450-truck convoy rolls to make wishes come true
By MICHAEL YODER - (Lancaster) Intelligencer Journal

EPHRATA, Pa. --With sirens screaming, horns blaring and lights flashing, a convoy of more than 450 trucks took to local roads and highways on Mother's Day afternoon to help make wishes a reality.

The 18th annual Make-A-Wish Mother's Day Convoy last week brought out thousands of people sitting along Route 222 and streets in Ephrata to watch the world's largest moving convoy.

Event chairman Randy Etzweiler said the convoy raised $250,000 last year, and the group's goal was to raise $300,000 this year to go toward granting wishes for ill children.

The Millersville resident has been driving trucks for 34 years and has chaired the event since its beginning in 1990.

Etzweiler said the convoy holds a special place in his heart and shows the family oriented nature of people involved in trucking. He said truckers from as far away as Washington, Texas, Arizona and Canada have been involved in the past, and some truck drivers schedule their East Coast deliveries to coincide with the event.

He said the ultimate goal of the convoy is to pay tribute to the children in the Make-A-Wish program. His eyes showed tears when he pointed out the Wish Angel trailer, decorated with 147 stars of the names of children that have died since participating in the convoy.

Etzweiler said Make-A-Wish granted 86 wishes for children last year in Lancaster, Lebanon, Dauphin and Perry counties, and the convoy plays a big part in making the wishes a reality.

"It's a long, tiring weekend for me, but I tell people I feel like a kid at Christmas," Etzweiler said.

Cars filled every vacant spot of grass along Route 222 from the staging area at the Burle Industries parking lot on Route 23 off Route 30 in Lancaster to Ephrata.

People sat in the back of pickup trucks, on lawn chairs and on blankets to wave at the drivers and their Make-A-Wish passengers. The convoy lasted more than an hour and a half.

John and Elaine Fazekas of Maytown brought their 2-year-old daughter, Ashley, to participate in her first convoy. Ashley was diagnosed with leukemia in January of 2006.

She rode in the Bird-in-Hand Fire Company tanker truck 4-1, grabbing for the horn and climbing the steps of the truck before the convoy.

The ride-along with Bird-in-Hand was extra-special for the Fazekas family because John Fazekas served as fire chief with Bird-in-Hand before retiring when his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia.

The family is going to Disney World in June. They said they constantly ride a roller-coaster of emotions with their daughter, but they said Make-A-Wish makes Ashley feel better.

"It's amazing that all these people care about my little girl and they don't even know her," Elaine Fazekas said. "It just blows me away to see the kindness of the people."

Nine-year-old Jason Bosch of Manheim got his own chance for his first fire truck ride - traveling with the East Petersburg Fire Company, who were on a call until 5:15 a.m. for a fire in Neffsville.

Jason was diagnosed with leukemia in October.

His father, also named Jason, said the ordeal has been tough on the whole family. All three brothers in the family share a room, and the other two ask where their brother is whenever he is in the hospital for treatment.

Bosch said events like the convoy are important to bring to light the struggle children and families have to go through in dealing with diseases.

"(The convoy) raises awareness about all the children that are struggling through whatever they have," Bosch said.

The Bosch family will go to Disney World in March.

When asked how he felt about being in the convoy, the younger Jason said he was "happy."

"That's a lot for (Jason) to say because he hasn't been very happy lately," said his mother, Megan.

Yvette Jones, executive director of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Susquehanna Valley, said the convoy is the essence of a community working together.

She pointed to the more than 200 volunteers and 23 separate committees that pull off the convoy each year.

"I think it's awesome when people come together to make wishes happen," Jones said.

Source: www.centredaily.com