For the Kids

by SARA ROTHWELL

photo by SARA ROTHWELL

Thanks to Neil and Carol, numerous volunteers and attendees, this year’s Talimena Rally raised over $68,000.

Neil and Carol met in 2015, immediately “clicked,” and married the next year.

Neil Jones is a longtime resident of Hooks, Texas. He started the Talimena Rally 18 years ago, in honor of his late-wife who had cancer. He is the type of guy that wears his heart on his sleeve and loves to help those in need. He is adamant about being transparent with all the money that is raised for St. Jude. Neil says, “It’s just for the kids.”

The first eight years of the Talimena Rally raised money for the Hooks Children’s Ministry. The Talimena Rally started because Neil rode with a group of bikers in Louisiana, and the roads were horrible. Then they rode through Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Arkansas, and Neil thought, “If I can get everyone down here then we can ride this.” After that, he knew he could turn it into something bigger.

In 2012, just before the rally, he saw something about St. Jude and thought, “How cool would it be to give money to kids in cancer research?” Neil also loved the idea because their cancer research goes out all over the world. That year, $5,000 was raised, and he split the proceeds between St. Jude and the Hooks Children’s Ministry.

At the time, Neil was a director at Whiskey River Harley Davidson, and he would meet people when he traveled to classes for work. He would travel throughout the four states: Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and even to Kansas. People from all over were wanting to help and get involved. He picked up sponsors along the way, and he is very thankful for those who are willing to contribute. People even donated money to buy Neil a Talimena Rally trailer to help transport T-shirts and prizes for raffles and the silent auction.

This year alone, the Talimena Rally raised over $68,000, which is more than they’ve raised in a single year. In total, they’ve raised more than $250,000 in donations. “I tell people all the time ... it’s God and good friends that help me put this on,” mentioned Neil. “It’s not about me or anybody there. It’s just about the kids.

“I could not do it without my wife,” Neil mentioned. Neil and his current wife, Carol, met at the end of 2015 and dated for about a year before getting married. (Neil recognized that after his previous wife had passed away, he was “pretty much done with everything.”) One night, Neil’s friends eventually convinced him to get out of his house and go to the Open Rally in Hot Springs. Neil remembers that night at the rally, he was sitting and visiting with his friends when he saw a redhead dancing by. “Oh my! Look at that smile,” Neil told his friend. He thought Carol lit up the room the way she was laughing and smiling.

The next time Carol danced by, Neil made eye contact with her and said, “Call me!” He was planning to give her his number and thought she had been looking at him. She had actually been watching the Razorback football game on the TV behind him. After some persuading, he convinced her to sit down. Her friends kept asking her what she was doing, and she kept saying, “I don’t know.” Carol asked Neil if he could dance, and he told her, “Gee, I don’t know but you can drag me around the dance floor.” So they danced together for the rest of the night, laughed, hung out and had a great time just being together.

Later that night, they decided to meet at IHOP for breakfast and ended up talking for about three hours the next morning. They planned to meet the next weekend, and Neil told her, “I love everything about you.” He explains, “She’s witty, she’s funny, and I call her sassy. She’s just classy.” Then a little while later, Carol told him, “I really want to marry you, but I will not marry you before the rally since it was in honor of your wife, and I will not marry you before the day she died. But after that, you’re mine.” Neil never thought he would marry again, and Carol hadn’t dated for a long time before the night they met. It’s evident that they make each other happy. “We clicked,” Neil says as a matter of fact.

One day, Neil told Carol that he didn’t think he could keep doing the Talimena Rally anymore. She asked why, and he said that he was burnt out and in need of a break. Then she told him, “Well, the kids never quit.” Immediately, Neil knew she was right and that he shouldn’t retire from the rally just yet.

The Talimena Rally always happens the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before Memorial Day. This year, as soon as the governor lifted the Shelter-in-Place restrictions, Neil started making adjustments. He was blessed by the Arkansas Convention Center and all they did to help make the rally happen. He said, “We did the social distancing. We wore the masks and all that. But thank God, so far no one has tested positive.” With close to 300 people registered, Neil is thankful that nobody went home sick.

He is grateful for each volunteer that helps sell tickets, T-shirts, and bandanas, register people, sell items and so much more. Neil said, “If it wasn’t for them, I never would get this thing done.

The restaurants they went to were extra prepared with to-go boxes or brown bags with a drink waiting for them when they drove up. Even the hotels, both mornings, provided a bag of breakfast because they couldn’t open their restaurants.

Bikers line up in front of the Arkansas Convention Center while waiting for the 2020 Talimena Rally to begin.

On Saturday night of the rally, a boy came up to Neil and handed him $80. Neil knew the woman he was with and knew he must be a foster child. The boy told him, “I’ve been mowing yards all summer, and I would like to donate this $80 to the kids at St. Jude.” Neil knew that had come from the boy’s heart, and that is exactly why he continues to do the rally.

During the rally, Neil gives the stage over to people that have lost kids at St. Jude. This allows people to hear their story and understand what the Talimena Rally is all about.

Neil remembers one time when they went to St. Jude, a little girl, ran up to him with the most excitement. Her mother apologized and asked what they were doing. Neil told her, then asked about her daughter. She replied, “She was born with cancer, then it was gone, and two years later it was right back where we started. It’s people like you that make me happy.” Those words touched Neil’s heart.

Another time, there was a young boy whose mother called Neil and asked if they could go visit her son. Neil explained that they filled up his bed with a motorcycle helmet, a vest, motorcycle toys, and more. That young boy is now healthy and living back in Louisiana.

Neil tries to take a trip to St. Jude every year to give the donations and visit the kids. If they can’t go this year due to COVID-19 then Neil mentioned, “When I send the checks in, they mail me back a letter stating how much money was donated.” Then he posts the letter on the Talimena Rally Facebook Page. He said, “If you spend your hard-earned money on this cause, you deserve to know where that money went.”

Over 18 years, the Talimena rally has gone from 30 to 300 people. “It’s really turned into something that I never would’ve thought,” admitted Neil. “We’re not there for any other reason but to raise money for those kids and have a good time.”