Five years ago I started holding my annual Soup Run. This is an event held the Saturday after Memorial Day where I invite people I have only met on the Internet to my house for an afternoon of soup and socializing. These people come to my house in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on their motorcycles from near and far.
The first Soup Run had 12 people in attendance. I thought it was an overwhelming success. People actually got on their motorcycles and traveled to a stranger’s house for soup. My wife and kids thought I was nuts…inviting total strangers and feeding them for free. I thought it was a good idea.
The second year it seemed like a lot more people were going to show up, but because of one reason or another many backed out at the last moment and only 13 people attended. I was pretty disappointed after that one. I worked so hard, tried to get people to commit to coming, prepared a ton of food and then so many people didn’t show. I thought hard about calling it quits, but my family, and an Internet post by Roger convinced me to continue on.
Roger’s post helped me to see that this thing was all about doing good things for others with out expecting anything in return.
Over the past few years the Soup Run has taken off. This was thanks to some word of mouth and postings on multiple motorcycle forums. Year three saw 60 people attend. Year four 70 people showed up and this year and amazing 110 people found their way to my house. Many more would have shown up if the weather forecast would have been better. Now, I think it might be getting too big.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do next year. My neighborhood might be reaching it’s limit and I don’t know if my neighbors are appreciating the fine display of motorcycle machinery that’s invading the neighborhood.
The first Soup Run had 12 people in attendance. I thought it was an overwhelming success. People actually got on their motorcycles and traveled to a stranger’s house for soup. My wife and kids thought I was nuts…inviting total strangers and feeding them for free. I thought it was a good idea.
The second year it seemed like a lot more people were going to show up, but because of one reason or another many backed out at the last moment and only 13 people attended. I was pretty disappointed after that one. I worked so hard, tried to get people to commit to coming, prepared a ton of food and then so many people didn’t show. I thought hard about calling it quits, but my family, and an Internet post by Roger convinced me to continue on.
Roger’s post helped me to see that this thing was all about doing good things for others with out expecting anything in return.
Over the past few years the Soup Run has taken off. This was thanks to some word of mouth and postings on multiple motorcycle forums. Year three saw 60 people attend. Year four 70 people showed up and this year and amazing 110 people found their way to my house. Many more would have shown up if the weather forecast would have been better. Now, I think it might be getting too big.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do next year. My neighborhood might be reaching it’s limit and I don’t know if my neighbors are appreciating the fine display of motorcycle machinery that’s invading the neighborhood.