Category — Healing Field

This Memorial Day our good friends at the Miller Motorsports Park will host the SBK World Super Bike race.  It will be the only race held in the western hemisphere of this prestigious event.  The race is only behind the Le Mans series and GT Moto as the third most followed motorized racing event in the world.  It is expected to draw over 130 million viewers worldwide.

Scene from SBK USA in the past - http://www.sbkusa.com.

The final race has typically been held on a Sunday and has taken on a European look even when it travels to the US.  This year it will have a distinct American look as the race becomes what is expected to become the singular most patriotic and family oriented event in the state of Utah on Memorial Day.  The organizers have collaborated with community leaders to craft a three pronged appeal.

First, it will be a party and state gathering place Friday the 28th.  A procession will take place from the Utah State Capitol Building to the Gateway area of Salt Lake City.  The streets will be blocked off to anything but motorcycle traffic a la Sturgis Bike Rally.  Saturday the party will move to the track in Tooele for a concert on Saturday night (Styx, Kansas, Journey).

Second, on Sunday and Monday it will shift to the race as the major focus.  The preliminary races on Sunday and finals on Monday.

Third, there will be exhibits put on by Hill Air Force Base and the National Guard, Marines, Navy and Army Reserve to honor Memorial Day.  The focal point of the Memorial Day displays will be the Healing Field Tribute Flag Display (2010 US Flags on 8 foot poles scattered strategically throughout the park).

Healing Field Display will count 2010 U.S. Flags. Photo by Perry Van Schelt.

In an effort to make this a statewide event, the Healing Field foundation and Miller Motorsports Park presented displays and answered questions at the Utah League of Cities and Towns midyear convention in St George, Utah.  Over 500 mayors and city council members form every city in Utah were able to learn of the event and were invited to join the procession and rally so that it truly becomes a “Utah “ tradition.

David Lewis, a super bike rider in the Miller Challenge portion of the race is a Utah native and joined the convention with two of his super bikes.   Mayors were able to sit on a super bike and get their photos taken against a back drop of Healing Field flags similar to what they would experience on race day.

David Lewis on his Superbike in St. George, Utah.

While this is being held in Utah, it is the main international super bike event each year in the United States.  It is expected that 45,000 will attend the actual race, with 10 million domestic viewers and 120 million international viewers tuned in.

Check out the details at SBKUsa.com and ColonalFlag.com.

Some Colonial Flag employees share their thoughts and feelings as they remember Tuesday, September 11, 2001…

The “Healing Field program” started out as a way to commemorate the lives of those lost to us on September 11, 2001.

Since the first Healing Field display back in 2002, hundreds of communities across America have hosted a “Healing Field” or “Fields of Honor” to raise money and awareness for a growing array of causes.

So far (this year), Healing Field Foundation has received registration for the following fields that will go up across our nation in 2010:

Auburn, NY
Carpentersville, IL
Cohasset, MA
Eagle, ID
Las Vegas, NV
Lima, OH
Minerva, OH
Murfreesboro, TN
Newport Beach, CA
North Kingsville, OH
Questa, NM
Springfield, OH
St. Paul, MN
Tempe, AZ
West Jordan, UT
Westerville, OH.

Learn more about Healing Field Foundation here.

The New Year is almost here and I’m full of exciting Healing Field ideas for 2010 and even beyond.

As many of you know, Healing Field started out as as a way to commemorate the lives of those lost to us on September 11, 2001.  Since the very first Healing Field display in 2002, hundreds of communities across America have hosted a Healing Field or Fields of Honor to raise money and awareness for a growing array of causes.

Healing Field, Pentagon Memorial, 9/11/2008. Photo by "The U.S. Army."

These special displays of fields of American flags have helped to honor the sacrifice of our service men and women, raise awareness for the tragedy of child abuse or domestic violence, honor veterans past and present, raise awareness for heart disease and cancer and more.

Last year the Healing Field team and I were working hard to put together numerous Healing Fields across our nation.  One special Healing Field idea that I wanted to execute was a field that would benefit the poor and the hungry in Salt Lake County.  To accomplish this event we started working with Utah Road Home, another non-profit organization that assists our homeless neighbors in Salt Lake County, Utah.

This particular Healing Field idea includes a “one-stop donation hub.”  A location, somewhere in downtown Salt Lake City, where fellow citizens would be able to drop off their donations such as: clothing, food, hygiene products and toys.  Also, the idea included the availability of numerous United States flags for the purpose of sponsorship.  The proceeds and donations, as a result of this event, would have gone to the Road Home as well as the Utah Food Bank, another non-profit organization that is dedicated to addressing to unmet needs of our low-income neighbors in Utah.

Also, I imagined the location being a great “visual landmark” in the downtown area of Salt Lake City, distracting and attracting the crowds of people shopping around for Christmas gifts for their friends and families.

The idea of seeing Salt Lake City and other cities and states across our nation taking on an event like the one described above is another vision that is “breath taking” to me.  Fortunately, in this “season of giving,” the generosity of many people is not just experienced in the “retail world,” it is also a very much experienced in the “charitable world.”

Despite my disappointment that this particular field fell through for this year, I’m committed to move forward in putting up a Healing Field, specifically benefiting our poor and hungry neighbors, next year or in those years following 2010.

I find determination in the words, pronounced by one of our Presidents, many years ago: “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.“  Inspirational, to say the very least.