Cycle of charity
Poland man honors late wife, Hospice of the Valley
POLAND
Chuck Campbell’s friends have a new nickname for him: “Willie Maykit.”
Translated: “Will he make it?”
Campbell, 61, of Poland, is departing May 3 to travel 1,070 miles on bicycle from Youngstown to Pensacola, Fla.
“I’m a little apprehensive. I don’t know quite what I’m getting myself into,” said Campbell, who took up cycling about three years ago.
But if even he doesn’t know how the ride will turn out, he knows exactly why he’s doing it.
Carol Campbell, Chuck’s wife of 36 years and longtime Struthers teacher, died in 2008 at age 58 from staphylococcal meningitis, a rare but deadly type of meningitis.
“We did a lot of traveling. We spent our life together,” Campbell said.
His wife used Hospice of the Valley during her final days.
“Hospice administers end-of-life care, and the goal is to make people comfortable. Hospice is a charity and what isn’t covered, they pick up. Everyone’s aware of Hospice, but no one understands it until you use it,” Campbell said.
As part of his bicycle ride, Campbell is asking people to sponsor him by making a donation to Hospice of the Valley and mailing a check to 5190 Market St., Youngstown, OH 44512 with “The Ride” written on the check memo line.
“I hope that businesses and people will donate. It’s a one-way, one-time only ride,” he said.
After his wife’s death, Campbell retired from Schwebel’s a year later and made a “bucket list,” or a list of goals to accomplish before he dies, that included bicycling to visit his daughter, Carolyn Styranec, in Pensacola.
Campbell trained indoors this winter at Ntense Workout in Boardman, which donated a temporary membership to him. Since moving outside, he has cycled up to 85 miles in one day.
Campbell said he plans to ride about 60 miles per day and estimates he’ll arrive May 27, if he accounts for days off because of weather, tiredness or other event. He’ll have a support team led by his friend Jack Shetler following him along the way.
“I love logistics, but I’ve never done anything like this before,” said Shetler, who is using online maps and imaging systems to plan the trip.
Shetler compiled daily booklets for Campbell with pages protected by plastic that detail the route and are more in-depth than road maps. The booklet for Day One is 20 pages.
The route takes Campbell to southern Ohio, where he’ll pedal along the Ohio River, and then Kentucky, where he’ll pick up an Underground Railroad bike trail.
Shetler said he would like to find more people for the support team that could stay within 50 miles of where ever Campbell is during a day.
“You could go golfing, sightseeing, but if you get a phone call and he’s in trouble, you have to help,” Shetler said.
Shetler, who owns Old Stone Tavern Antiques in Poland, has played golf with Campbell for 10 years. Campbell’s golf group supports him but has some doubts.
“We think he’s totally crazy. I don’t want to put more pressure on him, but we feel it’s an impossibility. We hope he stays safe. I was surprised he was willing to take this one without doing shorter trips,” Shetler said.
If anyone wants to be part of the support team, contact Shetler at 330-770-3413 or at the Old Stone Tavern.