Riesen Park was the host of the 3rd Annual Motorcycle Rally throughout the weekend of June 28th. CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) for the Highland Lakes Area, Inc. is a non-profit organization that serves the Highland Lakes area, including San Saba County, by serving children in foster care due to abuse and neglect.

The event was a fund raiser as well as a public awareness effort for the organization and has been deemed an all round success by organizers. Tallies were not complete at the time of print, but preliminary results indicate that the event raised approximately four thousand dollars for the organization.

Live music filled the air throughout the weekend. The Friday night crowd enjoyed some country bluegrass performed by local musicians including Buddy Roberts, Boots Patton, Charles Perry and others. Recording artists Hundred Fold Seed, a contemporary inspirational group from Mason opened the show on Saturday. Following in the afternoon was Daniel Conti and Drawing Back. Daniel is an award winning, accomplished, 18 year old guitar player that electrified the crowd with his blues licks comparable to Stevie Ray Vaughn or Jimmie Hendrix, and doing it while playing the guitar behind his back, with his teeth, and one handed.

Saturday night dance music was provided by the Southern Rock sounds of Redneck Jedi. Along with the good music, activities included the Armadillo Run, a bike show, motorcycle games, children’s games, door prize raffles, and a silent auction; not to mention a lot of sittin in the shade and visitin both old & new found friends.

As well, there were plenty of vendors on hand selling everything from burgers to jerky, glittery jewelry to black leather.

The event was kicked off with a bike parade through San Saba at dusk on Friday and culminated with a Sunday Morning Worship Service led by the Christian Motorcyclist Association.

There were approximately 250 folks attending the event, with participants from as far off as Sterling City, San Antonio, San Angelo, Abilene, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Waco, Houston, Midland/Odessa, and Corpus Christi to name a few.

There were plenty of nice bikes lined up in the bike show, but the People’s Choice Trophy was awarded to a Copper Plated motorcycle owned by Wesley Turner of Sterling City. Evan Hale of Burnet was the winner of the Armadillo Run, walking away with $100 in cash. Just about everyone else won something during the door prize giveaway.

CASA for the Highland Lakes Area has been operating since 1993 and has continuously served children who are in the foster care system due to abuse and neglect in the five counties surrounding the Highland Lakes, which is in alphabetical order; Blanco, Burnet, Lampasas, Llano, and San Saba.

The mission of CASA is to recruit and train volunteers to serve as Guardian ad Litem for children involved in legal cases where they have been abused by their caregiver.

CASA is respected nationally for their child advocacy work. Although there are hundreds of programs scattered across all fifty of the United States, most of those programs are self supporting, stand alone entities, as is CASA for the Highland Lakes Area. This program serves local children, with local volunteers, and local support. You can find more information about becoming a part of CASA by volunteering or supporting the program in some way, at www.highlandlakescasa.org or call (325) 388-3440.