When we made our "half-way" stop at the 209 Cafe riders shed their rain gear as we enjoyed a slightly longer than anticipated rest stop. We departed again with only minutes to spare before the Hot Springs Parade was supposed to kick off. We made our way back to Marshall, on to Mars Hill, and then to the beautiful venue called The Barn at Paint Fork. Great food was served, Great music from Blackwater Station Band, and LOADS more toys arrived!
We hope/feel that this event is extremely special and look forward to many more years doing this amazing work for these great kids!
Event recap - Total revenue for distribution (sponsors, donors, event sales) - $18,308.00 (after all bills paid)
Toys Collected - We stopped counting but there were 4 BIG pickup truck loads!
See you October 26, 2024 for the FIRST toy run of the year in Western NC and can't wait to see what great ideas are presented to co-mingle Santa with the Halloween Season!