Behind the Handlebars Host Tony "Pan" Sanfelipo interviews Bill Michaels about his 12th annual Big Unit Poker Run that benefits Fisher House Wisconsin.

00:18: (Tony) Tony “Pan” Behind the Handlebars here with Bill Michaels at the 12th annual ride for the Fisher House. Your big unit ride or whatever you call it.

00:25: (Bill) Yeah, the Big Unit Ride.  How many has this been for you though? It’s been a while with us.

00:31: (Tony) I’ve been to about 10. Tell people exactly what the Fisher House is because some people don’t know.

00:34: (Bill) The Fisher House is kind of a home away from home for wounded veterans, military members and their family.  So, if you’ve got a military member or you’ve got a veteran that needs health care at the VA.  Whether it’s rehabilitation or let’s say chemo-therapy or whatever, you actually stay on the VA grounds.  We really believe that putting the family with the recovering military member really benefits their healthcare.  So, that’s the reason we do this.  No cost to the family.  We do take care of everything.

1:00 (Tony) Well, this is a great ride, can you tell me a little be about how many people registered and how much you’ve raised so far?

1:05: (Bill) We had 126 pre-register, and on good weather days, which this looks like it’s actually going to be pretty good, you can multiply that by about three.  I think we’re going to have a little more than that and end up with about 400 bikes today. And we have raised in the total years $186,000, so it’s been great.

1:19: (Tony) What a great cause, I look forward to this.

1:22: (Bill) The big thing is for riders, it’s about the ride.  The cause is great, and spending $25, no problem.  But, it’s the ride, the comradery, the brotherhood, the sisterhood, you see all the different combat vets, rider vets.  You’ve got legion riders here, VFW riders here, the Hog chapters are here.  This is just a great event.

1:38: (tony) Alright, great.  Thank you Bill Michaels for doing this over the years for a great cause.  We are happy to be here today.

1:45: (Bill) Thanks for supporting us, too.

1:46: (tony) Thank you. Tony “Pan” Behind the Handlebars.