| Ralph Juanes Wins 8th Annual WTT Raffle! |
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On Saturday, November 13th, 2010 over 2500 visitors from near and far made their way to Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley for the museum's 8th Annual Raffle Giveaway! This year's grand prize drawing for the beautiful 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead restored at Wheels Through Time was won by none other than Ralph Juanes of Lebanon, New Hampshire. Each year, the museum holds the drawing during the Annual Haywood County Toy Run. Put on by the local Blue Ridge Thunder Motorcycle Club, the run collects both toys and donations to benefit underprivileged children in Haywood County, and since its inception, has raised over $123,000 for its cause. This year marked the 7th year that the museum has hosted the Toy Run, and when results were tallied up, a record 1486 motorcycles participated in Haywood County's largest annual motorcycle gathering. Just before 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, toy runners began arriving in a 7-mile procession that started a half hour earlier at Pisgah High School in Canton, NC. Within minutes the museum grounds were filled with motorcycles from as far away as California. Over 1700 participants were fed by Chef Dickey King and other local volunteers while the Josh Fields Band of Waynesville, NC provided the entertainment. Museum "Guest Curator", Bob White, was also on hand giving tours and demonstrations inside the museum throughout the day. As the Toy Run festivities came to a close, Blue Ridge Thunder Event Coordinator Cecil Yount handed the microphone over to Wheels Through Time Curator and Founder, Dale Walksler, for the much anticipated drawing for the 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead. Eager onlookers came to a silence as one young lady from the crowd was chosen to draw the winner. Reaching deep into the drum of over 5000 tickets, she pulled one ticket which would immediately announced as the lucky winner of this year's grand prize.
During the conversation, Mr. Juanes raved about his visit to the museum a few months earlier and shared how he found about it with the crowd. In mid-2009, Juanes purchased a book titled "The Vincent in the Barn", by Tom Cotter. The book was comprised of stories of "Barn Find" motorcycles, several of which featured the rare machines from Wheels Through Time, and sparked Juanes interest to make the 800 mile ride. While visiting the museum, Dale's father Bernie gave he and his friends the grand tour, and upon his return home he was so impressed that he decided to get online and order tickets on the '47 Harley. And the rest is history. To date, the museum has raffled off eight motorcycles including 2010's Grand Prize 1947 Knucklehead. Years past have seen winners from Tennessee, Alabama, Massachusetts, South Carolina ,and Missouri, to name a few. The proceeds from each raffle are used to help the museum create new programs and exhibits, and continue to preserve American motorcycle history for future generations to enjoy. "Each and every supporter of this year's raffle has placed their thumbprint throughout the museum, helping keep us 'The Museum That Runs!" said Walksler. In fact, Walksler and museum staff have been hard at work, already completing the 2011 Grand Prize -- a 1936 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead -- which will be given away during the 20th Annual Haywood County Toy Run on November 12, 2011. For more information, or to get tickets for next year, visit www.WheelsThroughTime.com or call the museum at (828) 926-6266
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The 8th Annual Museum raffle winner was Ralph Juanes of Lebanon, New Hampshire. Ralph was contacted by phone by Dale in front of an enthusiast and supportive crowd, and was ecstatic about his ticket being chosen. 
