A cut for a cause made at Lake DePue

The boat racers and teams that descend on Lake DePue for the APBA U.S. Title Series PRO National Championships every late July take great pride in the family atmosphere they’ve created not only within itself, but with the village of DePue and the surrounding communities.

And a perfect example of that mutual caring and support occurred yet again last weekend, when a mom’s desire to have her son get a haircut ended up with a local family in need gaining more than $3,000.

It all started when Dru Thompson of Fort Pierce, Fla. decided that it was time for her 13-year-old son, successful K-Pro Hydro driver Cooper Thompson, to get rid of the mullet he’d been sporting. When the lad protested time and time again, she offered him a bet: win the national title at DePue on Saturday or get a haircut.

Cooper reluctantly accepted, and his hope to get out of it went right up to the finish of the K-Pro Hydro class. Though he hadn’t lost a race all season and was ahead on points going into the last of three heats, Cooper had trouble in the first turn and lost, leaving him second on points to Ashten Cafarelli, of Champaign.

Later that afternoon, a friend, John Rusk, suggested to Dru she raffle off chances to cut her son’s hair to raise money for a good cause, and to take as little of the sting of the loss and the looming trim out of it for Cooper.

In this case, it was to help the family of Brooks Vickers, now a still-tiny 7-month-old baby born prematurely to his DePue native parents, Hannah Harrison and Ryan Vickers.

Since his birth Dec. 14, Brooks has experienced many traumas, from brittle broken bones to needing blood thinners to relieve clots to being fed through an IV. He and his parents have had to travel quite a bit around the Midwest for treatments to keep him going physically and make him stronger.

So far, said Hannah, it’s working — “He’s our miracle baby,” said Hannah — but there’s a long way to go. The weekend effort in DePue, however, will certainly make the effort a little easier.

The raffle was won by Hallie McGuire and, with the help of McKenzie Hellsten, they used electric sheers to take a big portion of the mullet off in front of a large crowd near the PA booth.

“I was a little nervous. I thought I was going to end up bald,” said Cooper. “If it’s for a cause like this, I feel pretty good about it … I just hope it grows back.”

“By the time I found the family and Cooper and to get their OK, the whole thing went down in five minutes,” said Dru. “We made the announcement and I wasn’t prepared for what happened. People came up throwing money at me and I had $700 just walking out of the awards ceremony that night. The response was amazing and went on all day Sunday … I’m not sure the final total, but I know $2, 670 went through my hands. More money went directly to the family, so I know it was over $3,000, maybe as much as $3,400. It won’t take care of everything, but it’s enough to help.

“And Cooper gets his hair cut,” she said with a laugh. “Everybody wins.”