Retired officer will ride for St. Jude’s children
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Back in the saddle again - Frank Gaudiello plans to ride his horse, Zeus, from Greenwood Lake to a finish line between Mike’s Pizza and the Captain’s Table restaurant in Monroe on November 14 to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Photo by Roger Gavin
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Greenwood Lake — He’s back in the saddle again.
On Saturday, Nov. 14, Frank Gaudiello, a former mounted New York City Police officer, will saddle up Zeus, a retired police horse, and head over to Greenwood Lake Post Office. At 7:30 a.m. he will begin a lengthy ride from there all the way to a finish line between Mike’s Pizza and the Captain’s Table restaurant in Monroe to raise money by collecting donations for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Typically, “Saddle Up for St. Jude,” the hospital’s volunteer-based, fund-raising event, consists of a trail ride but Gaudiello has held two previous events as a lone rider yielding almost $10,000 in contributions for the hospital.
In 2007 he rode his horse from a farm on Ryerson Road, through the Village of Warwick and then on to St. Anthony Community Hospital. Last November he repeated the event by riding, sometimes in heavy rain, from Greenwood Lake to Monroe. Now, Gaudiello is hoping to exceed his previous year’s successes.
His hope, as a lone rider, is not only raising money but also raising awareness for the research that St. Jude Children’s Hospital does relating to childhood diseases.
“St. Jude’s never turns anyone away,” said Gaudiello. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t have money. No one pays for treatment beyond what is covered by insurance, and those without insurance are never asked to pay They will do everything they can to help your child.”
The retired police officer, who lives in Greenwood Lake with his wife, Rosalie, was born and raised in Brooklyn. His love for horses as a youngster eventually led him to join the New York City Police mounted unit.
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“It was the only way I could afford to ride,” he laughed.
Two years ago Gaudiello became a cancer survivor after having half a lung removed.
“The recovery from my operation was long,” he said. “So for therapy, I purchased Zeus, who had just lost his job as a New York City police horse.”
Gaudiello felt that riding his horse would provide the necessary exercise to help him recover from the operation but he also vowed that in the future he and “Zeus” would make a difference in the world by helping to promote and raise funds for worthy charities.
According to the hospital’s literature, discoveries made at St. Jude have completely changed how the world treats children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases.
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The hospital’s staff includes some of today’s most gifted researchers. And doctors throughout the world send their toughest cases and most vulnerable patients to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
For anyone too young to remember, “back in the saddle again,” was the theme of a Country/Western song made popular by Gene Autry, a Cowboy movie star of the 1940 - 1950s era.
To make a donation
1. To donate, contact Frank Gaudiello at: 477-3040 or 917-678-2007 or mail your check made out to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to Frank Gaudiello, 29 Sheperd Ave., Greenwood Lake, N.Y.
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Checks can also be mailed to:
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
501 St. Jude Place
Memphis, TN 38105
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The memo section on the check should always include the Event Code: FKO00570D101
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