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This Krewe Has It Pegged

LOIS KINDLE/Tampa Tribune photo.

It's not all about charity for members of Ye Notorious Krewe of the Peg Leg Pirate. Here, handing out beads and candy to bystanders, they march in the annual Ruskin Memorial VFW Parade.

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By LOIS KINDLE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 23, 2008

RUSKIN - Ye Notorious Krewe of the Peg-Leg Pirate isn't just about merrymaking and handing out beads. It was founded specifically to help amputees and their families.

"We wanted to form a krewe with the focus on one specific charity and, of course, to party and have fun, too," said Shirley Huber, captain and one of the group's founders. "We kicked around a number of different causes, and someone suggested amputees."

Huber knows firsthand the difficulties amputees face. She is one, having lost her leg in a car accident 30 years ago.

"There's a need out there that's not always filled by government programs or insurance, so we initially decided to work with amputee children and their families," Huber said.

The krewe purchases handcycles and tricycles for them.

Since its formation in 2004 by a group of 10 South Shore residents, the now 41-member krewe has expanded its reach to include adults, as well.

"We once received a request from a man who had lost his nose to cancer," said Sharon Rubright, treasurer and also a founding member. "So we paid for him to get a new one.

"We've built ramps at people's homes, paid for prosthetics or had them rebuilt, bought hand controls for vehicles and once remodeled a woman's bathroom to make it handicap accessible. We try to do whatever we can to help amputees."

Rubright said the organization also assists amputees and their families by making mortgage or rent payments and covering utility bills while people wait for government assistance. Those payments kept one man from being evicted, she said.

The krewe began a scholarship program in 2007. Its first recipient was Reianna Williams, 6, a Jamaican child krewe members met while she was a patient at the Shriners Hospitals for Children - Tampa.

Because of a birth defect, Reianna was missing one leg and had only a nub for the other. After buying her a custom tricycle and having it shipped to Jamaica, the krewe received a request from Reianna's mother for assistance in getting her into a private Christian school in Jamaica.

"She wanted Reianna to get a good start in a safe environment," Rubright said. "So we sent $1,000 to cover tuition, books and uniforms. That's about $57,000 in Jamaican dollars.

"We get her report cards, and she's doing excellent."

The krewe's second recipient was Chris Casteel, 45, a Michigan resident who lost his leg in a car accident. After learning about the krewe online, Casteel applied for and received a $2,000 scholarship to work on his master's degree in prosthetics and orthotics at the University of Michigan.

The money "was very welcome and certainly appreciated," he said. "My life has taken a strange twist. I was working in manufacturing, got laid off, and then volunteered to work at the university's prosthetics lab. And that's how I found my niche."

The krewe gets money through a number of sources. Its corporate sponsors include Larkin Contracting of Tampa, T-Con Inc. of Tampa, Florida Self Storage Association and Ringhaver Equipment Co. of Gibsonton. It also hosts an annual fundraiser called Get on the Good Foot Sporting Clays Benefit Shoot in Land O' Lakes. This year's event, the third of its kind, takes place today at Deer Creek Sporting Clays, 10514 Ehren Cutoff. In 2007, the event netted $24,000.

This summer, krewe members are planning to "invade" Adventure Amputee Camp for children in Bryson City, N.C., to spend the day and throw a pirate party. It also will pay $500 per head for six children to attend the camp.

Sometimes the krewe gets involved by happenstance.

Two years ago, Rubright was bored one day, went online and entered a bunch of contests and ended up winning one day's use of the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile.

"You had to state what you'd do with it if you won," Rubright said. "I wrote that I'd take it to the Shriners hospital for a party with the kids."

Oscar Meyer supplied two "hot doggers" to drive the Wienermobile and donated $5,000. The Egypt Temple Shriners motorcycle unit escorted the vehicle, which played the Oscar Meyer theme song from Apollo Beach to the hospital. The children took turns riding in the vehicle and received toys, food and trinkets from the krewe.

"They are extremely generous in providing our children something that goes beyond our medical care," said Beth Demas, a registered nurse and public relations director for the hospital. "Our therapy department identifies children amputees who want to participate in adaptive sports, and the krewe members take it from there."

AT A GLANCE

WHO: Ye Notorious Krewe of the Peg-Leg Pirate

WHAT: Charitable organization dedicated to assisting amputees and their families

WHERE: Based in Ruskin

FOUNDED: 2004

MEMBERSHIP: 41; by invitation only

DONATIONS: Peg-Leg Pirate, P.O. Box 1854, Ruskin FL 33575-1854

INFORMATION: (813) 486-2946 or www.peglegpirate.org

Reporter Lois Kindle can be reached at (813) 865-1553 or lkindle@tampatrib.com.

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