Danny Creasy and Team Liberty County are practicing their puckers as the local candidate campaigns to win the honor of kissing Lulu the pig May 31 at the Inaugural Ball at the Savannah Hyatt Regency waterfront.
The final votes are being tallied to see who will be the RePIGlican candidate for the American Diabetes Association's annual "Kiss-A-Pig: HAMocracy in Action" campaign that pitted team Liberty's Creasy, who has coined himself AbraHAM Lincoln, against Dr. Joe Buck of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools.
The Kiss-A-Pig campaign is an annual fundraising event where teams compete to see who can raise the most funds and nab the chance to kiss a pig, a tradition rooted in the use of pig intestines in early insulin research.
Last weekend, Creasy and his campaign supporters wrapped up their fundraising events in the quest to win the nomination that has eluded team Liberty for the past 11 years. The team lost last year by $6000.
Bill Goodwin, Don Carter, Glenn Carter and Boy Scout Troop 456 were up bright and early Saturday morning, firing up the smokers in Kroger's parking lot. The first of 220 slabs hit the grill soon after, and by the end of the day the rib sale netted more than $1,700 for Team Liberty's ADA fund.
Goodwin and Don Carter have committed to push team Liberty to the top this year and both are happy knowing the money helps fund research necessary to cure diabetes, a disease that Dr. Glenn Carter deals with in his medical practice.
"As a physician, this is a disease that is affecting many of my patients as well as the general population," Carter said. "The money used for research and improved treatments is a worthy cause."
"We are doing this to find a cure for Diabetes and help the ADA," Goodwin said. "I've been involved in it since the inception of a team representing Liberty County and this is our year to win so we thought we would add a little more money to the pot."
Others in the community were determined to do their part to help as well. Vann Wheeler and Britt Nikels hosted an international wine, cheese and microbrew tasting event at Vann's Restaurant last Saturday. The event included a silent auction for special gifts and works of art.
"It is just great to have great friends in different places," Creasy said. "It's unbelievable. The support we got from Bill Goodwin, Don Carter and the folks here at Vann's ... it's greatly appreciated. They have done a tremendous job for us and I just really, really appreciate it."
"I hope it helps find a cure," Nikels said. "As an occupational therapist, I see a lot of people coping with the disease, including a few amputee cases. I believe that we still have a long way to go before we find a cure. We want to make that goal happen and have Danny kiss the pig."
"We wanted to help the ADA in any way possible," Wheeler added.
Team Liberty also reached out to the county's schools, and Creasy said he was amazed when he learned the schools collectively raised nearly $7,500.
The faculty and students of Liberty Elementary successfully raised more than $3,000 on their own and had a great time doing so. The school planned several small fundraisers, including a no-talent talent show, a dance, a pie-throwing event, a movie day and filling up a huge piggy bank with money.
The good times continued when the Hog Riders, courtesy of the Flying Eagles Riding Club, pulled up to the school with Liberty Elementary principal Chris Anderson and assistant principal Sonia Bacon smiling and waving from the back seat of a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Creasy, dressed as Lincoln, later put in an appearance to thank everyone for their efforts.
"I'm absolutely ready to kiss the pig," Creasy said. "When we started our campaign this year, (I said) that nobody would outwork us and I'm certain that we lived up to that. We've worked really hard with our campaign and we had such tremendous community support this year. I feel we have done a good job and I'm looking forward to my date with Lulu for sure.
School funds raised
Midway Middle School- raised $2431.08
Liberty Elementary School- raised $3113.27
Liberty County Pre-K- raised $75.00
Frank Long Elementary- raised $702.58
Button Gwinnett Elementary- raised $379.82
Liberty County High School- raised $750.00
The final votes are being tallied to see who will be the RePIGlican candidate for the American Diabetes Association's annual "Kiss-A-Pig: HAMocracy in Action" campaign that pitted team Liberty's Creasy, who has coined himself AbraHAM Lincoln, against Dr. Joe Buck of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools.
The Kiss-A-Pig campaign is an annual fundraising event where teams compete to see who can raise the most funds and nab the chance to kiss a pig, a tradition rooted in the use of pig intestines in early insulin research.
Last weekend, Creasy and his campaign supporters wrapped up their fundraising events in the quest to win the nomination that has eluded team Liberty for the past 11 years. The team lost last year by $6000.
Bill Goodwin, Don Carter, Glenn Carter and Boy Scout Troop 456 were up bright and early Saturday morning, firing up the smokers in Kroger's parking lot. The first of 220 slabs hit the grill soon after, and by the end of the day the rib sale netted more than $1,700 for Team Liberty's ADA fund.
Goodwin and Don Carter have committed to push team Liberty to the top this year and both are happy knowing the money helps fund research necessary to cure diabetes, a disease that Dr. Glenn Carter deals with in his medical practice.
"As a physician, this is a disease that is affecting many of my patients as well as the general population," Carter said. "The money used for research and improved treatments is a worthy cause."
"We are doing this to find a cure for Diabetes and help the ADA," Goodwin said. "I've been involved in it since the inception of a team representing Liberty County and this is our year to win so we thought we would add a little more money to the pot."
Others in the community were determined to do their part to help as well. Vann Wheeler and Britt Nikels hosted an international wine, cheese and microbrew tasting event at Vann's Restaurant last Saturday. The event included a silent auction for special gifts and works of art.
"It is just great to have great friends in different places," Creasy said. "It's unbelievable. The support we got from Bill Goodwin, Don Carter and the folks here at Vann's ... it's greatly appreciated. They have done a tremendous job for us and I just really, really appreciate it."
"I hope it helps find a cure," Nikels said. "As an occupational therapist, I see a lot of people coping with the disease, including a few amputee cases. I believe that we still have a long way to go before we find a cure. We want to make that goal happen and have Danny kiss the pig."
"We wanted to help the ADA in any way possible," Wheeler added.
Team Liberty also reached out to the county's schools, and Creasy said he was amazed when he learned the schools collectively raised nearly $7,500.
The faculty and students of Liberty Elementary successfully raised more than $3,000 on their own and had a great time doing so. The school planned several small fundraisers, including a no-talent talent show, a dance, a pie-throwing event, a movie day and filling up a huge piggy bank with money.
The good times continued when the Hog Riders, courtesy of the Flying Eagles Riding Club, pulled up to the school with Liberty Elementary principal Chris Anderson and assistant principal Sonia Bacon smiling and waving from the back seat of a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Creasy, dressed as Lincoln, later put in an appearance to thank everyone for their efforts.
"I'm absolutely ready to kiss the pig," Creasy said. "When we started our campaign this year, (I said) that nobody would outwork us and I'm certain that we lived up to that. We've worked really hard with our campaign and we had such tremendous community support this year. I feel we have done a good job and I'm looking forward to my date with Lulu for sure.
School funds raised
Midway Middle School- raised $2431.08
Liberty Elementary School- raised $3113.27
Liberty County Pre-K- raised $75.00
Frank Long Elementary- raised $702.58
Button Gwinnett Elementary- raised $379.82
Liberty County High School- raised $750.00