Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Have you ever eaten a live cricket? Neither has Sarah Smith Burke, but it's on her summer to-do list. She's even traveling from Arizona to Iowa to do it.
No, bug-tasting isn't a hobby. It's a dare.
The dare, among others, is one installment of a two-part fund raiser to fight Huntington's Disease, a degenerative condition. The first involves a five-mile bike ride from a bar in Fontanelle, Iowa to a bar in Greenfield, Iowa, Burke's hometown.
For Burke, the fund raiser is personal. Her mom, Barbara Smith, died in 2008 after a 12-year struggle with Huntington's. Her death prompted Burke to create the Bar-2-Bar-bara Ride to Cure Huntington's Disease last year.
“She was just a fun, free-spirited and uplifting person,” Burke said. “...I wanted something that matched her personality.”
That's where the cricket comes in. Anyone who donates to the cause can dare a bike rider. In Burke's case, that means ingesting an insect.
“Mom would appreciate the humor in it,” she said.
The other riders also are asked to indulge whoever does the daring. One rider will submerge her face in pudding while doing 20 push-ups. Another rider will hold a sign that reads “Honk if I'm cute” until five cars respond.
Burke's daughters, Addison, 7, and Taylor, 5, are joining in, too. They are selling baked goods and homemade artwork from the family's driveway, Burke said. They plan to donate whatever they earn so that each can smash an egg on their mom's head.
Burke was 18-years-old when she and her older brother learned of their mom's illness. In the disease's early stages, symptoms are similar to those with Parkinson's disease. Burke's mom, for example, had trouble balancing and became more clumsy. As the years passed, her condition worsened. “Her life slowly began being robbed from her,” Burke said.
Seven years after her mom's diagnosis, doctors tested Burke for the disease. The odds that the children of Huntington's patients carry the disease is 50 percent.
“It's like life is on a quarter, and you're flipping the coin,” she said. “I got lucky. I won the coin toss. I promised myself I'd make a difference.”
“When mom passed away three years ago, something kind of snapped in me,” and the Bar-2-Bar-Bara bike ride was born.
Eight bikers raised nearly $4,000 in 2010. This year, registrations have reached 38, and Burke hopes to raise $10,000 by Saturday, the day of the event. The money will benefit the Iowa chapter of the Huntington's Disease Society of America.
Those interested in riding, daring or just donating should visit firstgiving.com and search “Bar-2-Bar-bara.”
Contact the writer: 402-444-1071; katy.healey@owh.com
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