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Teaming Up With The Competition

Kris Dreessen/Messenger Post Staff

CANANDAIGUA — It was a thunderous, rolling procession, in protest. More than 300 bikers rode through downtown Saturday, rallying against federal plans to close the Canandaigua VA Medical Center — who believe that's a far cry for what servicemen and women deserve for their sacrifices. "They were there for us, let's be there for them," said Phelps biker Tammy DeWolf, who came with about 20 fellow riders to show support. Everyone will be touched by the hospital's closing, because everyone knows someone who has or will serve in the Armed Forces, said organizer Ralph Calabrese, chairman of the Veterans Advisory Committee. Approximately 200 veterans live at the hospital, which employs about 725 full-time people. The hospital's primary focus is outpatient services. Saturday's rally was meant to send a united — and loud — message to lawmakers. "They're sending a message that you will not close our VA hospitals or break any more promises to our veterans," Calabrese said. "We're going to start taking care of our own ... They made our country." Bikers — some who came from as far as Onondaga County — gathered in a parking lot of the Finger Lakes Performing Arts Center in Hopewell, starting at noon. By 12:30, more than 200 motorcycles were lined up. By the time engines revved at 1, there were more than 300. "It's awesome," Calabrese said of turnout, noting that there was only a week's notice. The bikers headed up East Lake Road to Lakeshore Drive, then up Main Street, and were greeted by spectators showing support. They waved handmade signs that said "Save our VA," waved American flags, and waved, cheered, applauded and honked their car horns in encouragement. Korea, Vietnam and other veterans also turned out, wearing hats and shirts with their service designations. A man standing in the median south of City Hall waved a big American flag. On Fort Hill Avenue, an elderly woman hollered encouragement from the sidewalk, clutching a miniature flag and an old, 8-by-10 portrait of what may have been her husband, brother or friend in their military uniform. More supporters cheered the bikers as they entered the VA campus and circled the grounds: Veterans who couldn't come out to see the rally certainly heard them coming. A few employees ran out the doors to wave in support, and a couple dozen hospital residents sat curbside in their wheelchairs to watch the procession. One such veteran was George LeBoo, of Honeoye, who now lives at the VA. "It's done wonders for me," said LeBoo of the hospital. He's not worried for himself: He's worried about servicemen and women fighting in Iraq and others who will need help in the future. Where will they find it? Those sentiments were echoed by many at the rally, including LeBoo's nephew, Naples motorcyclist Dan Buczek, who is himself a Vietnam War veteran. "You get drafted into the service and you've got to go. But then once you're done, they just let everything go," said Buczek, who is also the legislative coordinator for the Ontario County chapter of New York State American Bikers Aimed Towards Education (ABATE), which helped organize the rally. After the ride, the bikers gathered in a VA parking lot for a few words for waging battle from Calabrese and Assemblyman Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua. "We don't want words, we want action," from government officials, Kolb told the crowd from the back of a pickup truck, using a megaphone. He also rode as a passenger in the procession. VA employees also collected signatures during the rally against the closing. About 40,000 have signed so far, said employee Mike Harris, a Marine Corps veteran. Community supporters also came up to give thanks for the bikers' efforts. Janet and Fred Durbano, of Canandaigua, and her father, Floyd Pragel, a VA hospital resident, were there to protest too. All three are veterans, serving in Vietnam or World War II. "I think it's great," Janet Durbano said of the rally. "We need more of this. This will be a bad situation (if the hospital closes) because our veterans still need it. And more veterans will be coming. Where are we going to go?"

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