When motorcyclists set off from Saluda in the 10th annual Polk County Toy Run Saturday, Nov. 24, they’ll do so with bears strapped to their bikes and John “Bear” Street on their mind.
“[Bear] was a biker that had supported the toy run ever since we started,” said Barry Gee, event co-chair. “He was a Polk County resident and he played Santa at St. Luke’s Hospital each year – the man just really had a heart for the community.”
Street passed away following a motorcycle accident as he left the toy run last year. His wife, Leslie Burgess, said her husband was the kind of man that would do anything for anyone including cooking turkey for the hospital staff at Thanksgiving and stopping to help a dog that had been run over.
The 10th annual Polk County Toy Run, a motorcycle ride that gathers toys and raises money to help needy families in the area, will run in Street’s honor with riders baring his name on their T-shirts.
Co-chair Louie Durham of Saluda said organizers hope this year’s event will see as big of a turnout as it did in 2011.