Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Greg Mellis Cara Becker, of Milwaukee, wearing her Robert Brooks jersey, meets Brooks, a member of the 1996-1997 Super Bowl champion team, during the Green Bay Packers Tailgate tour’s surprise visit to the Red River Rivers facility.
Leader Photo by Greg Mellis Wrapping up five days on the road, the 2016 Green Bay Packers Tailgate Tour bus travels through Shawano County on its way to the final event Tuesday at the Crawford Center in Shawano.
The Green Bay Packers Tailgate Tour made a surprise stop Tuesday afternoon at the Red River Riders, crashing in on a riding class of five students.
Jared Abbrederis, Jayrone Elliott and Sam Barrington were among the group that surprised guests at the Red River Riders, standing along the railing to cheer on and wave at the riders who circled the arena as part of the class.
President and CEO Mark Murphy and various Packers alumni, including LeRoy Butler, Robert Brooks and Sean Jones, also were on hand to mingle with the families and clients outside of the arena.
“I think the added bonus of having the Packers here with them and getting to meet them and having them interact with our clients and our riders is going to be great,” Red River Riders treasurer Carrie Barribeau said.
Red River Riders is a nonprofit group that provides therapeutic horseback riding to address physical and emotional needs of disabled people.
“I kind of like the small-group surprise visits because there’s not much structure,” Abbrederis said. “You get to go around and talk to people and really make it what you want.”
Abbrederis, who rode horses as a child, was excited to visit the Red River Riders, even if he wasn’t able to get back on a horse during the 45 minutes the Packers spent around the class.
The third-year receiver out of Wisconsin asked where the horses were as he stepped off the bus.
“I always loved (riding horses) when I did,” Abbrederis said. I’d probably just get out of control here and make them run real fast, and they’d probably get mad at me.”
The tour stopped at Twig’s Beverage before heading over to the Crawford Center for the final event of the trip, which made it back to Green Bay around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday.
The Shawano stop of the Packers Tailgate Tour is expected to raise around $30,000 for the organization, which will be used to build an addition to the riding area. The expansion will help the Red River Riders service its riders better during inclement weather.
The funds would also help expand the client base for the organization, which plans to start working with disabled veterans.
“A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is the way we’re looking at it,” Barribeau said. “We were so thrilled and excited. We’re a small program so this will help us tremendously with getting the word out that we’re here.”
The Packers chose which nonprofit organizations would benefit from each of their stops on the tailgate tour.
“It’s been a tremendous help for us,” Barribeau said of the tour. “We appreciate the community has been 100 percent behind us. It’s been wonderful.”