A vintage tractor named Betsy and a group of 5 Irish men, led by retired sheep farmer Kevin Curran from Waterville, County Kerry will today begin their next fundraising mission – to trek along Route 66 in the USA for the Irish Cancer Society.
The group of 5 who have each been touched directly or indirectly by cancer also includes Maurice Fitzgerald, Frank Meara, Ogie Moran and Mark Walsh, and they first began fundraising for Cancer Research in 2010 after Kevin’s wife Eileen, passed away from Cancer.
Accompanying Betsy, the group shall travel in a 1963 Fordson Dexta and leave Los Angeles today, travelling 2,500 miles east to Chicago. In preparation of this trek it was discovered Tractors are not allowed on part of the route, so Betsy will need to travel on a trailer of 15% of the journey, taking this into consideration the group have estimated that assuming there are no major setbacks the trek should take Betsy 15 days.
Betsy is no stranger to fundraising missions, completing previous tractor runs in her native Ireland including the popular Ireland Vacation tourist destinations; Malin Head to Mizen Head, the Ring of Kerry to Dingle, and Mizen Head to Carnsore Point.
This however is the first time the group and Betsy have left Ireland for a fundraising mission, and Betsy was shipped to the US in July arriving with little time to spare to begin the latest Route 66 mission.
Support for their group has been as phenomenal in the US as it is in Ireland with people in the States offering assistance and spare parts, should Betsy flounder on the unfamiliar roads.
Good Luck Betsy and Team!
The best of luck Lads.
See ye for pint in Butlers, when ye get back.