Longtime Department of Kansas American Legion Rider Dave Schoonover passed away as a result of a motorcycle accident on his way to the 2022 Legacy Run – a ride he’d taken part in every year since its inception in 2006.

And for 22 years, Schoonover also was a member of the board at the Eureka Springs, Ark., Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, which rescues survivors of the exotic animal trade, with an emphasis on big cats and bear. The refuge nurses the animals back to health and then provides them with a lifelong home, complete with medical care and a diet tailored to their needs.

On Monday during Day 2 of the Legacy Run, two of Schoonover’s loves experienced a confluence when around 200 motorcycles converged on Turpentine Creek. And there waiting for the ride was Schoonover’s widow, Millie.

Dozens upon dozens of Legion Riders came up to Millie to say hello and introduce themselves, causing her to one time say, “I’m not going to remember all these names.” But she said it was nice to have the group come by and honor her late husband.

“He’d think it was amazing,” she said. “He would be humbled by it. And it made me cry.”

Millie said Turpentine Creek meant “everything” to her husband. “He loved the cats,” she said. “It was a passion for him. We came down here for a vacation to visit one time, and we just kind of wound up staying.”

Legacy Run Chief Road Captain Mark Clark said the Legacy Run has “a spiritual nature. At some point we needed to do something. This was a guy that helped start the Legacy Run. I just felt like we had to do something to honor him, and I know he is up there right now smiling down on us, and he is excited that we are here so that we can share in his passion today.”

More than a dozen of the big cats at Turpentine Creek were rescues from Tiger King Park, which was featured in the Netflix series “Tiger King” from 2020-2021 and had failed to provide proper medical care, nutrition and safe conditions.

Charles Bustamante, the commander of American Legion Riders Post 17 in Hammond, Ind., took the tour of Turpentine Creek. It was an eye-opening experience.

“The big cats were very impressive – until you heard the stories about how they’re crippled, they’re blind, they’re cross-eyed, they’re inbred. That’s sad,” Bustamante said. “And then a lot of us, we saw that ‘Tiger King’ show on TV. You laugh about it because it’s on TV. But when you actually see what happens and how the animals turn out, it changes everything.”

Despite that, Bustamante enjoyed the stop – just as he has the other unique experiences during his two Legacy Runs. “It makes it better, let’s you get off your bike for a while,” he said. “It educates you about what’s going on. It just makes you take a different perspective.

“Going around the country, you see what’s going around the country, not just where you’re at. We’re out experiencing this, and you get to be in a part of the country you’ve never been in.”

During the stop, more than $17,000 was donated to the Veterans & Children Foundation, including $12,400 from American Legion Post 523 in Harrisburg, Pa. That amount included a donation of $10,000 from Hendrick Motorsports.

The Riders also made a $1,414 donation to Turpentine Creek during the stop.

Rolling Out the Red Carpet in Russellville. Riggs Hamilton Post 20 pulled out all the stops in welcoming the ride to its city. In addition to serving a pulled pork meal, the post also arranged for a variety of food trucks to line the streets of downtown Russellville. With the streets around the post blocked off, the night had a festival feel, complete with live music, ice cream provided by Wellcare and gift bags from T-Mobile.

“How about the hospitality we got here today?” Clark asked the Riders. “Russellville, Ark., they rolled the red carpet out for us. The Department of Arkansas has done an amazing job.”

Commander Louis Hardy said Post 20 has been working to prepare for the stop for six months. “It’s been the whole post, along with Main Street Russellville helping us out,” Hardy said. “Hundreds of man hours have gone into this at this point. But now it’s a sigh of relief. The hardest part is over, and now we’re running on autopilot and everything’s running smoothly.”

Hardy said the cause drove the post to work as hard as it did. But it was also the opportunity to support the Legacy Run participants.

“Knowing that they were going to come to Russellville, and we were honored to be picked as one of their stops, we knew we had to go all the way,” Hardy said. “It’s an amazing cause that they’re riding for, so we wanted to be able to give back to them as much as possible. We wanted to be able to get the community involved as much as possible, raise as much money as we could to make as much of an impact as we could. We only have one chance, so we wanted to make it count.”

Also on hand to greet the ride at Post 20 were the husband-and-wife pair Tony and Pearl Gordon, who are serving as department commander and department president, respectively. Tony said he was proud to see the support the Riders got during their time in Arkansas. “We have a great group of Legionnaires, Auxiliary members and Sons, and they’ve been working extremely hard for this,” he said. “The City of Russellville has rolled out the red carpet as well. They all made it a tremendous, tremendous event, and I was proud to be here to see these Legion Riders ride in the great state of Arkansas.”

Pearl, who has stressed Legion Family during her short tenure, said seeing the arrival of the ride left her almost speechless. “I don’t have the words to describe it,” she said. “It is so exciting to just see them ride in and know that it’s for a great cause. They’ve come from all over. It’s really exciting to have been here and seen them and hear them ride it. I’m loving it.”

In addition to its hospitality, Post 20 also donated $4,165 to the VCF, bringing the total after Monday to nearly $335,000 raised.